Preferences

The Preferences window is the single place where all of DVD Addin's default behaviour lives. Instead of re-picking the same options every time you run a command — which rounding function, which $ locking style, which paper size, which AI provider — you set them once here and the related commands follow.

For an estimating or planning team it is also how everyone produces identical output: each machine is configured once against the team convention, and nobody has to remember to pick the options by hand.

Commands in this group

Command	What it does
Preferences	Opens the eight-section settings window; the Save, Cancel and Restore defaults buttons sit at the bottom
Lang: EN	Switches the add-in interface between Vietnamese and English — a separate setting that is not inside the Preferences window

The eight sections

Pick a section on the left and its settings appear in the panel on the right.

Section	Main settings	Commands that use it
Text and Number	Default translation engine: Google Translate (free, no API key), ChatGPT or Gemini	Translate
Cells and Rows	Delimiter for Join Text (space / comma / semicolon / newline / custom); Skip currently-hidden rows in Delete blank rows; Default rows and columns to insert	Join Text, Delete Blank Rows, Insert Rows
Formula	Default rounding function (ROUND / ROUNDUP / ROUNDDOWN); Decimal places; Lock-reference style ($A$1 / A$1 / $A1); Skip hidden rows; Formula-error warnings	Rounding Func, Lock Ref
Graphics	Fit mode for Insert Pictures (fit to cell / original size / fit column width / contain in cell); Picture comment width (mm); AutoClick interval (ms); Include the Excel window in the capture	Pictures, Auto Click, Capture and Annotate
File and Print	Paper size (A4 / A3); Orientation (Portrait / Landscape); Default margins in mm (Top, Left, Bottom, Right, Header, Footer); AutoFit row-height padding (pt); Hyperlinks in File Tree / Folder Tree	AutoFit merged, File Tree
View and Sheets	Theme: System / Light / Dark; Highlight background colour; Opacity (%); Fade time (seconds) and Enable fade effect; Highlight mode (row + column / row only / column only); Picture enlarge ratio on click	Reading Layout, View Image
AI Assistant	API key + Model + Temperature (0 → 2) per provider: OpenAI, Gemini, Groq, NVIDIA. Above them, four service pickers: AI Assistant, AI Translate (ChatGPT), OCR, Audio transcribe	AI Chat and every AI command
Shortcuts	A two-column Command / Shortcut grid with ＋ Add command, − Remove command and Restore defaults	Any ribbon command

Configuring a new machine

1. Go to the DVD Addin tab → About group → About Menu → Preferences.
2. Start with AI Assistant: paste the API key for the provider you use, pick the model, set Temperature (keep 0.5–0.7 for steady output), then choose a service for each job in the Active AI service block.
3. Move to Formula: set the rounding function and decimal count your team agreed on, and the lock-reference style.
4. Move to File and Print: set the paper size, orientation and the standard margin set in mm.
5. Move to View and Sheets: pick the theme and configure the highlight band used by Reading Layout.
6. Open Shortcuts if you want your own key combinations: click ＋ Add command, pick the ribbon command, then click the Shortcut cell and press the combination to assign.
7. Click Save at the bottom. Cancel — or simply closing the window — discards every change.

Example

A four-person estimating team standardises on: all quantity sheets rounded to three decimals with ROUND, column-only reference locking, A4 portrait output, and Gemini for the AI commands.

Section	Setting	Effect
Formula	Rounding function ROUND, decimals 3, locking style Column only ($A1)	Rounding Func and Lock Ref produce identical formulas on all four machines
File and Print	Paper A4, orientation Portrait, margins 10 / 15 / 10 / 10 mm	Printouts do not reflow when the file moves between machines
AI Assistant	Google AI Studio key, AI Assistant service = Gemini, Temperature 0.5	Formula Coach, Assign Level and AI Construction Estimate all run on one model
Cells and Rows	Delimiter = Custom: /	Join Text assembles activity descriptions in the team's house format

Tips and caveats

• The window is modal — close it before you can work in Excel again.
• Settings live in your Windows user profile (HKCU\…\DVDAddin\Preferences), not in the workbook. Copy a file to another PC and that PC still uses its own preferences, so a team has to configure each machine.
• Changes apply to subsequent runs of a command only; they do not rework output produced earlier. A few settings take effect the next time you reopen the relevant command window.
• An API key is mandatory for every AI-backed command — without one those commands return nothing. Keys are stored locally on the machine; a field that already holds a key shows "🔒 Saved — leave blank to keep, type a new key to replace."
• Each AI job picks its own service. Note for OCR: Groq (Llama-4) and NVIDIA (Nemotron omni) accept no PDF input, so pages are rendered to images and OCR'd one by one, up to 20 pages — use Gemini for longer files.
• The interface language is not in this window — use the language button on the ribbon.
• Restore defaults at the bottom returns the settings to their original values; a stock model you deleted from a provider list can be recovered this way, or re-added manually with ＋.

See also

• About Group — where Preferences sits on the ribbon and what shares the group.
• View and Navigation Tools — the reading commands driven by the View and Sheets section.
• AI Chat — uses the provider, model and key set in the AI Assistant section.
• Find Cmd — the Ctrl+Shift+Q command palette, handy before you learn the shortcuts.