In graphical documents, objects (lines, arcs, etc.) can be organized in drawing layers and these in turn can be collected in views.

The layer

Layers are like the transparencies used in manual drawing, and in the same way they are used to organize different types of drawing information. Each drawing has at least one layer but can have any number of layers. When you create an object, it is created on the current layer.

You can create and name a new layer for each conceptual grouping and then assign common properties to each layer. By organizing objects into layers, you can control the visibility of a large number of objects separately for each layer and make changes quickly.

The view

Layers are collected in one or more views by means of which it is possible to reduce the visual complexity of a drawing and improve display performance by controlling the number of objects displayed or hidden by making the individual layers visible or invisible.

Views allow you to set local values for layer parameters (grid parameters, line style, etc.) so that the same drawing can be displayed in different ways. You can also lock a layer to prevent unintentional selection and modification of objects on it.

Control of the visibility of objects in a layer

You can make drawing layers invisible. Making layers invisible is useful if you want to have a clear view when working in detail on a particular layer or group of layers.

Assigning the default color and line type to a layer

Each layer has properties associated with it, such as color and line type, which are applied to all objects on the layer when the current setting is From Layer.

Setting the transparency of layers

Set the transparency of layers to reduce the visibility of objects on specific layers and thus improve the visualization of drawings.

Locking objects in a layer

By blocking a layer, the objects it contains cannot be modified until the next time the layer is unlocked. The block reduces the possibility of accidentally modifying objects on a layer. You can still apply snaps to objects in a locked layer.

To manage views and drawing layers

See also