This dialog box displays the list of all layers and views belonging to the current page. You can create a new drawing layer, delete an existing layer, or change its properties.
The dialog box has three boxes. The Layer pane lists all existing layers on the page. The Views pane lists the views defined for the page. The third pane at the bottom of the dialog shows the properties of the last selected layer or view.
 Tip: |
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To open this dialog, choose the Layers and Views command in the Settings menu or
if the Layer and view bar is displayed, click the |
button
on the bar.
Layer
This box lists all the layers included in the page.
To change the order of the layers, select the layer you want to move and click
the 
button to move the layer over a position
or the 
button to bring it down.
To add a layer
-
Click the Add layer button. The New layer window opens.
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Enter the layer title and select the layer type according to the document type:
Drawings and schematics may only include Drawing type layers.
PCBs can include any type of layer except Library layers.
Symbol libraries must necessarily contain a Library layer and at least one Drawing layer.
Footprint libraries must necessarily contain a Library type layer.
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Set the properties of the layer.
To remove an unused layer
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Select the layer in the layer pane. If the layer can be removed the Delete button becomes active. A layer can only be deleted if it does not contain any objects.
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Click the Delete button to remove the layer.
To change the basic properties of a layer
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Select the layer in the layer pane. The layer properties are shown in the properties pane.
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Set layer properties and styles.
Properties
This tab allows you to set the properties of the layer.
- Title
-
Enter the name to assign to the layer.
- Type
-
Indicates the type of layer. This field cannot be changed.
- Optimal view for drawing
-
Choose the optimal view for drawing on this layer. For example, in a PCB you can define an optimized view for inserting traces on the Top copper layer.
- Ignore this layer
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Enable this option to exclude all layer objects from a library.
- Make hidden objects visible
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If this option is enabled, all objects in the layer will be visible regardless of the object's visibility flag.
- Make protected objects selectable
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If this option is enabled, all objects in the layer can be selected regardless of the object's protection flag.
- Create full-page board
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This option is only available for Board type layers. If it is active, a non-visible board object is created that covers the entire page area. This allows you to create Copper objects to be inserted into the footprint. Activate this option if footprints are defined on the page.
Layer Styles
This tab allows you to set the default layer styles. These styles are applied to all objects on the layer when the setting is From Layer. These styles can be redefined differently in each view where the layer is present and are only used if, in the view, Use the styles defined in the layer is set to Yes otherwise the styles defined in the view are used.
- Pen style
-
Choose the pen style.
- Fill style
-
Choose the filling style.
- Color
-
Choose the color.
- Font style
-
Choose the font for the texts.
- Transparency
-
Set the transparency level of the layer.
Options
This group contains options specific to the selected layer.
Views
This box lists all the views included in the page.
To change the order of the views, select the view you want to move and click
the button to bring the view over a position
or the button to bring it down.
To add a view
-
Click the Add view button.
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In the dialog box, specify the name to be assigned to the view
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Set the view properties.
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Add layers to the view.
To duplicate an existing view
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In the View pane, select the view you want to duplicate.
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Click the Duplicate view button.
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Set the view name.
To remove an unused view
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Select the view in the view pane.
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Click the Delete button to remove the view.
To change the properties of a view
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Select the view in the View pane. The view properties are shown in the properties pane.
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Set the view properties.
Properties.
- View Name
-
Enter the name to assign to the view.
- Gerber File Function
-
Corresponds to the .FileFunction attribute of a Gerber file and identifies the function of the file in the PCB. For example: Copper,L1,Top indicates that the file contains the Top Copper layer of the PCB. If not specified, it is automatically determined based on the types of layers included in the view.
- Gerber File Polarity
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Corresponds to the .FilePolarity attribute of a Gerber file and specifies whether the image represents the presence or absence of material. Choose No if the image represents the presence of material (recommended). Choose Yes if the image represents the absence of material. Solder mask layers are nearly always negative. Solder mask layers typically represent the mask openings, or the absence of solder mask, and are therefore negative. This may be counter intuitive as such masks are so ubiquitous to be regarded as normal, and positive is also regarded as normal.
- Optimal view for Navigator
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Choose the optimal view to represent this view in the navigator. If the view is particularly complex and includes many layers, you can choose another view to represent it in the navigator.
- Flip horizontally
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Gets a view of the entire drawing reflected from the Y-axis.
- Multilayer management
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This option determines whether drawing operations (object selection, copying, editing, etc.) will be active on all objects of all layers included in the view or only on the objects of the current layer. You can set this option to No to work only on the active layer. Objects added to the drawing are always placed on the active layer.
Basic page properties
Basic page properties include page size, page display style, visible grid style, and coordinate system.
- Use the settings defined on the page
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To use the values specified in the view, you must set this option to No. See Setting the format and style of pages.
- Pages style
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Set the page display style.
- Grid style
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Set the style of the visible grid.
- Coordinate class
-
Choose the coordinate system.
To change the layer properties related to the view
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In the View pane, select the layer. The layer properties in the layer view are shown in the properties pane.
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Set layer properties and styles.
Properties
This tab allows you to set the properties of the layer in the view.
- Use the styles defined in the layer
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If this option is enabled, objects that have the style set to From the layer will be assigned the styles defined in the layer otherwise the styles defined in the view will be used.
- Visible
-
This option determines whether the layer will be visible. It can be deselected to make the layer invisible and hide all the objects it contains. This simplifies the display of a complex drawing, making it easier to edit.
- Editable
-
Indicates whether objects on the layer can be selected.
- Snappable
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Indicates whether drawing tools can snap to the notable points of objects that belong to this layer.
- Printable
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This option determines whether the layer will be printed. It can be cleared to prevent the printing of objects it contains.
- Exclude from the CAM output
-
Indicates whether objects on the layer should be included in the Gerber files.
- Do not flip this layer
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Indicates that the layer should not be flipped. This flag prevents the layer from being flipped when the view is displayed upside down.
Layer Styles
This tab allows you to set the default layer styles. These styles are applied to all objects on the layer when the setting is From Layer. These styles redefine those set in the layer and are only used if the Use the styles defined in the layer is set to No otherwise the styles defined in the layer are used.
- Pen style
-
Choose the pen style.
- Fill style
-
Choose the filling style.
- Color
-
Choose the color.
- Font style
-
Choose the font for the texts.
- Transparency
-
Set the transparency level of the layer.
Options
This group contains the options for selecting and displaying objects.
To add a layer to the view.
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Select the view in the view pane.
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In the Layers pane, select the layer to be inserted in the view.
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Click the
button.
The layer is added at the bottom of the list of layers included in the view.
To add a layer in a specific location
-
In the View pane, open the view group by clicking the
located to the left of the view name and select the layer above which the new layer is to be added.
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In the Layers pane, select the layer to be inserted in the view.
-
Click the
button.
The layer is added above the layer selected in the view.
To change the stacking order of layers in the view
-
In the View pane, select the layer you want to move.
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Click the
button to bring the layer over a position or the button to bring it down.
Properties
This box lists the properties of the last selected view or layer.
Copy the layer stack from another drawing
You can save layers from a drawing to a file with the extension .clxlys so that you can reuse the same setting. For example, if all the standard layers required for a project are stored in a drawing, you can create a new drawing and import the predefined layers into it, so you can reduce the time it takes to define layers and ensure compatibility between drawings.
In the File description box you can enter a short description of the settings. To save the current settings, click on the button Save. To import layer settings, click the Load button. You can only import the layer stack if the current page contains no objects.
PCB Stackup
Click this button to open the PCB Layer Stackup dialog box. This dialog box allows you to configure the layers of the PCB. It also allows you to configure the drilling pairs.
CAM Settings
Click this button to open the CAM settings dialog box. This dialog box allows you to configure the parameters for the generation of Gerber files for PCB production.
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Changes made to layer settings can be undone by selecting the Undo layer management command from the Modify menu. |