Beginning AutoCAD 2015. Cheryl R. Shrock

      The selected layer becomes the “Current” layer. All objects will be located on this layer until you select a different layer.

       CONTROLLING LAYERS

      The following controls can be accessed using the Layer drop down arrow .

       ON or OFF

      If a layer is ON it is visible. If a layer is OFF it is not visible. Only layers that are ON can be edited or plotted.

       FREEZE or THAW

      Freeze and Thaw are very similar to On and Off. A Frozen layer is not visible and a Thawed layer is visible. Only thawed layers can be edited or plotted.

      Additionally:

      a.Objects on a Frozen layer cannot be accidentally erased

      b.When working with large and complex drawings, freezing saves time because frozen layers are not regenerated when you zoom in and out.

       LOCK or UNLOCK

      Locked layers are visible but cannot be edited.

      They are visible so they will be plotted.

To access the following options you must use the Layer Properties Manager. You may also access the options listed on the previous page within this dialog box.

      To open the Layer Properties Manager use one of the following.

      Ribbon = Home tab / Layers panel / or Keyboard = LA <enter>

       HOW TO DELETE AN EXISTING LAYER

      1.Highlight the layer name to be deleted.

      2.Select the Delete Layer tool.

       Or

      1.Highlight the layer name to be deleted.

      2.Right click and select Delete Layer

       PLOT or NOT PLOTTABLE

      This tool prevents a layer from plotting even though it is visible within the Drawing Area. A Not Plottable layer will not be displayed when using Plot Preview. If the Plot tool has a slash the layer will not plot.

       LAYER COLOR

      Color is not merely to make a pretty display on the screen. Layer colors can help define objects. For example, you may assign color Green for all doors. Then, at a glance, you could identify the door and the layer by their color.

      Here are some additional things to consider when selecting the colors for your layers.

      Consider how the colors will appear on the paper.

      (Pastels do not display well on white paper.)

      Consider how the colors will appear on the screen.

      (Yellow appears well on a black background but not on white.)

       How to change the color of a layer.

LINEWEIGHTS

      A Lineweight means “how heavy or thin is the object line”.

      It is “good drawing management” to establish a contrast in the lineweights of entities.

      In the example below the rectangle has a heavier lineweight than the dimensions. The contrast in lineweights makes it easier to distinguish between entities.

       LINEWEIGHT SETTINGS

      Lineweights are plotted with the exact width of the lineweight assigned. But you may adjust how they are displayed on the screen. (Refer to #4 below)

      IMPORTANT: Before assigning lineweights you should first select the Units for Listing and Adjust Display Scale as shown below.

      1.Select the Lineweight Settings box using one of the following:

      Keyboard = lw <enter> or Status Bar = Left Click on the Lineweight button down arrow and then left click on Lineweight Settings.

       NOTE: These settings will be saved to the computer not the drawing and will remain until you change them.

       ASSIGNING LINEWEIGHTS

      Note: Before assigning Lineweights to Layers make sure your Lineweight settings (Units for listing and Adjust Display scale) are correct. Refer to the previous page.

       ASSIGNING LINEWEIGHTS TO LAYERS

      1.Select the Layer Properties Manager using one of the following:

      Ribbon = Home tab / Layers panel / or Keyboard = LA <enter>

      2.Highlight a Layer (Click on the name)

      3.Click on the Lineweight for that layer.

      4.Scroll and select a Lineweight from the list.

      5.Select the OK button.

      Note: Lineweight selections will be saved within the current drawing and will not effect any other drawing.

       TRANSPARENCY

      Each layer may be assigned a transparency percentage from 0 to 90 percent. 0 would not be transparent at all and 90 would be 90% transparent.

       ASSIGNING TRANSPARENCY TO LAYERS

      1.Select the Layer Properties Manager using one of the following:

      Ribbon = Home tab / Layers