Preferences

Open Edit ▸ Preferences ▸ Add-ons, find Gradient Tools, and expand it to set your defaults. These apply to new (and imported) palettes — existing palettes keep their own settings.

Default grid size for new palettes

Setting	Default	Notes
Default Columns	4	Horizontal cells for a new palette (1–64).
Default Rows	4	Vertical cells for a new palette (1–64).

Default texture size for new palettes

Setting	Default	Notes
Default Width	1024 px	Texture width for new and imported palettes.
Default Height	1024 px	Texture height for new and imported palettes.

New palettes, loaded presets, and imports that carry no size of their own all adopt this default. (Exported .json palettes remember and restore their own saved size.)

Default strip type

Setting	Default	Notes
Default Strip Type	Flat Color	The type used when you add a new strip (Flat Color or Gradient).

Strip selector style

Setting	Default	Notes
Strip Selector Style	Grid	Layout of the read-only strip picker shown in UV Tools and Curve Gradient (Grid or List). Each cell shows the strip's real colour or real gradient as a crisp swatch — pick one to apply. The full editor stays in the Strips panel.

Material Look

Setting	Default	Notes
Follow selection in Material Look	On	Auto-selects the look carried by the selected object (or selected faces) when it's a single look, so its parameters are editable immediately in the Material Look panel — no hunting through the material dropdown.
Show built-in look presets	On	Show the five built-in Material Look presets (Chrome, Clay, Frosted Glass, Cel Toon, Matte Plastic) in the look preset picker. Turn off to see only your own saved looks.

Two different \"built-in presets\" settings

The Preset settings ▸ Show Built-in Presets setting controls the built-in palette presets (Flat Colors, Grayscale, Gradients). Show built-in look presets controls the built-in Material Look presets. They are independent — toggling one has no effect on the other.

Preset settings

Setting	Default	Notes
Show Built-in Presets	On	Show the system palette presets (Flat Colors, Grayscale, Gradients) in the picker. Turn off to see only your own saved palettes. (Distinct from Show built-in look presets above, which controls Material Look presets.)

Performance

Setting	Default	Notes
Live update while editing gradients	On	Refresh the palette texture live while you tweak a gradient. Turn it off to update manually with Update Texture — useful on heavy scenes where continuous refresh feels slow.

Help

Setting	Notes
Documentation	Opens the online documentation in your browser.
Show Quick Start	Show the Quick Start helper block at the top of the Gradient Tools panel. Turn it off here, or dismiss it in-panel with Don't show again (which also points you back to this preference).

Tip

Set your Default Width/Height once to the resolution you usually work at, so every new palette and import starts at the right size without fiddling.