How to Use Tool Palettes in BricsCAD

Quick answer: A tool palette holds blocks, hatches, and commands in a tabbed window. Drag a tool onto the graphic screen to insert it, or click it to launch the related command directly. Open the panel by hovering over a toolbar or ribbon panel, right-clicking, and choosing Panels > Tool Palettes, or by running TOOLPALETTES.

Setting View Options

1. Click the three-dots button at the top right of the Tool Palettes panel, or right-click an empty area of it.
2. Choose View Options…; the View Options dialog opens.
3. Drag the Image Size slider to adjust icon size.
4. Choose a view style: Icon with text, Icon only, or List view.
5. Choose whether to apply this to the Current Palette or All Palettes.
6. Click OK.

You can also switch view style directly using the three buttons (Icon with text, Icon only, List view) at the top right of the panel itself.

Customizing Tool Palettes

The default folder for tool palettes is set by TOOLPALETTEPATH.

Opening the Customize dialog: click the three-dots button or right-click an empty area of the panel, then choose Customize Palettes…

Importing a palette: right-click in the Palettes panel and choose Import; select a folder and a palette file (.atc, .btc, or .xtp), then open or double-click it to add it to the Palettes list, and click Close.

Creating a palette group: right-click the Palette Groups root folder and choose New Group, then type a name.

Creating a subgroup: right-click an existing group and choose New Group the same way, it nests as a subgroup.

Adding a palette to a group: select the palette and drag it onto the group’s name.

Removing a palette from a group, setting a group current, or deleting a group: select it in the tree, right-click, and choose Remove, Set Current, or Delete respectively.

Renaming and Deleting a Tool Palette

Renaming: right-click the palette’s tab and choose Rename Palette, type a new name, and click Save, or simply double-click the tab and type directly.

Deleting: open the context menu, choose Delete Palette, and confirm with Yes.

Managing Tools on a Palette

Right-click a tool (rectangle-select to grab several at once) for these options:

• Cut / Copy: removes or duplicates the tool; open another palette and choose Paste to place it there.
• Delete: removes the tool after confirmation.
• Rename: sets a new name.
• Specify Image…: replaces the default icon with one you choose.
• Remove Image…: restores the default icon.
• Manage Flyout options…: opens the Flyout Options dialog for managing tool flyouts, including those imported via .xtp.
• Properties: opens the Tool Properties dialog, its available fields depend on the tool type, Command, Hatch, Block, or Component.

Creating a New Tool Palette

Open the context menu, choose New Palette, a new tab appears, then type a name for it.

Adding Hatch Patterns

1. Select the target palette in the Tool Palettes panel.
2. Open the Hatch and Gradient dialog.
3. Choose Predefined or Custom from the Type list, the same pattern type distinction covered on this hub’s hatches page.
4. Double-click the Swatch field; the Hatch Pattern Palette appears.
5. Select a pattern, right-click, and choose Add to Current Tool Palette.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for more patterns.
7. Optionally drag and drop to reorder them on the palette.

Adding Blocks

Blocks can come from the current drawing, any drawing, or every drawing in a folder.

From the current drawing: open the Drawing Explorer, select Blocks, select one or more (Ctrl for multiple), right-click, and choose Add to Current Tool Palette.

From any drawing: open the Drawing Explorer, select Folders, add a local folder if needed, select the drawing, expand it and click Blocks to see them in the Details pane, select the block(s), right-click, and choose Add to Current Tool Palette.

A whole drawing as a block: open the Drawing Explorer, select Folders, add a local folder if needed, select the drawing, then right-click and choose either Add to Current Tool Palette as block (inserted later via INSERT) or as component (inserted via BMINSERT, as a mechanical block).

All blocks from multiple drawings at once: select Folders in the Drawing Explorer, add a local folder if needed, then right-click the folder and choose Add blocks to Tool Palettes. This collects every block from every drawing in that folder into a palette named after each drawing, creating new palettes as needed.

Adding Commands

1. In the Tool Palettes panel, click the plus button and choose Add Tool.
2. In the Customize dialog’s Available Tools panel, expand a menu group (BricsCAD, for example) to list its toolboxes.
3. Expand a toolbox to list its commands.
4. Right-click a command and choose Add to Current Tool Palette.

Adding Text and Separators

Text: click the plus button, choose Add Text, and type your text. It can be moved by drag and drop, cut, copied, and pasted via the context menu, or edited by clicking it and typing a new string.

Separator: click the plus button and choose Add Separator; it can be moved or cut/copied/pasted the same way as text.

Searching for a Tool

Click the search button and start typing a name; the list filters down to tools containing that sequence of characters anywhere in their name, not just at the start.

Frequently Asked Questions

What file formats can I import as a tool palette? .atc, .btc, or .xtp files.

What’s the difference between adding a drawing as a block versus as a component? As a block, it’s later inserted with INSERT. As a component, it’s inserted with BMINSERT instead, as a mechanical block.

Can I add every block from an entire folder of drawings at once? Yes, right-click the folder in the Drawing Explorer and choose Add blocks to Tool Palettes; it builds a palette per drawing automatically.

Does searching for a tool only match the start of its name? No, it matches the typed sequence anywhere within the tool’s name.