Display

The Display Panel controls how particles are displayed in the 3D View. This does not necessarily determine how they will appear when rendered.

Draw Method
None
The particles are not shown in the 3D View and are not rendered. The emitter may be rendered though.
Point
Particles are displayed as square points. Their size is independent of the distance from the camera.
Circle
Particles are displayed as circles that face the view. Their size is independent of the distance from the camera.
Cross
Particles are displayed as 6-point crosses that align to the rotation of the particles. Their size is independent of the distance from the camera.
Axis
Particles are displayed as 3-point axes. This useful if you want to see the orientation and rotation of particles in the view port. Increase the Draw Size until you can clearly distinguish the axis.

Particles visualized like Point, Circle, Cross and Axis do not have any special options, but can be very useful when you have multiple particle systems at play, if you do not want to confuse particles of one system from another (e.g. in simulations using Boids physics).

Display
Specifies the percentage of all particles to show in the viewport (all particles are still rendered).
Draw Size
Specifies how large (in pixels) the particles are drawn in the viewport.
Size
Draw the size of the particles with a circle.
Velocity
Draw the velocity of the particles with a line that points in the direction of motion, and length relative to speed.
Number
Draw the id-numbers of the particles in the order of emission.

Color

The Color Menu allows you to draw particles according to certain particle properties.

None
Particles are black.
Material
Particles are colored according to the material they are given.
Velocity
Color particles according to their speed. The color is a ramp from blue to green to red, Blue being the slowest, and Red being velocities approaching the value of Max or above. Increasing Max allows for a wider range of particle velocities.
Acceleration
Color particles according to their acceleration.