Updating and saving defaults

Object defaults are the stored property settings PagePlus applies to newly created objects such as:

  • lines and shapes (line and fill color, shade, pattern, transparency, etc.)

  • frames (margins, columns, etc.)

  • text (i.e., font, size, color, alignment, etc.). Defaults are saved separately for artistic, shape, frame and table text.

You can easily change the defaults for any type of object via the Update Object Default command or the Text Style Palette dialog.

Default settings are always local—that is, any changed defaults apply to the current publication and are automatically saved with it, so they’re in effect next time you open that publication. However, at any time you can use the Save Defaults command to record the current defaults as global settings that will be in effect for any new publication you subsequently create.

To set local defaults for a particular type of object:

  1. Create a single sample object and fine-tune its properties as desired—or use an existing object that already has the right properties. (For graphics, you can use a line, shape, or rectangle; all share the same set of defaults.)

  2. Select the object that’s the basis for the new defaults and choose Update Object Default from the Format menu.
    – or -
    Right-click the sample object and choose     Format>Update Object Default.

Or, for line and fill colors, including line styles:

  1. With no object selected, choose the required line and/or fill colors from the Color or Swatches tab. Use the Line tab to set a default line weight, style, and corner shape.

  2. Draw your object on the page, which will automatically adopt the newly defined default colors and styles.

You can also view and change the current default text properties in the Text Style Palette.

To view and change default text properties:

  1. Choose Text Style Palette… from the Format menu.

  2. Click Default Text, then from the expanded list of text types, choose an option (e.g., Artistic Text).

  3. Click Modify… to view current settings for the selected text type.

  4. Use the Text Style dialog to alter character, paragraph, or other properties.

To save all current defaults as global settings:

  1. Choose Save Defaults from the Tools menu.

  2. From the dialog, check options to update specific defaults globally:

  • Document and object defaults – saves current document settings (page size, orientation) and object settings (context toolbar settings).

  • Text styles – saves current text styles in the Text Style Palette.

  • Object styles – saves user-defined styles from Styles tab.

  • Table and calendar formats – saves custom formats saved in Table Formats dialog.

  1. Click Save to confirm that you want new publications to use the checked object’s defaults globally.

Updating and saving defaults