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Colors in drawings

Tekla Structures
Modified: 28 Oct 2024
2024
Tekla Structures

Colors in drawings

You can assign either standard Tekla Structures colors or custom RGB colors to Tekla Structures drawing objects, and create your own custom color palettes. Custom colors are also supported in printing and drawing export. There are three color modes available in drawings.

Color modes in drawings

There are three basic color modes for line colors in drawings: Black and white, Tekla Grayscale, and Color.

In addition to the three basic color modes, you can have a black background rather than a white background in drawings (advanced option XS_BLACK_DRAWING_BACKGROUND).

Note:
  • Drawing color mode does not affect the colors in the printouts, and you can select the color mode for printing separately on the Options tab in the Print Drawings dialog box.
  • You can change the line width of the colors on the Line properties tab in the Print Drawings dialog box. This setting affects the line width in printouts and the line width on screen in black and white color mode. To also show the defined printing line width on screen in Color and Tekla Grayscale modes, go to File > Settings, and select the Printer line widths check box. In the printing preview, the actual line widths are shown in all modes.

Color

The default color mode, Color, shows the colors as they have been defined in the drawing. To change the default color mode in drawings when Tekla Structures is started, use the XS_​USE_​COLOR_​DRAWINGS advanced option.

Below is an example of a drawing in Color mode.

Tekla Grayscale

The Tekla Grayscale mode shows the Tekla Structures standard colors from 1 to 7 (black, red, green, blue, cyan, yellow/olive, magenta) in black, and the colors from 8 to 14 (brown, dark green, dark blue, blue-green, gray) in different shades of gray. Orange is shown as white. Custom colors are shown in different shades of gray.

Below is an example of a drawing in Tekla Grayscale mode.

Black and white

Black and white mode shows all line colors in black, except the four gray index colors (Gray 30, Gray 50, Gray 70, Gray 90). The specified line widths are shown on screen by default.

Below is an example of a drawing in Black and white mode.

Change drawing color mode

  1. Open a drawing.
  2. Go to the File menu, select Settings > Color mode, and select Black and white, Tekla Grayscale, or Color.

    You can also toggle between color modes in a drawing by pressing B on the keyboard.

Colors available in drawings

Standard Tekla Structures index colors

The table below shows the standard index colors available in Tekla Structures drawings for all drawing objects, and how the different colors are shown in black and white drawings and grayscale drawings.

Some of the different gray shades are true colors in the way that they will keep their color regardless of the drawing color mode, all the way to printing.

The color that is shown in the drawing editor for a specific index color may change depending on whether you are using a black or white background. This is done to improve the ease of working. For example, black is shown as white when you use a black background.

Name and index code

Tekla Structures standard color

Color mode: Black and white

Color mode: Tekla Grayscale

Grayscale lightness

Invisible, 152

Invisible

Black, 153

0%

Red, 160

0%

Green, 161

0%

Blue, 162

0%

Cyan, 163

0%

Yellow/Olive, 164

0%

Magenta, 165

0%

Brown, 154

30%

Dark green, 155

50%

Dark blue, 156

70%

Blue-green, 157

90%

Orange, 158

100% white

Gray, 159

60%

Gray 30, 130

30%

Gray 50, 131

50%

Gray 70, 132

70%

Gray 90, 133

90%

Custom RGB colors

You can define an unlimited number of custom RGB colors for drawing objects. Custom RGB colors are supported in the drawing export and printing.

You can define custom RGB colors using color palette editing mode.

You can use custom colors:

  • throughout the drawing, drawing view, and drawing object level properties
  • in the line properties in printing
  • in the Template Editor templates

In color palette selection mode, you can select a standard or custom color to use, and in editing mode, you can define and save a set of custom colors in a property file for easy reuse and sharing in a specific project, for example. Color property files can be placed in all the standard file locations such as project or firm folders. The saved custom color palettes will be available in all places where you might want to change the colors: for all drawing objects on all drawing property levels, for line properties in printing, and for template objects in Template Editor.

Example of the workflow you might want to use when applying the custom colors:

  1. First create and save the custom color palettes in color palette editing mode for the needed purposes, for example, for a specific project.
  2. Apply the defined custom colors to the drawing objects and to drawing templates using the saved color palettes.
  3. Finally, define the printing output colors using the custom colors and saved color palettes.

Access color palette

You can access the color palette in any of the following ways:

  • In drawing mode, go to the File menu and click Editors > Color palette editor. Here, you can edit or add custom colors.

    To switch between viewing modes, click the / button.

  • In the property pane for a drawing objects: Click a color setting box. Here, you can select colors from the available palettes. To access custom color editing mode, click the Edit colors button at the top.

  • In the drawing or drawing view level dialog boxes for a drawing objects: Click the selection button next to a color setting. Here, you can select colors from the available palettes. To access custom color editing mode, click the Edit colors button at the top.

  • In the contextual toolbar for a drawing object. Here, you can select colors from the available palettes. To access custom color editing mode, click the Edit colors button at the top.

  • In the Print Drawings dialog box, on the Line properties tab, click . The color palette is also displayed when you select Custom as the output color option. Here, you can select colors from the available palettes. To access color editing mode, click the Edit colors button at the top.

    For more information, see Print to PDF, plotter, or printer.

  • In the edge chamfer default line settings: Go to the File menu, click Settings > Options > Drawing objects, and then click the selection button next to the edge chamfer Line color setting. Here, you can select colors from the available palettes. To access custom color editing mode, click the Color palette editor button at the top.

    For more information, see Show edge chamfers in drawings.

  • In the Pattern line properties: On the Drawing ribbon, hold down Shift and click Line > Pattern line. Click the selection button next to the color setting. Here, you can select colors from the available palettes. To access custom color editing mode, click the Edit colors button at the top.

    Custom colors are not available in Pattern line editor.

    For more information, see Create and add pattern lines in drawings.

  • In Template Editor templates: Double-click a shape object or a text object to display the object properties and then change the color. Here, you can select and add colors.

    For more information about changing the colors for shape and text objects, see Edit tables in Template Editor.

Add new custom colors

  1. In drawing mode, go to the File menu and click Editors > Color palette editor.
  2. In editing mode, click the Add new custom color button.
  3. In the displayed Add color dialog box, use the color slider on the left to go to the desired color, then pick the desired shade in the color area with the color picker.

    Alternatively, enter the exact RGB or HEX values.

  4. Enter a name for the color.

    The color name will be shown when you point the color in the color palette. The name is optional, and you can leave it out.

  5. Click OK.

Tekla Structures adds the color in the Custom section of the color palette dialog box. Add all the desired colors in the same way. If the color already exists, either as a standard or custom color, the existing color will be selected and new color will not be added. When you are done, save the added colors to a palette to ensure that they are kept. For details, see section "Save added custom colors to a palette" below.

Note:

If you add new custom colors in the color palette dialog box but do not save the color palette, Tekla Structures remembers the added custom colors in the current session. This means that if you close the color palette and later on open it again, you can still see the added colors. The added colors are removed from the color palette dialog box when you select a saved color palette from the list or when you closeTekla Structures.

Save added custom colors to a palette

To save the custom colors that you have added in the Custom section in a palette:

  1. In color palette editing mode, enter a name for the color palette file in the Custom box.
  2. Click Save.

The color palette files are saved as *.ColorPalette.xml files in the \attributes folder under the current model folder. You can save as many color palette files as you need and also place them in the firm and project folders for sharing.

The saved color palettes will be available for all types of drawing objects on all drawing property levels, in printing, and for templates in Template Editor.

The custom colors that you take into use in the drawing objects are saved in the drawing database and custom colors taken into use in the drawing, view or object level settings files are saved in the settings files. This means that removing a custom color that is currently used in a drawing object from the color palette does not affect any drawings or the saved color palette files.

Create a new, empty color palette

You can start creating a color palette so that you first create the palette file and then add the colors.

  1. In color editing mode, click the Create a new color palette file button.

    This button removes all custom colors from the color list and clears the color palette file name, so that you can start creating the new palette from scratch.

    To prevent accidental emptying of the color list, the button is not active when there are unsaved changes in the color palette dialog box.

  2. Enter a name for the new color palette file in the Custom box.
  3. Click the Add new custom color button.
  4. In the displayed Add color dialog box, use the color slider on the left to go to the desired color, then pick the desired shade in the color area with the color picker.

    Alternatively, enter the exact RGB or HEX values.

  5. Enter a name for the color.

    The color name will be shown when you point the color in the color palette. The name is optional, and you can leave it out.

  6. Click OK.
  7. Add the other colors in the same way.
  8. Click Save.

Modify a saved color palette

You can edit a color, or remove an unnecessary color from a palette.

  • In drawing mode, go to the File menu and click Editors > Color palette editor.
  • To remove a color, open a color palette, click the color in the palette, and press Delete on the keyboard, or right-click the color and select Delete.
  • To edit a color, right-click the color in the palette and select Edit.

When a palette is being modified, the palette name gets an asterisk (*) and the name is displayed in italics, for example, My colors*. Click Save when you are done.

Delete a custom color palette

You might have created a lot of color palettes that you do not need any more. You can delete the unnecessary custom color palettes that you have created.

  1. Open File Explorer.
  2. Locate the custom color palette file <custom palette name>.ColorPalette.xml that you want to delete in the \attributes folder under the current model folder.
  3. Select the color palette file and press Delete.

Assign custom colors to drawing objects

  1. Click a color setting in a drawing object property pane or the selection button in a drawing object properties dialog box.
  2. Select a saved color palette from the Custom list.
  3. Click a custom color in the palette.

  4. Finally, click Modify in the properties to apply the changes.

Limitations in drawing colors

Limitations in using custom colors

There are some limitations in the usage of custom colors.

Tip:

You can use standard colors for the unsupported objects, and then select the desired custom colors for the output in printing.

Pre-existing drawing color related limitations

There are also some pre-existing drawing color related limitations. There are some color and line properties in parts and neighbor parts that you cannot control in the part or neighbor part properties:

  • You cannot control the part and neighbor part section line color. You can only control the section line color at the model level for all drawings using XS_SECTION_LINE_COLOR_RGB.
  • You cannot control the line color and type for hidden lines, own hidden lines, center lines, or hidden lines. You can only control the center lines line type at the model level for all drawings using XS_CENTER_LINE_TYPE.
  • You cannot control the shortening symbol line color and line type. You can only control these properties at the model level for all drawings using XS_​SHORTENING_​SYMBOL_​COLOR_RGB and XS_SHORTENING_SYMBOL_WITH_ZIGZAG.
  • You cannot specify transparency levels for lines or fills. All objects are opaque.
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