Colors Tab Reference (Application Options)

Sets the color scheme for the graphics window, appearance of the background, and optional background image.

What's New: 2021, 2021.1, 2025, 2026

Access

On the Ribbon View tab Appearance panel

File Options Colors tab

Tools tab Options panel Application Options Colors tab

Design/Drafting

Displays the effect of the color scheme in either the design or the drafting environment. Click Design or Drafting to view the effect of the active color scheme in the view box.

UI Theme

Controls the color of the application icons, window frame, background (default), property panels, and dialogs. Select a user interface theme from the list of available themes.

Dark (Default)

Choose the Dark theme to have icons lying on a dark gray background.

Light

Choose the Light theme to have icons lying on a white background.

Amber (available only with Light theme)

Check this option to use legacy icon colors. You must restart Inventor to update the browser icons.

Highlight

Sets the object selection behavior.

Enable Prehighlight

Objects highlight when the cursor moves over them, helps you to know what you are selecting. Activated by default. In the assembly and weldment environments, when turned off, prehighlighting does not show during component or part selection priority.

Does not affect Select Other, which always shows prehighlighting.

Also available on the Select pull-down menu on the Quick Access toolbar.

Enable Enhanced Highlighting

Shows the prehighlighting or highlighting of assembly components through other components. Highlighting displays when a component or constraint is either highlighted or selected.

Highlight Hidden Faces

Enhances selection highlight to include hidden faces and outlines the selection with a thin contrasting line making selections easier to see.

In-canvas Color scheme

Lists the available color schemes. Click to select from the available schemes. The view box displays the result of your selection.

Customize Schemes

Provides access to the Color Scheme editor where you can customize the color schemes of the graphical elements used in Inventor.

Background

• 1 Color

  Applies a solid color to the background.

• Gradient

  Applies a saturation gradient to the background color.

• Background Image

  Displays a bitmap in the graphics window background. This selection persists, regardless of selected color scheme. The file name is specific for each color scheme.

• File name

  Available only when Background image option is selected. Click to browse a .bmp image. The default directory is Autodesk InventorTexture.

  To avoid distorting the image, make it the same size as the graphics window (both scale and aspect ratio). if it does not match the graphics window size, the image stretches and is cropped.

  Note: Large files affect the performance of Autodesk Inventor.

Reflection Environment

Specifies the image for the reflection map. Reflection maps are used only with non-IBL lighting styles. Use the Default Lights lighting style in the model environment to keep shaded drawing views in sync.

• File name

  Click to browse to the appropriate image.

  The default directory is Autodesk InventorTextures. Your hardware graphics setting determines the available file types. Direct 3D supports Cube Map (.dds) and Sphere Map (\.bmp, *.jpg, *.jpeg, *.png) file types. OpenGL supports Sphere Map file types.

Section Capping Plane Texture

Controls the color or texture image of the capping faces used when using the Section View command. Learn more: To Work with Section Views

• Default - Gray

  The default model face color.

• Bitmap Image

  Select this option to use a texture map image as the face texture. Click Browse to navigate to and select the texture image to use.

  Tip: Use an image-editing tool to create the solid color image or texture map.