Layers
Organize your drawing by assigning objects to layers.
When a drawing becomes visually complex, you can hide the objects that you currently do not need to see.
In the drawing below, the doors and electrical wiring were temporarily hidden by turning off their layers.
You gain this level of control by organizing the objects in your drawing on layers that are associated with a specific function or a purpose. It might be helpful to think of layers as clear plastic sheets:
With layers, you can:
- Associate objects by their function or location
- Display or hide all related objects in a single operation
- Enforce linetype, color, and other property standards for each layer
Layer Controls
Click the Layers tab on the left side panel.
Here's what the Layer Properties Manager displays in this drawing.
The highlighted layer 10 WALLS is the current layer. All new objects are automatically placed on that layer.
Turn layers on and off In the above image, notice the light bulb icons next to two of the layers. These layers were turned off to hide the doors and electrical wiring in the floor plan. Turn layers on and off by clicking the light bulb.
Lock layers Also notice the lock icon next to two of the layers. Objects on locked layers can't be modified in the drawing until they are unlocked.
Practical Recommendations
- For complex drawings, you might want to consider using a layer naming standard. In this example, a two-digit number is used in front of each layer name, to help with the sorting and organization.
- Layer 0 is the default layer that exists in all drawings and has some esoteric properties. Instead of using this layer, it's best to create your own layers with meaningful names.
- Create a layer for behind-the-scenes construction geometry, reference geometry, and notes that you usually do not need to see or print.
- Occasionally, check to make sure that the objects you create are on the correct layer. It's easy to forget to do this, but it's also easy to set. If you want to move objects to a different layer, you can do so in the Properties tab, which is covered in detail in the Properties topic.
Maintain Your Standards
It's important either to establish or to conform to a company-wide layer standard. With a layer standard, drawing organization will be more logical, consistent, compatible, and maintainable over time and across departments. Layer standards are essential for team projects.
Summary
Layers organize your drawing, enabling you to temporarily suppress the display of unneeded graphical data. You can also assign default properties such as color and linetype to each layer.