The Preferences dialogue box Adjusts many of the basic settings in Flexi. You'll find in the main menu by going to Edit > Preferences. We'll walk through this dialogue tab by tab.
General
The General tab has many basic settings.
Maximum Undo/Redo: This stores how many Undo functions flexi will hang on to. A higher value will allow you to save more Undo functions but it will use more RAM. Note that these Undos are temporary and will be cleared when Flexi closes.
Selection tolerance: Determines how close the cursor must be to an object to be able to select it. Setting a larger value makes it easier to select points.
Constrain angle: Sets the Constrain Angle when you rotate objects with Shift pressed. The rotation will be performed in the increment defined by this field.
Moving distance with arrow keys: You can decide how far you can nudge an object when using the arrow keys. Pixels will use the pixels of your screen and will be scaled to how zoomed out you are. Distance moves it exactly the number of inches in the field.
Save documents every...: This will autosave all files you are working on at the interval you give it. If you haven't yet saved a file, it will open a Save As... dialogue box for you.
Trash Capacity: You can right click an item and toss it in the "Trash", in case you don't want it, but also don't want to delete it immediately. This will decide how many objects will be stored in the Trash before it will begin deleting them. Oldest objects are deleted first.
Precision: Determines how many digits are allowed in the number fields in various places around Flexi. If a number has more decimal points than this value allows for, the number will be rounded up.
Drag and Drop Images: When a image is dragged from your desktop or a folder and dropped into Flexi, this option will determine how Flexi will treat the new object. Embed will import a copy of the object into Flexi and making it part of the file, whereas Link will leave the file as is and link to it. Note that linked objects simply bring in an uneditable preview of the object. It can still be resized and printed, but it cannot be manipulated like a normal object in Flexi. Additionally, the file that the linked object references must remain in the same folder. If it is moved or deleted, the Flexi file will lose it.
Display Color Popup Window: This will change how you see the color popup window in places like Design Central and the Fill Stroke Editor.
- List View: Lists the color with its name
- Palette View: Lists the colors in a grid. Note that you can hover over a color to see its name.
Save Settings on Exit: When checked, the current settings for the software will be saved when the software exits and restored the next time the software starts up. If cleared, the settings are not saved, and at startup the software will load the settings that were in place the last time the software was shut down with this option selected. (Selected by default)
Smooth Screen Display: By default, all objects in the design area are displayed using anti-aliasing to eliminate jagged edges on curves and provide a more attractive and accurate view of the design.
Backup... and Restore...: This allows you to back up all of your major settings with Flexi, including your ICC profiles, Presets, Templates, and more. Backup will save the backup file and will automatically backup at the interval you choose. Restore will restore those backed up settings.
Restore Defaults: Resets all fields and options on the General tab back to their factory default settings.
File Paths
Document: This will determine where the Flexi file you are working on is saved, and where the Import and Save functions in the File menu will default to. Check the box to keep it where the current file is saved. If you want a specific location every time, click Browse... and uncheck the box.
Temporary Files: While Flexi works, it will need to create and store temporary files that will reference. This File path shouldn't necessarily change unless the hard drive you have Flexi installed on is very low on space and you need to conserve it.
Adobe Plugins: Flexi is compatible with a handful of Adobe Plugins. If you have them installed, you can point it your Adobe Plugins folder for Flexi to load them. If you change this file path, you will need to restart Flexi.
Restore Defaults: Resets all fields and options on the File Paths tab back to their factory default settings.
Font
Font: This is the file path for FSFonts. This is NOT the file path for your normal fonts. This is for the old FSFont system for older versions of Flexi. If you do not have any FSFonts, ignore this tab. Windows handles all modern fonts and gives them to Flexi.
Password: If the FSFont is protected by a password, click Add to enter the password. To delete a password, select the password and click Delete.
This setting only applies to version 10 and older.
Specify Flexi / Casmate fonts with open paths: To specify that a Flexi or Casmate font will not be filled (for use in engraving, for example), select the font in the list and check Open. The font will be rendered as an outline.
Restore Defaults: Resets all fields and options on the Font tab back to their factory default settings.
Tools
Check Spelling: Uses Windows spell checker and the selected dictionary to check your spelling as you type.
Cloud Page: Disable submission of file names to the cloud: When a file is sent to the cloud (whether it is uploaded to storage or submitted to the approval tool), it will not save the file name and will instead use a generic name.
Meter: These preferences allow you to specify the colorimeter used in your software to measure color values and the port where the measurement device is connected.
Paste: This changes how the Paste function operates when you paste an object. Normally when you Paste an object, a dotted rectangle will show up allowing you to place where you want. This changes it so that it automatically pastes in relation to the existing object. You can define how far you want it to paste.
RIP & Print: This has relevance to the RIP & Print window specifically. You can have the RIP & Print window communicate with the Production Manager using TCP/IP (the networking language) or you can have it communicate normally. It is on by default. Some Anti-Virus software keep them from communicating.
When a job from this file has been sent to production manager, if you change any settings there, it will see those changes and ask you if you want to change them. However, if you wish to keep the settings in RIP & Print or Production Manager without seeing that dialogue box, you can select that option here.
This allows you to operate a 32-bit version of Production Manager while using 64-bit Flexi. This is important for some older printers and devices that require a 32-bit Production Manager to operate.
Select Tool: When you are selecting multiple objects at once with click and drag, you can choose whether you need to simply touch an object to have it be selected or be fully enclosed by the selection marquee.
Show Fills: These preferences allow you to specify how the paths are displayed when the Show Fill setting is off.
Show Grid: If you wish to have a grid show on the artboard, you can instead have it show as dots aligned in a grid instead of grid lines.
Text Tool: This changes how Flexi will create and manipulate text. It lets you select how the software will display font size and width, tracking, and word spacing. You can also decide whether Chinese language kits should be used.
Zoom: Selects whether the zoom and pan tool will be used only once before returning to the previous tool.
Restore Defaults: Resets all fields and options on the current tool back to their factory default settings.