From Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection

[edit] Showing the User Preferences Window

The first window we'll teach you in detail is the User Preferences window. This window is mostly hidden by default, because most of the time you won't need all of its contents. Only the header at the top of the main window, (outlined in red) is visible here.

step 1

To make the User Preferences window visible, you need to resize it. You do that the same way that you resized the other windows in the previous tutorial. Click and hold with the LMB on the border along the top of the 3D Viewport, and drag.

step 2

Release the LMB to resize the windows. You should then have the entire User Preferences window visible!

[edit] Configuring and Saving Your Preferences

[edit] Setting Up Auto Save

The first thing you'll want to do is enable Auto Save. Auto Save will help you avoid the loss of important work in case Blender crashes, your power is cut off, etc.

step 1

To show the Auto Save options, click the Auto Save button (outlined here in blue).

step 2

Next, adjust the Auto Save Settings:

• Auto Save Temp Files - enabled by default, this turns the Auto Save system on and off. Leave it on.
• Minutes - how often should your work be auto-saved? (recommended 15 to 30)
• Open Recent - use this to recover your work if Blender crashes.
• Save Versions - how many versions of the file should Blender auto-save? (recommended 1 to 3 for space reasons)

[edit] Adjusting The Theme

As with other programs with a graphical user interface, Blender has a way to customize or modify many aspects of the user interface itself. Each collection of customizations is called a theme. Clicking LMB on the "Themes" button will show a drop-down menu in the top left of the user preferences window which can be used to select different themes. Below this are buttons labeled "Add" and "Delete" that can be used to (surprise!) add and remove themes. Note that the delete button does not appear for the default theme. The other controls that appear in the user preferences window while the themes button is active are to adjust the parameters that are specific to the current theme. Many more than the default 2 themes exist, check out the Blender Theme Repository at http://www.graphicall.org/themes/

This book presents all screen shots using the default theme. If you are new to Blender, you should continue to use the default theme as you progress through the book.

[edit] More Undo Levels

The next thing that we want to do is take a look at the Undo Settings. By default, Blender will remember 32 of your previous actions in memory and allow you to undo all the way to that point. If you have a good computer with a lot of memory, you might want to increase that limit (up to 64), while if your computer is old and sickly, you may consider decreasing it to 10 or 20.

step 1

To show the Undo Settings, click the Edit Methods button.

step 2

The Undo Settings will then be visible. Use the slider to change the number of steps to any number (between 0 and 64). Keep in mind the amount of memory your system has, as we discussed above. Too many undo steps can slow your computer down, but the more you have, the easier it is to go back to a previous spot.

[edit] Emulating the Numpad

By default the Numpad keys control the 3D viewport, while the normal numeric keys change the view layers. Emulating the Numpad, in effect, allows the user to control the 3D viewport using the normal numeric keys on the keyboard. This replaces the default function of the keys, but does not affect the Numpad.

This is useful for computers/laptops where there is no physical Numpad available.

step 1

Navigate to the 'System & OpenGL' tab (outlined in blue) to open the menu.

step 2

Click on the 'Emulate Numpad' button (outlined in red) to enable it. If it is already in this darker shade of green, it is already enabled.

[edit] Saving Your Preferences

Finally, you may want to keep your preferences as the default preferences whenever Blender starts up, unless you prefer to set them up everytime.

step 1

Expand the File menu. To do so, click on the File button on the User Preferences window.

step2

Click on the Save Default Settings button in the File menu to save your preferences.

alternative

Alternatively, you may press the Ctrl+U keys' combination to achieve the same purpose.