Using Themes and Styles

Format settings are applied directly to objects in Layout mode using the controls found in the Format menu or in the Appearance tab of the Inspector pane (Chapter 19 ). Although first appearing basic, there is a very sophisticated formatting system hiding among these unassuming controls. Every object is made up of one or more parts and several operational states, each of which can be individually styled using the appearance settings. The collection of format settings assigned to one object can be saved to a custom named style to act as a template. Styles can be applied to other objects of the same type so that a change to the settings of one can be saved back to the style template and automatically update all the others. All the styles defined for every object type are stored in a collection called a theme which is assigned to one or more layouts. When style changes to objects on one layout are saved back to the theme, those changes are automatically applied to all the objects on every layout using the theme. This facilitates consistency in object design across multiple objects and layouts, keeping format settings synchronized throughout an entire file. It is also recommended as a best practice for improved system performance. This chapter covers the basics of using themes and styles, including the following: