On the Views tab of the Control Panel, you can make settings for the appearance and behavior of both the 2D view and the 3D view.
The Views tab in the Control Panel.
3D views
- Selection style in 3D views: By default, selected components in the 3D view will have an outline selection style, but you can also choose a stripe outline or box, or to have no selection style at all.
- Use view focus point: By deselecting this option, CET switches to pointer-based navigation. This means that any zooming in or out is centered on the position of the mouse pointer on your screen. The same goes for rotating your view. CET will rotate the view around the object currently located underneath the pointer. Having the option selected will show a spot in the 3D view that you can place as the point on which on which to zoom, and the point around which to orbit. This option is disabled by default. Learn more about the view focus point here.
- Show navigation bar in 3D view: Shows or hides the 3D view navigation bar which can be used to zoom and orbit more easily without a mouse. This checkbox is selected by default. (It is not recommended to use CET without a mouse.) Learn more about the view focus point here.
- Hide objects when following 2D view: This option limits the 3D view to only show what is currently visible in the 2D view when Follow 2D view is activated from the 3D view toolbar.
- Camera step angle: When rotating the camera around the 3D view, CET snaps to different angle steps. Note that rotating the camera quickly will stop CET from snapping the 3D view into position.
This option makes it easier to snap to a straight-down view for overhead renderings.
2D views
- Display a frame around the selection in the 2D view: A colored frame will be displayed around selected components in the 2D view. This checkbox is selected by default.
Miscellaneous
- Show component preview below the component tab: Previews a selected component below the component tab. This checkbox is selected by default.
- Keep dialogs on the same screen: Opens all new dialogs on the same screen as CET is open on.
If you ever open a dialog that does NOT open on the same screen, or you can't find it on any screen, use the keyboard shortcut "Alt + G" (Gather all dialogs) to bring all open windows onto the same screen as CET. - Enable movement aid: Lets you enable/disable the movement aid (pink/gray dashed line in 2D and 3D) when moving or copying objects. This is on by default.
- Rotate from any connector: Enabling (checked) allows you to rotate from any Connector on an object. Disabling (unchecked) will turn this feature off; giving you the option to rotate only using the Rotating Icon. This is enabled (checked) by default.
2D View Background / 3D View Background
Select background color for your views. Click the button for the view you wish to change and select background color. Clicking the red X resets the background color to default (white).
CET does not automatically change the color of placed objects to ensure their visibility for custom background colors. For example, a pure black background choice will result in black lines and objects not being visible.

Comments
4 comments
On my CET Designer, there're only "Box" and "None" in the drop down of the "Selection style in 3D views", no "Outline" option. What might be missing?
Also the "Keep dialogs on same screen" doesn't seem to work. Any ideas?
BTW, my version of CET is 11.5. Thanks.
Hi William!
I've noticed that the Outline options only appear if Hardware mode is selected on the Graphics tab of Control Panel. If you do have Hardware mode (not to be confused with Hardware safe mode) and you still don't have these options, please Contact Us. :)
As for the Keep Dialogs on same screen setting, that does not seem to work for me either so I've sent in a support ticket on your behalf for this. If you ever need to find a dialog that is appearing off-screen, you can press Alt-G or use Views > Gather open dialogs.
Thanks!
For the Outline option to be available, your main graphics card must be either be a Nvidia, AMD, or ATI branded graphics card.
And then under the Graphics Tab of the Control Panel, your Realtime graphics mode must be in Hardware mode.
Thanks, guys! My Nvidia graphics card was grayed out on the tab. I thought it was selected but it was actually having issues so it was disabled. After I upgraded the Nvidia driver and restarted, boom! My laptop couldn't start anymore! Not sure if they were related, but long story short, after my laptop replaced, it works fine now. And this is why it took me so long to reply here. :-)
@Curtis For the "Keep Dialogs on same screen" issue, it seems working now on my laptop. Thanks for the help!
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