Modeling
About Archicad's design tools, element connections, modeling concepts, etc.

toolbar / cursor size

Anonymous
Not applicable
I just switched to ArchiCAD from AutoCAD, and I'm struggling with the minuscule icons on the toolbars and the near-invisible cursor.

I've turned on the text descriptions for the toolbars, but that's not practical/space efficient; increasing the Windows display resolution just makes the image horribly blocky -- I really need larger icons, surely this is possible in a mature program like ArchiCAD??

the other issue is the cursor size -- the default Windows pointer is visible when the mouse is over a toolbar/menu, but at all others times, it switches to custom Graphisoft cursors, which are giving me migraines from eyestrain to see -- I'd like to be able to increase the cursor, or at least have some kind of cross-hairs option??

help please!!
21 REPLIES 21
Gerald Hoffman
Booster
Barry wrote:
Do I remember correctly that back in about version 6.5 there was an option for enlarging the toolbars and palettes?
This was back when they were a fixed shape.
Must have been dumped when they became stretchable.
Barry.


Barry, I don't remember if it was 6.5 or not but we did have that option at some time in the past. It was rather handy as I recall. I also would like to see some ability to change icon and cursor size.
Gerald
"The simplification of anything is always sensational" GKC
AC 25-4013 USA, CadImage Tools
2019 MacBook Pro 16" w/ AMD Radeon Pro 5600M GPU
OS X 11.6
2.4 Ghz 8 core i9, 64 GB RAM
27" LG 5K Monitor
Anonymous
Not applicable
Barry wrote:
Do I remember correctly that back in about version 6.5 there was an option for enlarging the toolbars and palettes?
This was back when they were a fixed shape.
Must have been dumped when they became stretchable.
Barry.
by 'stretchable' you mean they can be reshaped, but not resized ??
Barry Kelly
Moderator
krzystoff wrote:
by 'stretchable' you mean they can be reshaped, but not resized ??
Yes reshaped is what I meant.
Barry.
One of the forum moderators.
Versions 6.5 to 27
Dell XPS- i7-6700 @ 3.4Ghz, 16GB ram, GeForce GTX 960 (2GB), Windows 10
Lenovo Thinkpad - i7-1270P 2.20 GHz, 32GB RAM, Nvidia T550, Windows 11
KeesW
Advocate
I seem to remember that Autocad had (has?) a cursor comprising a cross of full length and height lines. Very clear, even on a cluttered screen. I don't think that we can create this in ArchiCad but sometimes wish that we could.
Cornelis (Kees) Wegman

cornelis wegman architects
AC 5 - 26 Dell XPS 8940 Win 10 16GB 1TB SSD 2TB HD RTX 3070 GPU
Laptop: AC 24 - 26 Win 10 16GB 1TB SSD RTX 3070 GPU
Anonymous
Not applicable
KeesW wrote:
I seem to remember that Autocad had (has?) a cursor comprising a cross of full length and height lines. Very clear, even on a cluttered screen. I don't think that we can create this in ArchiCad but sometimes wish that we could.


You are in luck! This was introduced in AC13 I believe. Activate the ruler ('View' > 'Ruler') and right click on it to bring up a little menu. Select 'cursor projection' to turn this on. You can then turn off the rulers and the cursor will remain. I can't find anywhere in the standard work environment where you can just turn this on without first activating the ruler, but you can easily add the button to any toolbar or menu (maybe the on-screen view options?).

Personally I find it quite distracting, but try it out to see if it helps!
KeesW
Advocate
Thank you Peter. I too have trouble finding the Archicad standard cursor on my 27" screen when the screen is cluttered with stuff. Archicad's 'ruler' technique is obviously designed to do what we want - i.e. create full horizontal and vertical extension lines and it works!

Since you are so wise, can you also tell us how we can change the colour of the hor & vert cursor lines to make them even more visible? I've checked the obvious places, including the OS' mouse settings.
Cornelis (Kees) Wegman

cornelis wegman architects
AC 5 - 26 Dell XPS 8940 Win 10 16GB 1TB SSD 2TB HD RTX 3070 GPU
Laptop: AC 24 - 26 Win 10 16GB 1TB SSD RTX 3070 GPU
Barry Kelly
Moderator
KeesW wrote:
Since you are so wise, can you also tell us how we can change the colour of the hor & vert cursor lines to make them even more visible? I've checked the obvious places, including the OS' mouse settings.
I don't think you can.
It is just a dotted black line - a bit like the marquee.
I don't know of any control over the colour or line style.

I thought it may be linked with the grid line colour but it seems not.

Barry.
One of the forum moderators.
Versions 6.5 to 27
Dell XPS- i7-6700 @ 3.4Ghz, 16GB ram, GeForce GTX 960 (2GB), Windows 10
Lenovo Thinkpad - i7-1270P 2.20 GHz, 32GB RAM, Nvidia T550, Windows 11
Stress Co_
Advisor
KeesW wrote:
I too have trouble finding the Archicad standard cursor on my 27" screen when the screen is cluttered with stuff.
I'm not on a PC... but does THIS HELP ?
Marc Corney, Architect
Red Canoe Architecture, P. A.

Mac OS 10.15.7 (Catalina) //// Mac OS 14.2.1 (Sonoma)
Processor: 3.6 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9 //// Apple M2 Max
Memory: 48 GB 2667 MHz DDR4 //// 32 GB
Graphics: Radeon Pro 580X 8GB //// 12C CPU, 30C GPU
ArchiCAD 25 (5010 USA Full) //// ArchiCAD 27 (4030 USA Full)
sinceV6
Advocate
Barry wrote:
KeesW wrote:
Since you are so wise, can you also tell us how we can change the colour of the hor & vert cursor lines to make them even more visible? I've checked the obvious places, including the OS' mouse settings.
I don't think you can.
It is just a dotted black line - a bit like the marquee.
I don't know of any control over the colour or line style.

I thought it may be linked with the grid line colour but it seems not.

Barry.
Feedback graphics color (on-screen options) control these (and any other that falls in the category, such as the stretchy line when dragging). I set mine to red (highlights on selection and element pre-selection are also red). Really pops out what you're doing.

Cheers.
__archiben
Booster
Barry wrote:
I don't think you can.
It is just a dotted black line - a bit like the marquee.
I don't know of any control over the colour or line style.

I thought it may be linked with the grid line colour but it seems not.
Feedback graphics in the WE:

Work Environment... > User Preference Schemes > On-screen Options
feedback.JPG
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