A slide is a snapshot of a drawing. Although it contains a picture of the drawing at a given instant, it is not a drawing file.
You cannot import a slide file into the current drawing, nor can you edit or print a slide. You can only view it.
You can use slide files in the following ways:
You create a slide by saving the current view in slide format. A slide created in model space shows only the current viewport. A slide created in paper space shows all visible viewports and their contents. Slides show only what was visible. They do not show objects on layers that were turned off or frozen or objects in viewports that were turned off.
When you view a slide file, it temporarily replaces objects on the screen. You can draw on top of it, but when you change the view (by redrawing, panning, or zooming), the slide file disappears, and only what you drew and any preexisting objects are displayed.
You can display slides one by one or use a script to display slides in sequence. Slides also can be used in custom image tile menus. For example, if you create scripts that insert blocks containing mechanical parts you use frequently, you can design a custom image tile menu that displays a slide of each part. When you click the slide image in the tile menu, the block is inserted into the drawing.
Multiple slides can be organized into a slide library. Slide library files are used for creating custom image tile menus and for combining several slide files for convenient file management.
You cannot edit the contents of a slide. You must change the original drawing and remake the slide. If you use a low-resolution graphics monitor when creating a slide file and later upgrade to a high-resolution monitor, you can still view the slide. However, the slide does not take full advantage of the new monitor until you remake the slide file from the original drawing.
You can view slides individually using VSLIDE. To view a series of slides for a presentation, use a script file.
Be careful about using editing commands while you view a slide, which looks like an ordinary drawing. Editing commands affect the current drawing underneath the slide but not the slide itself.
Some commands may force redrawing, which removes the slide from display.
You can create slide libraries from individual slide files using the SLIDELIB utility. After you have set up a slide library, you can view slides by specifying the name of the slide library and the slide.
Do not delete the original slides after creating the slide library. The SLIDELIB utility cannot update a slide library once it is created. If you want to add or delete a slide, update the slide list file and remake the library with the SLIDELIB utility. When you remake the slide library, all the slide files that you intend to include must be available.