When you use the Preferences command in the Layout menu, you are choosing specific preferences for the current document. Those preference selections have no effect upon other documents in ClarisImpact or ClarisDraw.
If you choose the "Make Default" button in Preferences, you will create a ClarisImpact or ClarisWorks Preferences file in the Preferences Folder in your System Folder. That file will be used by ClarisImpact or ClarisWorks whenever you create a new document, but the Preferences file is only referenced by these programs when a new document is created; changing those preferences, even if you choose "Make Default," will not make any changes to already-existing documents.
If there is no ClarisImpact or ClarisWorks Preferences file, these programs will use its built in defaults to assign settings to new documents.
The ClarisImpact or ClarisWorks Preferences file will be accessed normally by ClarisImpact if it is located in the Claris folder in the System Folder, the Preferences Folder in the System folder, or in the ClarisImpact or ClarisWorks Folder where the application is located.
Another method for saving settings for new documents is to use stationery. Consult page 2-27 in the ClarisImpact User's Guide or page 2-20 of the ClarisWorks 2.0 User's Guide for details.