# Change the color of graphic objects

When you create an object, its colors are the FactoryTalk View Studio default colors for the object. To change the colors, you can use the Foreground Color and Background Color toolbars, the Property Panel, or the object’s Properties dialog box.

To open the toolbars, from the View menu, select Toolbars.

## About color properties

The number of color properties an object has depends on the type of object and how you set it up. For example, a button with states can have up to seven different colors for each state. When you select colors using the color toolbars, some properties are assigned the foreground color and some are assigned the background color. Other color properties, such as Fill color, cannot be assigned using the color toolbars. For these, use the object's Properties dialog box or Property Panel.

For drawing objects (except image and panel) you can select colors from the color toolbars before you draw an object (either before or after you click the object's tool). Other objects are always drawn using their default colors, but you can select the objects and then click the toolbars to change their colors.

## Default colors and styles

The default colors for drawing objects change when you use the Foreground Color and Background Color toolbars. When you select a color in the Foreground or Background toolbar, that color becomes the default value for all future drawing objects (except the panel and image objects), whether or not you have selected an object in the display. The same is true of the Back Style and Pattern Style toolbars. If you use these toolbars to change a back style or pattern style, the style you select becomes the new default.

In these toolbars, the color or style that shows as selected in the toolbar is the default color or style, not the color or style of the currently selected object in the display.

Tip: | If you select more than one object, when you click a color toolbar or change a color property in the Property Panel, the applicable colors of all selected objects are changed. The Foreground Color and Background Color toolbars can affect multiple properties of the object. To assign different colors to the affected properties, use the Property Panel or the Properties dialog box. Use the Properties dialog box or the Property Panel to assign separate colors to different foreground or background properties, to choose colors that do not appear in the toolbars, or to change the default colors for properties that cannot be assigned using the color toolbars.

Use the color toolbars to assign colors to the following properties.

Foreground Color toolbar | Background Color toolbar
Border Color | Back Color
Caption Color | Background Color
Fore Color | Caption Back Color
Foreground Color | Image Back Color
Image Color |
Legend Color |
Line Color |
Needle Color |
Pattern Color |

## To change the colors of an object using the toolbars

1. Select the object.
2. Click the color in the applicable toolbar. The color you clicked becomes the default color for future drawing objects.

## To change the colors of an object using the Property Panel

1. Select the object.
2. In the Property Panel, click the color box beside the name of the property to change. A color palette opens.
3. Click the color to use, or click Other to select from a broader range of colors.

## To change the colors of an object using the Properties dialog box

1. Double-click the object. For drawing objects, you can also right-click the object, and then select Properties.
2. In the Properties dialog box’s General tab, click the color box beside the name of the property to change. A color palette opens.
3. Click the color to use, or click Other to select from a broader range of colors.

## Options

- Basic Colors

  Click the appropriate colored box to select a basic color.

- Custom Colors

  You can define up to 16 custom colors. To select one, click the appropriate box.

## See also

Select a pattern style for graphic objects

Set up object properties (Properties tab)

Default colors and styles

Define custom colors