Methods and systems for specifying settings used by a file are described. A file is accessed using a software application. Associated with the file are global settings defined by the application. The application automatically imposes the global settings on all files associated with the application. However, a file-specific setting is defined for the file and saved. The file-specific setting replaces a corresponding global setting defined by the application for the file. The global settings for other files associated with the application are not affected by the file-specific setting. The file-specific setting is used instead of the corresponding global setting upon subsequent accessing of the file.