Assigning materials to entities and layers

When you create new entities, they are drawn with the current material. To draw new entities with a different material, you must first make that material the current material.  

You can also separately assign materials to specific entities and layers.

To make a material current

   1   Do one of the following to choose Explore Materials ():    

    On the ribbon, choose Tools > Materials (in Explorer).

    On the menu, choose Tools > Explorer > Explore Materials.

    On the Format toolbar, click the Explore Materials tool.

    Type expmaterials and then press Enter.

   2   Select the material you want to make current.

   3   Do one of the following:

    Choose Edit > Current (if Show as Palettes is not turned on).

    Click the Current tool ().

    Double-click the material name.

    Right-click the material name, and from the shortcut menu, select Current.

To assign a material to an entity

   1   Do one of the following:    

    Drag-and-drop a material from the Materials Explorer palette to an entity.

    Select an entity and in the Properties pane, choose the desired material.

    Select an entity, type change, and follow the prompts to modify the material property.

To assign a material to a layer

   1   Do one of the following to choose Explore Layers ():     

    On the ribbon, choose Home > Explore Layers (in Layers) or choose Tools > Layers (in Explorer).

    On the menu, choose Format > Explore Layers or choose Tools > Explorer > Explore Layers.

    On the Explorer toolbar, click the Explore Layers tool.

    Type explayers and then press Enter.

   2   Click in the Material column for the desired layer.

    3    Select a material from the list.