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Preferences > Display

Various settings that influence the visual representation of the whole program.

Some settings are only displayed in expert mode.

Look and Feel

Some overall options for the behavior and kind of display.

Look and Feel

You can choose the overall theme, the default options are: Metal, Nimbus, CDE / Motif, GTK+, Windows, Windows Classic. Via the plugin FlatLaf more options are available including dark modes (since JOSM version 16974).
Advance preference: laf

Show splash screen at startup

The splash screen shows the loading of the modules and plugins when JOSM starts up.
Advance preference: draw.splashscreen

When ready, JOSM shows an informative welcome page with current news. This Startup page cannot be suppressed.

Show user name in title

A name entered in the Connection Settings is displayed in the Title bar above the Main menu.
Advance preference: draw.show-user

Show object ID in selection lists

Additional to an objects name its unique id is shown in lists of objects.
Advance preference: osm-primitives.showid

Show object version in selection lists

Additionally the objects version number is shown in lists of objects like the Selection panel.
Advance preference: osm-primitives.showversion

Show node coordinates in selection lists

Additionally shows for nodes their coordinates.
Advance preference: osm-primitives.showcoor

Show localized name in selection lists

Show localized name in selection lists, if available. (Expert mode only)
Advance preference: osm-primitives.localize-name

Modeless working (Potlatch style)

Do not require to switch modes (potlatch style workflow). (Expert mode only)
This option modifies the click behavior when editing. It transits between modes in a more automatic way, similar to the online flash editor Potlatch.
Advance preference: modeless

Dynamic buttons in side menus

Display buttons in right side menus only when mouse is inside the element.
Advance preference: dialog.dynamic.buttons

Display ISO dates

Format dates according to ISO 8601. Today's date will be displayed as YYYY-MM-DD instead of your local date format.
Advance preference: iso.dates

Use native file choosers (nicer, but do not support file filters)

Use file choosers that behave more like native ones. They look nicer but do not support some features like file filters.
Advance preference: use.native.file.dialog

Reverse zoom with mouse wheel

Check if you feel opposite direction more convenient.
Advance preference: zoom.reverse-wheel

Intermediate steps between native resolutions

Divide intervals between native resolution levels to smaller steps if they are much larger than zoom ratio. (Expert mode only)
Advance preference: zoom.intermediate-steps

Zoom steps to get double scale

Higher value means more steps needed, therefore zoom steps will be smaller.
Advance preference: zoom.ratio

Language

Choose the language for the user interface of JOSM.
Advance preference: language

GPS Points

Settings to do with the display of GPS Points. These settings control the display of track points if you use JOSM with GPS traces loaded in from a local file, or everybody's trackpoints downloaded from the OpenStreetMap server.

You can cause lines to be drawn between raw GPS points.

The size which GPS points are displayed in can be changed from standard to large.

Track and Point Coloring

There are different ways to colorize gps-tracks.

When choosing one of Velocity, Direction or Dilution of Position, a legend is displayed in the top right corner of the map view if the gpx-layer is the current active layer. Example:

Colors

Color choices. These largely relate to display of OSM data layers too. You can change the color scheme for the display of nodes, ways, background, etc. "Paint style" options all relate to the non-wireframe view ('View' menu option)

Additional Tabs

Additional tabs may be added by Plugins.

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