Available · display only

3D viewport appearance

Choose a visual style and surface finish without changing model geometry, feature history or exports.

Updated September 20262 min readWorkspace & 3D

Recommended test

Compare appearance without changing the model.

  1. Open a model containing both flat and curved faces.
  2. Open Display and compare Shaded with Shaded with edges.
  3. Switch between Matte, Plastic and Metal under both visual styles.
  4. Turn reference planes on and off and confirm their colors remain subdued.
  5. Save and reopen the project; viewport appearance should not alter its feature history or exported geometry.

01 · VISUAL STYLE

Shaded or Shaded with edges

Shaded shows clean surfaces without drawn feature lines. Shaded with edges adds smooth near-black feature edges for stronger CAD readability while retaining the same surface lighting.

02 · SURFACE FINISH

Choose a surface style

Matte uses a soft diffuse CAD-clay response. Plastic adds a clearer studio highlight. Metal uses a restrained satin reflection. These choices share the same neutral studio environment and tone mapping.

03 · CAD READABILITY

Feature edges do not change the solid

The edge overlay is a smooth antialiased display pass. It does not add geometry, split faces or become part of 3MF export. Selection and validation colors remain independent from the black feature lines.

REFERENCE GEOMETRY

Planes use their own subdued materials

Top, Front and Right planes use neutral low-opacity surfaces and orientation grids. Their appearance is intentionally isolated from model lighting and surface finish so Metal or Plastic cannot oversaturate reference geometry.

LOCAL PREFERENCE

Display settings stay outside the project

Viewport appearance does not change feature history, `.cadiv` project geometry, selection overlays or exported output. Use it to improve readability for the current modelling task.