Is it possible to change the background of the toolbars in Autocad 2015?

[Anonymous]

I have been working with Autocad 2015 for one week now and i can't seem to change the toolbar background.

I want to work with the dark theme but then almost all toolbars become unreadable.

Is there anyone who knows if this is even possible?

[RobDraw]

Still using toolbars? Let them go and use the ribbon and/or right click contextual menus. IMHO, classic interface won't be available for much longer and you will have to bite the bullet and use the dreaded ribbon.

[kittugs143]

Hello User,

If you want to change your toolbar background colour to dark theme. Follow below steps,

1. op (enter)

2. Go to "Display" panel

3. Colour Scheme --> Change here Light to Dark (enter)

G.Sivakrishna

Product Specialist - AEC

www.sivakrishna2013.weebly.com

[RobDraw]

The OP said he already tried the dark theme. He is looking to be able to choose a color other than the ones available in the themes.

[Anonymous]

Hi,

Thanks for taking the time to reply but i already tried that. I even edited the .xbel files in which the themes are saved but that doesn't help either.

[Anonymous]

Hi i know that this is the last version in which it is possible. I just dont like the ribbon. My hand already hurts from thinking about the clicking amount.

[RobDraw]

If you know it is going away, why are you still fighting using the ribbon? Trust me, you don't want to be in a position of having to learn the ribbon when you are in crunch time trying to get a project out. It will be more than just your hand hurting.

To be honest, with the right click contextual menus. I don't use the ribbon much at all. Have you tried them out? The ribbon actually works in a very similar way.

[rkmcswain]

RobDraw wrote:

Still using toolbars? Let them go and use the ribbon and/or right click contextual menus. IMHO, classic interface won't be available for much longer and you will have to bite the bullet and use the dreaded ribbon.

Yeah, I use them too, along with the ribbon.

Where is it documented that toolbars are going away (I inferred this from your "classic interface won't be available for much longer" comment)?

The screenmenu is still available in R2016, so I think toolbars are safe for a while.

[RobDraw]

Why are you challenging me for documentation when I said "IMHO"?

Maybe I'm mistaken that when classic interface goes away the toolbars do to. Maybe you didn't understand the point of my post was to advocate the contextual properties of the ribbon and right click menus. They are light years ahead of toolbars.

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I use the right click menus a lot. But i now have 2 small rows of toolbars on my screen instead of an ugly lage unit.

I now that i will have to get used to it but i dont want to. 🙂 So for now toolbars it is.

[rkmcswain]

RobDraw wrote:

Maybe I'm mistaken that when classic interface goes away the toolbars do to. Maybe you didn't understand the point of my post was to advocate the contextual properties of the ribbon and right click menus. They are light years ahead of toolbars.

Generally speaking, when someone comes to the forums to ask a question like (How do I use "X"), a response like (You're still using X? Forget that, start using Y) is not what they are after.  Having said that, I was truly wondering if "toolbars are going away" is documented somewhere. That would be a huge surprise for me. 

Light years ahead of toolbars is subjective of course. I keep a few toolbars docked and I know I can execute the commands there faster than any other method. One example: Up until 2016, the layers drop-down in the Layers toolbar was vastly superior (wider, longer, wider scrollbar, etc) to the one in the Layers panel of the Home tab of the Ribbon. Not to mention my Layers toolbar is always visible and *one* click away, regardless of the current tab in the Ribbon.

To your point, the Ribbon is useful for many other things, especially the contextual tabs, and even more so in verticals (Civil 3D, Map). I don't understand users in 2016 who still flat out refuse to even consider *trying* the Ribbon interface. I just perfer a mix of various UI tools (minus the screenmenu.....)

Have a good one.  

[RobDraw]

Of course they don't want to hear it, but sometimes it is going to be said and I'm sorry if I stepped on your toes. Again, my intent was to state the advantages of the contextual properties of the ribbon.

FWIW, I still do things old school for no other reason than it is what I am used to. I still use buttons on my phone and in my car when I know the voice commands and voice to text have gotten very usable. I'm okay with being old school in some aspects and expect people to ask me why, especially in a technical forum that is clearly embrasing newer technology.

[jleavitt]

I refuse to sacrifice any more of my display real estate to screen hogs like ribbons.  I need every bit of it for editing, besides, my custom toolbars and icons were created a long time ago at a significant cost in time.  If toolbar support disappears I'll need to reassess my need for upgrades.

J Leavitt

[RobDraw]

So much for keeping up with technology.

Don't you know that the ribbon can be minimized?

How about a larger monitor or more screens?

What are you going to do when the command line goes away? Jump up and down because you gained a few square inches?

[Patchy]

When the command line goes away I use the version with the command line.

No ribbons here, still using command alias and autolisp ☺☺☺

I still get my work done **** quick too.

[pendean]

Are you still on one monitor? Show me your full AutoCAD screen, I'd love to see what you consider non-clutter compared to the Ribbon. I'm so curious now.