Coloring Parts and Instances
There is a macro paint.py which assigns standard colors to parts. For background and implementation see Claude skill, in German.
- If the color is assigned to a body in a library file (PartDesign parts), then this sets the standard color for this parts and any instances in assemblies initially have this color.
- If the color is assigned to a link (part instance) in an assembly, the default color is overridden.
This avoids the need to provide separate library parts for color variants. Each part has a default color, that you can change in the assembly.
As of FreeCAD 1.1.1 this override is stored in the file but not respected upon re-opening of the file. This is fixed in 26.3.0dev. For the time being, the macro refresh_colors.py re-activates the override after loading the file.
The macro provides a dialog with the following colors:
As of July 2026, a unified generic profile is used for all colors:
Specular=(0.60,0.60,0.60), Ambient=(0.30,0.30,0.30), Shininess=0.25.
Only Diffuse differs per color (see "Known FreeCAD issue" note below for why).
| Name | Diffuse (R,G,B) | Hint |
|---|---|---|
| Black | (0.228, 0.228, 0.228) | Lightened for better edge visibility |
| Red | (1.000, 0.000, 0.000) | |
| Orange | (1.000, 0.506, 0.008) | |
| Yellow | (1.000, 1.000, 0.000) | |
| Beige (C13) | (0.992, 0.729, 0.004) | From HTML #fdba01; only occurs in box C13 |
| Blue | (0.004, 0.329, 0.635) | |
| Grey | (0.678, 0.710, 0.741) | Plastic grey |
| White | (1.000, 0.984, 0.941) | Slightly off-white |
Based on the FreeCAD default material: Diffuse (173,181,189), Ambient (85,85,85), Specular (136,136,136), Shininess=90 (GUI) = 0.90 (internal). The bluish tint is kept, only the brightness is scaled.
| Name | Diffuse scale | Diffuse (R,G,B) |
|---|---|---|
| Metal light | ×1.30 | (0.882, 0.923, 0.964) |
| Metal medium | ×1.00 | (0.678, 0.710, 0.741) |
| Metal dark | ×0.65 | (0.441, 0.461, 0.482) |
| Standard | ×1.00 | same as Metal medium – reset |