Max lets you define styles that you can use as you patch; you can
standardize things like the look of user interface objects, font sizes
and formats, and the look of max objects. You can apply a style to
a specific Max patch, create your own personal library of styles to be
applied as you patch, or make use of "factory styles" that come with Max.
You can also use styles in connection with Max templates to create
your own unique default patching environment.
Styles are created and managed using the
Format palette.
Applying a style to a patcher
Click on an empty section of a patcher, then click on the Format Button
to open the
Format
palette toolbar.
Click on the style menu on the left-hand side of the toolbar to show
the style menu.
The style menu lets you choose from styles you have created and added to
your own Max library (available using the Library entry), styles
recently used in the current patcher (which will be listed just below the
Library entry), or from Max Factory Styles (located at the bottom of the
menu).
Choose any of these styles from the pull-down menu. The menu will
display the current style, and that style will be applied to your
patcher.
Creating a new style
Click on an empty section of a patcher, then click on the Format Button
to open the
Format
palette toolbar. Make your desired changes to the interface.
Click on the style menu on the left-hand side of the Format palette
toolbar and choose Define New Style from the pull-down menu.
The style dialog will appear.
Type in the name of your style. When you hit a carriage return, the
style will be created and be added to a list of patcher styles.
Adding a Style to your Library
A Library Style is dependency-free, saved to disk, and does not rely on any other Styles.
To add a Library Style, click on an empty section of a patcher, then click on the Format Button
to open the
Format
palette toolbar. Select the style for your patcher that you want
to save to the Library.
Click on the style menu and choose Copy <style name> to
Library from the pull-down menu.
The style you have selected will now appear in the Library tab of the
Style menu
Library styles can be found at ~/Documents/Max 8/Styles
on a Macintosh, and %HOMEPATH%\Documents\Max 8\Styles
on a Windows system.
Removing a style from your library
Click on an empty section of a patcher, then click on the Format Button
to open the
Format
palette toolbar.
Click on the style menu on the left-hand side of the Format palette
toolbar and hover over the Library menu entry. This will display
all of the styles you have added to the Library.
Click on the deletion button to remove a specific style.
To remove all styles that are not being used in a patch, select Remove Unused Styles from the style menu. This
will removed all unsed styles that may have been inherited from copying and pasting a different user's patch, or opening a
different user's patch on your machine.
Modifying a style
Click on an empty section of a patcher, then click on the Format Button
to open the
Format
palette toolbar. Use the Format palette to make your desired
changes to the object. When you do, you will notice that a plus
sign appears alongside the current style in the style menu to
indicate that the style has been changed.
Click on the style menu on the left-hand side of the Format palette
toolbar. Making changes in an object with a style applied to it will
enable several menu options in the pull-down menu.
Choose Redefine to redefine the current style to match
your changes.
Choose Revert to revert to the style you originally applied to the object.
Choose Rename to rename the style you originally applied to the
object. When you choose this option, the style dialog will appear
Type in the name of your style. When you hit a carriage return, the style will be created and be added to a list of patcher styles.
Choose Clear Style to return the attributes of the object to their default state (precisely as if you had selected
Set to Default Values from Max's Object menu).
