Changing Structure Styles

Structure styles includes such features as the representation and coloring of atoms and bonds, labeling of atoms, display and appearance of surfaces and residue ribbons. Here the general procedures for changing styles are presented. In the following topics, specific changes are described in more detail.

Flexible Styling

The maximum flexibility in styling is available from the the Style Toolbox. Here you can change any feature of the style for any selection of atoms.

To style atoms in the Workspace, you can do one of the following. All of these actions open the Style Toolbox, so you can choose the style you want to apply. Once you have made the change, the toolbox closes.

• Click the Style button on the toolbar.
  
  Style changes are applied to the selected atoms, or if there is no selection, to all atoms.

• Right-click on one of the selected atoms in the Workspace and choose Style from the shortcut menu.

• Click on the Style button to the right of a structure in the Structure Hierarchy (Hierarchy).
  
  This button appears when the pointer is over a row in the hierarchy. The style change you choose is applied to the atoms in the structure represented by the row.

To style the selected entries, you can do one of the following:

• Click the Style button on the Entry List toolbar.

• Right-click the selection in the Entry List or the Project Table, and choose Style.

Style changes are applied to the selected entries. If any of the entries is locked (noneditable), you are given the choice to deselect the locked entries and style the rest, or cancel the styling operation. The atoms to style are selected from the option menu at the top of the toolbox. A progress bar is shown if a large number of atoms or entries are styled.

Preset Styles

Maestro also provides a number of preset styles, which are applied to the entire Workspace. These styles include all the features that can be set in the Style toolbox—atom visibility, atom and bond style, color, labels, ribbons, and surfaces, and in addition interactions such as H-bonds, pi interactions, and contacts. (The protein-related items are not present in the Materials Science profile.)

To apply a preset style, click the Presets button on the toolbar, and choose the style from the menu that is displayed (or choose Workspace → Preset Style to display this menu).

The menu also allows you to apply a preset style that you have generated and stored, and to set up and manage these custom preset styles in the Manage Custom Presets Dialog Box. Custom presets are stored in your Maestro user resources directory. You can also designate a style as the default style.

To apply the default custom preset style, you can do one of the following:

• Double-click the Presets button

• Click the Presets button and choose Apply Default Custom Preset.

The custom style can be applied automatically when the Workspace changes (entries are included or excluded): to turn this feature on or off, click the button and choose Reapply when Workspace Changes.