I think you mean you want to create a new style that uses the tracing paper background. Use the Mix tab in the Styles panel. Drag the desired style thumbnail to the Background settings since it’s the background that you’re after.
After you do that the style will be modified so you’ll need to click on the thumbnail to update the style. If you want that new style for all models, do this in a blank file and save as a template after you’ve edited its style.
I’m glad someone explained changing the reversed face colors to make them more recognizable. I use SU primarily for developing 3D printing objects. While there are thousands of terrific drawings in the SU 3D Warehouse, many are not created with printing in mind and have no control over normal versus reversed faces. When you export an SU file as an STL (stereo lithography file), any reversed faces show up as black holes… nothing there. And the print fails since it can print nothing. The orient faces tool works, but often reverses one face and changes another to the wrong side and you have to go back and do it manually. Here’s an example of what a 3D Warehouse file looks like when the reversed faces are highlighted.
Everything that’s red is reversed and will not print. It’s a stunning drawing, but absolutely useless if I wanted to export as an STL. To make the changes will take some time. When I’m drawing new objects, I manage faces from the get go. I’m always vigilant to ensure that shapes are normal faced.
I find that how you extrude can determine how the faces appear. It’s like pulling on your socks either normally or reversed. If the shape extrudes reversed, I go back and change the original flat face to reversed and then extrude and the shape will have normal faces.
This is the important point. Sometimes you’re going to have reversed faces but fixing them immediately makes the whole workflow easier.
Because the object contains smoothed surfaces you need to decide a strategy.
Having View > Hidden Geometry ON will let you select just one face[et] of a surface and Reverse it, then decide if using Orient with it is appropriate…
If it’s made in groups or components then adjacent a faces won’t confuse ‘orient’ as much…
The Orient Faces function usually works perfectly when the object is a solid. A “random” result usually means that the geometry contains things like internal faces that make the “inside” and “outside” of the object ambiguous. For successful 3D printing a model has to consist of solids.
Nightmare fuel.
