How to Change Background Color in AutoCAD (And Other Color Settings!)

AutoCAD Model Space Drafting Area is the place where every user spends most of their time. The drafting Area in AutoCAD is the blank canvas on which all the information is placed. This is why it is very important to set it the way you feel most comfortable working.
In the past when our colleagues have used blank pieces of paper to draw everything, today we are privileged to use AutoCAD’s Interactive canvas that can Change Background Color, use Background Grid Lines, and change Marker Colors (Crosshair color) with a click of a mouse.

Change AutoCAD Background Color

We shall start our exploration with Changing Background Color of AutoCAD. To do that follow the steps below:

  1. First, right-click on the screen and open Options.
  2. In the Options window go to Display tab and click on Colors.
    How to change colors of autocad
  3. A window will pop-up called Drawing Window Colors, under Context choose 2D Model Space, and under Interface Element, Uniform Background.
  4. On the Color list, select the color that you want to use as AutoCAD Background Color.
    how to change background color in autocad
  5. Hit Apply & Close and your Background Color will be changed!

Note: To go back to the default color settings, click the Restore button on Drawing Window Colors.

Change Layout Background Color in AutoCAD

I really hope you are using AutoCAD Layouts as they are quite an important part of the drawing and can imennsly improve your productivity as discussed in AutoCAD Layouts (8 Reasons to Start Using them!).
I personally like to draw on Black Background. Knowing that the layout tab is created so we can more easily imagine how the drawing would look on a sheet of paper, I still prefer having a black background even on the layout sheet.
So to change layout background color follow the already familiar steps below:

  1. First, right-click on the empty screen and select Options.
  2. On the Options window go to Display tab and click on Colors.
  3. Then, On the Drawing Window Colors, under Context choose Sheet/layout, and under Interface Element select Uniform Background.
  4. On the Color list, select the color that will be used as Layout Background Color .
    how to change layout colors
  5. Lastly click on Apply & Close!

If all the colors on the layout tabs are turned monochrome you can check Layout Tab Displays no Colors in AutoCAD (One Click Solution!)

Turn On/Off Background Grid lines and How to change Grid lines color

Some specialists like to have background Grid while drawing, it is very useful when working mostly in orthogonal lines. Also it is really easy to see relative length differences without the need of adding dimensions or checking manually.
To Turn On or Off Background Grid Lines you can in AutoCAD follow the steps below:

  1. Type on command line GRID
  2. AutoCAD will prompt to Specify grid spacing(X) or [ON/OFF/Snap/Major/aDaptive/Limits/Follow/Aspect] <1.0000>:
  3. Type in the desired grid spacing as it is directly linked to the drawing units.
  4. Then Hit Enter.

The grid lines are instantly added to the AutoCAD Background. Now to change the Grid lines colors we would again go through the same steps as the ones for changing AutoCAD Background Color and Layout Background Colors or more particularly:

  1. Right-click on the blank screen and hit Options.
  2. There in the Display tab click on Colors.
  3. Drawing Window Colors window will pop-up, under Context choose 2D Model Space, and under Interface Element first select Major Grid lines, then Minor Grid lines.
  4. On the Color list, select the color that you want to use.
    how to change grid colors in autocad
  5. Hit Apply & Close!

Colors in AutoCAD Conclusions

In conclusion we can easily say that almost all AutoCAD colors are controlled by the Drawing Window Colors. The same way as Chaning Background Color you can easily change the color of AutoCAD Cross hairs, Tracking vector color, Command line etc.

Hope you the advice useful!
Don’t forget to check out our other AutoCAD Tips and Share the post with your Colleagues!

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