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Adjust preferences

Adjust global preferences for Capstone.

The Preferences menu for Capstone can be accessed by clicking the File tab in the top-left of the window and selecting Preferences from the list. This menu allows you to adjust various global settings for Capstone, including the active language and what features are displayed by default on the various palettes, allowing you to configure the program to your liking.

Preferences Menu

Note

Changes to preferences will not be applied until you restart Capstone.

The Preferences menu is divided into several submenus, sorting preferences by the areas of the program they affect. For more information on an individual preference, click on the preference's name to display a description of that preference in the box at the bottom of the dialog window.

  • General Application

    This section contains preferences which apply to the program as a whole, such as the default folder for saving and opening experiment files and a toggleable option to automatically maximize the program on startup. PASCO analytics and automatic checking for updates can also be enabled or disabled from this section.

  • Preference File

    This section allows you to output your current preference settings as a .ini file; you can also import an existing preferences .ini file from this section. These files can be shared with students, teaching assistants, or other teachers, allowing you to ensure that all participants in a lab are using the same preference settings, among other applications.

  • Language

    Here you can select the language in which text is displayed. You can also enable or disable UK timing modes for the Timer Setup tool from this section.

  • Workbook

    This section contains properties which control the general layout of the workbook, including the default font size for displays, the Workbook aspect ratio, and the number of experiments which appear in the File > Recent Experiments menu. The visibility of Quick Start Experiments, display titles, and the Master Page and Page Properties buttons can all be toggled here as well.

  • Graph Properties

    These properties control features of the Graph display, allowing you to adjust the following features, among others:

    • The visibility and size of data points, run symbols, and connecting lines.
    • Whether or not error bars are displayed by default.
    • The color of the x-axis and y-axis.
    • The visibility, alignment, and font of the graph title.

  • Graph Toolbar Visibility

    This section controls which tools are visible on the toolbar of the Graph display. Uncheck a box in this section to hide the corresponding tool in all Graph displays.

  • Tools Palette

    This section controls which tools are visible by default in the Tools palette. You can also adjust features such as the visibility of labels on the Tools palette and whether or not tools are pinned by default when opened.

  • Displays Palette

    This section controls which types of displays are visible by default in the Displays palette. You can also adjust the visibility of the Display palette labels from this section.

  • Controls Palette

    This section controls which control elements are visible by default in the Controls palette. You can also adjust the visibility of the Controls palette labels from this section.

  • Circuit Appearance

    This section lets you select whether elements in the Circuit display are represented with American symbols or IEC symbols.

  • Sensor Preferences

    This section lets you select whether or not to enable beeps from a connected Wireless Geiger Counter, as well as adjust settings related to derived velocity and acceleration.