---
title: Preferences
order: 10
---

Chisel's addon preferences live in `Edit → Preferences → Add-ons → Chisel`. They cover the addon's behavior, the appearance of in-viewport gizmos, and a status panel for the underlying GPU and native libraries.

## Where settings live

Chisel settings are split across three places. Knowing which is which saves time hunting for them.

- **Addon preferences** *(this page)* — `Edit → Preferences → Add-ons → Chisel`. Theme colors, gizmo geometry, library status, GPU backend.
- **Scene render settings** — `Render Properties` panel. Engine quality, matcap, proxy, baking. See [Render Engine](render-engine/index.md).
- **Per-object settings** — `Object Properties → Chisel`. Primitive parameters, modifier list, bake direction. See [Interface: Panels](interface/panels.md).
- **Modifier panel menu** — the gear/dropdown at the top of the Chisel modifier list contains panel-local toggles such as **Auto-expand new modifiers** (whether newly added modifiers start expanded).

## Theme

Modal guides, gizmo dots, and arc rings all read from the theme. Each operation has its own color so you can identify a modifier at a glance.

### Modal guide colors

- **Rounding** — primitive edge fillets
- **Bevel** — vertical edges on prism / trapezoid
- **Blend** — boolean blend radius
- **Emboss** / **Engrave** — emboss and engrave seam guides

### Modifier dot colors

- **Boolean Difference** / **Union** / **Intersect**
- **Push / Pull** (emboss / engrave)
- **Default modifier** — fallback for other modifier types

### Sizing

- **Dot Radius** — gizmo dot size (default `0.05`)
- **Arc Inner Radius** — inner radius of the arc gizmo (default `1.60`)
- **Arc Width** — gizmo arc thickness (default `0.03`)
- **Arc Gap** — gap between concentric arc rings (default `0.15`)

## Status

The status panel is informational, but it surfaces the things most likely to bite a new install.

### Native library

Shows the version and load status of the library that powers proxy mesh baking and SDF-to-mesh conversion. If a version mismatch is detected after an update, click **Update Native Libraries** and restart Blender.

### GPU backend

Displays the active backend (Vulkan / OpenGL / Metal). If OpenGL is detected on Windows or Linux, the panel recommends switching to Vulkan via `Edit → Preferences → System → Backend` for a 5–10× speedup. Metal is fully supported on macOS.

### Shader status

Shows whether the ray-marching shaders are compiled. The **Recompile Shaders** button kicks off a fresh compilation in the background — useful after a driver update or when something looks off.

> First viewport use after a fresh install or driver swap will pause briefly while shaders compile. See the [shader compilation note](index.md#first-run-shader-compilation) on the home page for the full picture.

## See also

- [Render Engine](render-engine/index.md) — per-scene render settings
- [Interface: Gizmos](interface/gizmos.md) — where the gizmo theme is visible