To change the background in Advance Steel, first open the Visual Styles Manager and set Backgrounds to On under Environment Settings. Then type BACKGROUND, press Enter, and choose Solid, Gradient or Image. If you skip the first step, nothing you pick will show.
You may have seen screenshots of Advance Steel with a white, colored or gradient background instead of the usual black. Below are both steps, each background type, and what to do when the background stays black.
Contents
Why doesn’t my background change?
Skip this and you’ll only ever see the standard black background.
- Click the Visual Style control in the top left corner of the workspace (mine says Realistic, highlighted in yellow).
- Choose Visual Styles Manager from the drop-down (circled in red).
- The top of the Visual Styles Manager shows all the visual styles. Below them, find Environment Settings and set Backgrounds to On.
- Close the dialog.
Note: the Wireframe visual style doesn’t use custom backgrounds. It’s always black.
How do I change the background color in Advance Steel?
Type BACKGROUND and press Enter.
You get four choices: None, Solid, Gradient and Image.
None
The default. You get the standard black background.
Solid
Pick a color from the Index Color, True Color or Color Books tabs. The big preview shows what you’ll get. Click OK.
Gradient
Pick up to three colors for the gradient. You can also tilt it by typing an angle in Rotation:
Check the preview, then click OK.
Image
Browse to any image on your computer and set it to Centered or Tiled:
Click OK and your model shows up in front of the picture:
How do I change the background in wireframe?
The BACKGROUND command doesn’t affect the wireframe visual styles. For those, use the AutoCAD setting: type OPTIONS, go to the Display tab, click Colors, pick 2D model space (or 3D parallel/perspective projection) and change Uniform background to the color you want.
Which background is best for screenshots?
A light background is handy when you’re taking screenshots for an RFI or a client email. A busy photo looks cool but makes thin members harder to see, so it’s not great for modeling all day. Switch back to your normal background when you’re done.
While you’re setting up your workspace, take a look at the AutoCAD commands I use every day in Advance Steel and the UCS explained.
