Color can be tricky in DesignCAD because of several options. Here are some tips.

1. Every object has a basic color and material. The default material is "Default." You can assign any of the colors from the color palette to the "Default" material.

You can assign a material other than the "Default" to any object. These non-default materials ("White," "Black," "Ruby," etc.) have intrinsic colors that cannot be changed, and they have a basic color that you can assign. For example, you can have an object with a material color white and a basic color red.

2. What you see depends upon the view mode and rendering settings. In Wireframe view you see only the basic colors.

With shaded images you will see only the basic colors if the "Enable color material" option is disabled.

If "Enable color material" is selected, non-default material objects will render in the intrinsic material color, and not the basic color.

Furthermore, "Quick" and "Gouraud" shading only do approximate colors - "White" and "Black" materials display as shades of gray and textured materials ("Concrete," "Walnut," etc.) display as solid colors. "Phong" shading has more color depth so textured materials display things like wood grain, etc.

3. The background color also affects the displayed color of objects in Wireframe view. If an object's color is almost the same as the background, DesignCAD displays the object in a complementary color so it can be seen. For example, objects with the "White" material display as block on a white background.

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4. In addition to these fundamental color display issues, you can assign colors to layers in the "Layers" dialog. When you do this objects normally display only in the layer's colors.

NOTE: Assigned layer colors are more useful for 2D line drawings. You can use them in 3D drawings but the results may be a bit weird.

For example, if you move an object from a layer with one color to a layer with a different color the color of the object changes to the color of the new layers. For example an object on a red layer will change to green when moved to a green layer.

If you move an object from a layer with an assigned color to a layer that has no assigned color, the object will display in the basic material color as described in 1-3 above.

5. You can override a layer's assigned color for specific objects. Each object has a "Color by layer" attribute that can be changed in the Info Box.

This attribute is normally enabled if you create an object on a layer with an assigned color, and the object's basic color will be the layer's color. From then on the "Color by layer" attribute will be enabled so the object will assume the color (if any) of any layer it is moved to.

But if you disable an object's "Color by layer" attribute in the Info Box it will not change colors as you move it from layer to layer. It will always display the basic color.

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6. The easiest way to change the color of an object to the current color is to select the object and then click the "A" button (Color Apply to Selection) in the "Color Toolbox."

The current color is shown by the "Color Toolbox" tile in the "Main Toolbox." You can change the current color by clicking on any of the color tiles in the "Color Toolbox" or by clicking on the "Custom Color" palette in the "Color Toolbox."

If your current layer has an assigned color the "Color Toolbox" tile in the "Main Toolbox" may be grayed out.

7. You can also assign a color different from the current color to one or more objects:

Open the "Edit/Selection Filter," select the "Color" tab, and check the "Select by color" option.

Then select the color from the color palette (it shows only the colors of objects in your drawing) and click the "Add --->" button to add the color to the selection list.

LEAVE THE SELECTION FILTER DIALOG OPEN. The filter works only while the dialog is open.

Now click in the main window and use "Edit/Select All" (CTRL A) to select all objects of the chosen filter color.

Open the Info Box (CTRL I) and change the color by clicking on the color tile in the upper left corner. Chose a new color and click "OK."