To Work With Materials Libraries

 
 
 

How to open and organize materials libraries

Open the Materials Browser

Manage a Materials Library

  1. Click Visualize tab Materials panel Materials Browser.
  2. At the bottom of the Materials Browser, click the Manage Library drop-down menu .

    You can do the following:

    • Open existing library. Displays the Add Library dialog box, where you can select any existing library.
    • Create new library. Displays the Create Library dialog box, where you can save the new library.
    • Remove library. Select the library and click Remove Library.

      When you remove a user library from the Materials Browser, the library file remains on the hard disk. You must manually delete the library file to reclaim hard disk space.

    • Create category. Select the library and click Create Category.
    • Delete category. Select the category and click Delete Category.
    • Rename. Select the library or category and specify the new name.

Add a Material to a Library

  1. Click Visualize tab Materials panel Materials Browser.
  2. In the Materials Browser, right-click the material swatch Add To the name of the library where you want the material to be added.

    You can add the material to multiple libraries.

NOTE:Alternative way to add materials to a library is to drag the swatch to the library.

Delete a Material From a Library

You can remove a material from an unlocked user library using one of the following methods. Locked materials cannot be removed.

Search for a Material in the Library

  1. Click Visualize tab Materials panel Materials Browser.
  2. In the search box at the top of the Materials Browser, enter the name of the material.

    The material library panel lists material libraries that contain matches for the search phrase you entered.

  3. To clear the search and view the unfiltered library, click the X in the search box.

Search for Objects That Use a Material

  1. Click Visualize tab Materials panel Materials Browser.
  2. In the Materials Browser, Document Materials panel, right-click a material Select Objects Applied To.

    Objects that use the material are highlighted in the drawing area.