Layer editor in autocad. What is a layer in AutoCAD? – What is the Layer Properties Manager

Layers are a common place in any more or less complex drawing or drafting software package. Different objects can still be drawn separately, but combined in space. For example, you can keep primitives and sizes on different floors. That allows you to work with primitives without cluttering up the drawing with unnecessary details at the moment. The primitives themselves can also be carefully separated into different floors, brought together, hidden and shown on the screen or printout.

How to work with layers in AutoCAD.

When creating a drawing, it has only one basis. You can make new, delete, hide, block as many as you want in the Layers menu. All operations on entities are performed in the current level.

Please note that the original level cannot be deleted or renamed, no matter how many additional ones have been created.

Creation in AutoCAD is located in Layers → Layer properties (Layers → Layer properties). The table editor will open. Add - icon with a red star. Set the name and properties. You can also add through the command line: LAYER (LAYER). The order of layers is always alphabetical. It is clearly impossible to change them. You can change it by filtering or by naming. The first way is better, since it is inconvenient to adjust the names for sorting.

On/Off (On/Off) - visible/invisible.
Lock (Lock) - visible, but only for viewing and will not be printed on the printer.
Freeze - invisible and view only.
Color (Color) - change the color. In other words, the coloring of all objects.
Linetype and lineweight (Linetype, Lineweight) - type and thickness of lines.
Layer transparency in AutoCAD (Transparency) - transparency in percent. The usefulness of this setting is that from under one level of the drawing another is clearly visible. For example, dimensions do not interfere with seeing the geometry of a part. At any time, you can remove and add transparency as you wish.
Print (Plot) - whether to print on a printer or other output device.

Previously created objects can be transferred to the newly created layer by selecting the Layers menu and selecting them. Another way is to allocate a portable entity. In its parameters, put down the desired level. The previous settings will be kept if they belong to the object itself. Select it and bring up the menu with the right mouse button. In the Parameters section, configure what you need.

How to delete a layer in AutoCAD and edit

Both can be done in the same level editor. Let me remind you: Layers → Layer Properties. Delete - a button with a red oblique cross. Deletions of the original and current are prohibited. An alternative way is through LAYDEL.

IMPORTANT. Be careful! The layer being removed will take its contents with it.

When copied from other drawings, a lot of information is created, turning the drawing into a beefed up elephant. It interferes with work. On a weak computer, the slowdown is noticeable, the workspace is littered. Unused, empty layers are removed via the menu File → Utilities → Clean. Use PURGE for manual dialing.

Renaming - double-clicking the left mouse button on the name in the layer editor. Spaces in the name are allowed, but special characters are usually not. Use letters with numbers. The original level cannot be renamed.

How to combine multiple stems with objects? Highlight the one you want to add. Then Layers → Merge, or LAYERING (LAYMRG) manually. Merging leads to the elimination of the selected level and the transfer of its contents to the target.

Individual teams

AutoCAD allows group operations. To do this, go to the Layers menu. This time you don't need an editor, although it also has interesting features. Look at the explanations for the icons. Hover your mouse over each and wait for the tooltip. You will learn a lot.

For example, the Isolate icon will help you make everything invisible except for the current layer. It is convenient to concentrate efforts. You can fully enable all layers, transfer level properties from one to another (copy), switch them and much more.

Copying properties saves a lot of time when you need to have levels with similar properties. Objects are copied to another layer with the COPYTOLAYER command.

Outcome

Working with layers in AutoCAD is quite simple and extremely useful. It is easy for a new layer to add many settings that make work easier, or take from an existing one. You can manage the menu, you can commands.

What is a team? Short text typed on the command line at the bottom of the screen. Initially, they were the main tool in Autocad. Everything that can be done in the menu, the commands perform. The log will provide you with a history of activities. Since any of them, regardless of the method of calling, gets there, then an inadvertent change will be noticed by you.

Typing on the command line is intimidating for beginners. However, with skill, typing words is faster and more understandable than traveling through branched menus. Moreover, for the sake of the current fashion, it can arbitrarily change from version to version. Teams are more conservative, remaining unchanged for decades. Consistency in skills is always beneficial. Less retraining to the new version, your work will be automated with the growth of skills.

The construction of complex drawings inevitably involves the simultaneous placement of numerous graphics-type primitives on the same project. Also, often there is a need for hatching, introducing the required parameters, as well as supplementing the sheet with text fragments. All these objects differ in personal properties.

How and why layers are used

A special tool called Layer is always freely available to the designer and allows you to group work items that have similar properties. For each such group it is better to use a separate layer. In this case, the characteristics of all primitives of the graphic type will be supplemented with one more - Layer. It will be responsible for the properties obtained from belonging to a particular layer. In fact, each of them is a kind of transparent tracing paper containing the given drawing objects. Adjusting one on another, they form the required complicated drawing. Working on a separate layer, the user can change the characteristics of the entire set of objects at once or only individual elements in one click.

Each layer can be viewed as an object. For this, he has all the necessary parameters. There is always an automatically generated Zero layer. It is not only subject to removal, but also allows the designer to make adjustments. Other additional layers must already be formed by the user. Tab Layer Properties Manager allows you to control layers through tool keys and a combination of buttons format layer.

Layer characteristics

Only one layer can be active at a time. It is on the current sheet that additional graphic primitives will be introduced. However, to make adjustments, it is not necessary to activate the desired layer.

Formation of a new layer

Everything is very clear. You can create a new object of such a plan through the New Layer button, which can be found on the working window Layer Properties Manager. The program standards give each layer a name, according to the serial number of the object. However, you can give it a more appropriate name at any time. It is important not to exceed the allowed 256 characters and avoid spaces. Double-clicking the mouse allows you to replace the old name. The characteristics of the layer will be represented by white display color, lines like continuous with weight Default.

Color spectrum

You can choose the appropriate color for the layer in the corresponding line with the name Color. After clicking on it on the working field, the Select Color dialog box should start displaying a huge palette. If this method does not suit you, you can use the tab Properties.

Layer Line Feature Weight

When a drawing is printed, each element in the drawing will be assigned its own lineweight. If you know the specific value you need, just go to the tab Line weight style, through a mouse click on the working area Lineweight or take advantage of opportunities Properties.

View of line features of a layer

To select the type of lines on a given layer, the designer can also use the functionality Properties or click on the desired point on the line. Sometimes the program does not have the necessary line objects, but they can be imported. Parameter select line type opens the selection panel and allows you to download the required objects via Load or Reload Linetype. Button ctrl will help you get to the lines that are stored in the list in random order. If everything you need is visible in the list in a row, you should use the key shift.

Novice users often wonder how to create a layer in AutoCAD?! This is not surprising, for each type of line in autocad you need to create a layer, this program has such a feature. Working with layers in AutoCAD causes a lot of errors when drawing up and printing a drawing. In this lesson, we will take a closer look at how to create a new layer in AutoCAD and how to edit the system layer.

How to create a layer in AutoCAD

Layers in AutoCAD are very important, so in the top panel of the main tab, in the most prominent place, there is a whole section related to their creation and management.

Conventionally, the "Layers" section can be divided into 3 components: 1 - Layer properties, including the settings of the current layer and the creation of new ones, 2 - Selecting the current layer, 3 - Controlling the current layer.

Let's create a new layer. To do this, click "Layer Properties". A window opens, now it contains only the system layer with the name 0, it cannot be renamed, but each new layer can be called by any name. A green checkmark means that this layer is currently active, you can switch to another layer by double-clicking the left mouse button.

Click the "Create Layer" button. When you hover over this button, a hint of "hot" keys pops up, so you can create it either by clicking the button with the mouse or by pressing Alt + D. The list of layers is updated, the new layer is initially named layer 1.

Rename if you wish. The ability to turn it on and off allows you to hide objects and prevent drawing on the selected layer until it is turned on again. Freezing allows you to hide layers to make the drawing easier to read, as well as to speed up your work. Layer locking does not hide drawing elements and allows you to create new objects when the current layer is selected, but it prohibits editing (deleting, trimming and extending lines, resizing, etc.)

Separately, it is worth highlighting the ability to set the color of the lines for each layer. This is very convenient and allows you to visually divide the drawing into components. To change the color, click on its name.

Select, confirm and the color is changed.

The next important layer step is the line type and weight. In the system layer, a thin line with a weight (thickness) by default. Often it is necessary to create basic lines, thin, axial, dashed, dotted and others. The number of line types in the drawing must match the number of layers created. Let's start with line types.

Click on the name of the line type, in the window that opens, select "Download".

For convenience, the program shows the image and the name of the line. Select the desired line, confirm, a new line with the name of the selected line type will appear in the "Select line type" window, select it, click "OK".

The weight of the line is assigned according to the standards of design documentation and must correspond to its type.

The layer transparency value is entered manually, it can be set from 0 to 90. The print style is not editable, this is an information field. The "Print" button, with the image of a printer, allows you to disable printing of the selected layer. Freezing on new viewports, respectively, is only responsible for additional viewports. In the "Explanations" field, if necessary, a comment is written.

We looked at creating and editing a layer. Before printing a drawing, you need to make sure that all the necessary layers are enabled for printing, and those that are not needed are disabled. In the following lessons, we will look at how to quickly transfer objects from one layer to another, isolate, merge, copy layer properties, and much, much more.

To be able to work in layers is necessary when performing any projects and any drawings.

A layer is a set of primitives united according to some criteria. Three properties that affect the display of an object on the screen are color, weight, and linetype. A combination of these three properties can be stored in autocad file memory as a separate layer. To create, delete and manage layers, you need to go to their property manager.

In the manager window, we see a list of layers that are in the drawing file and their properties. By the way, layers have much more properties than color, weight and line type.

Let's go through the main parameters of the layers, in addition to the previously announced color, weight and line type, there are also:

The first parameter is the layer status. The status can be current or minor. All new lines and texts you create will be on the current layer.

The second parameter is the name, or title, of each layer.

There is also a "Print" property. If this parameter is disabled, then all primitives drawn in this layer will not be printed.

The file always has a layer “0”. This layer cannot be deleted. It is understood that some sketches or sketches will be performed in this layer.

The “Defpoints” layer is intended for auxiliary constructions. Initially, it is absent in the drawing, but if we create it, then its characteristic feature will be that it cannot be made printed.

Other related lessons

In this video and tutorial, we'll show you how to work with properties in AutoCAD, as well as how the properties panel and copying work. The lesson will answer such questions: - What are Properties in AutoCAD? - How to enable the properties panel in AutoCAD? – What are quick properties and how to disable them? – How to copy properties in AutoCAD […]

In this lesson, we show what system requirements your computer or laptop must meet in order to work comfortably in AutoCAD. Video version of the lesson: Master AutoCAD in 40 minutes after completing the basic course from Maxim Fartusov. Text version of the lesson: Perhaps one of the most popular questions, along with how to download the AutoCAD program, is the question related to the system requirements of the AutoCAD program. […]

Layers in AutoCAD

For greater convenience and quality control of drawings, it is recommended to use layers. What are layers in AutoCAD and what do they eat with? And how can they help you? Let's start in order:
A layer is a property of objects created and assigned by the user. Using this property, objects can be easily divided into groups and change their linetype and lineweight, as well as hide unnecessary groups from the drawing space.
So, for example, having created one drawing with a floor plan, we can, by turning off the display of pilaf materials, get architectural plans. Or create additional constructions to check any aspects of the design, and then, hiding them, print the necessary elements. Layers also help to instantly change the thickness and line types of all objects included in this layer, which will allow you to monitor line thicknesses and, when printed, produce clear graphically pleasing drawings from AutoCAD.
The layers panel is on the main panel on the workspace

By default, AutoCAD has one or two layers, in my case one

Also, sometimes there is a default layer, this is a standard layer that will not be printed, in its properties you cannot even activate printing.

To create a new layer, you need to go to the layer editor manager

In the Layer Properties Manager, we see all existing layers and their properties. The active layer is marked with a green check mark. Let's create a new layer and name it "Example" you can also create layers with the key combination Alt + D

If it’s hard to see, then the columns can be moved apart as in a Word or Excel by pulling out of the border
By double-clicking on the square, we set the display color of our layer.

Now we have two layers. Let's draw a few objects in these layers and see what advantages the design of drawings in layers gives us.

To switch between layers, go to the drop-down menu and select the layer we need

As we can see, the objects of the example layer are automatically drawn in blue.
And so, the advantages:
1) Quick selection of layer objects, select any object, right-click and select select similar from the context menu.

As we can see, only the circles drawn in this layer got out, the same can be repeated for rectangles, etc. To select everything on the layer of interest to us, you need to use the quick selection function, which will also be very useful to you in the future.

In the quick selection dialog box, we see the options by which you can select elements

Apply to the entire drawing, select the layer property and set the value to the layer name "example"

And click "OK"

As we can see, all objects on this layer are selected.
2) Turn off and freeze layers. If objects on any of the layers interfere, then the layer can be turned off. You can turn off layers in AutoCAD by opening the drop-down list of layers and clicking on the light bulb icon

In this case, we want to disable the current layer and AutoCAD gives us a warning
In this case, if we turn it off and draw, then the objects will immediately disappear, i.e. enter the hidden layer.

The light bulb turns gray and all objects that were in this layer are hidden.

3) A quick change in the properties of the lines of objects, perhaps the most basic thing that layers give us. Imagine you have drawn a project, and it turns out that the lines of one layer need to be made thicker. We go to the layer properties and just change the thickness of the lines