Drawing Assistance

These tools provide assistance and add structure and management to your drawing.

Layers

Layers are used so that objects drawn on that layer can be switched on or off. This controls the layer’s visibility. Similarly, the accessibility of objects can be controlled by locking or unlocking the layer.

The use of layers within a drawing is a CAD standard of most computer assisted drawing programs and strict layer control is encouraged throughout this Training Guide.

Using the layering facility within a drawing allows objects drawn on a particular layer to be controlled by name, color and linetype.

Layers can thus be switched off (invisible) or locked (visible – but not able to modify) and selection of objects can be achieved by using the layer name and / or color to identify that layer. This is done using Edit | Select by…..Layer.

Named layers can be standardized at the beginning of a job and these layers can be stored in a template to avoid creating similar layers in subsequent new drawings.

Any layers contained in symbols, blocks or other drawing entities which are inserted into the current drawing will be incorporated into the existing layer structure.

New layers are created using the Design Director, Tools | Palettes | Design Director shown below.

Objects are drawn onto the current layer, shown by the check symbol below.

Objects will be drawn on the current layer, shown by check symbol above

Layers can only be deleted when there are no objects in the workspace currently residing on that layer.

Objects on a locked layer, shown by the padlock symbol are displayed in the workspace but cannot be accessed for modification purposes.

When a layer is switched off, shown below, objects on this layer are not displayed in the workspace. Care should be taken when moving objects associated to this layer.

Showing a layer switched off; all objects on this layer will not be visible in the editor

The Design Director

Tools | Palettes | Design Director

New layers are created using the Design Director, shown below.

Objects are drawn onto the current layer, shown by the check symbol, shown in the illustration below.

Color and pen styles can be assigned to layers. Click onto the color or linestyle block and set the appropriate properties.

Layers can be grouped into specific categories using Layer Filters. Some Layer Filters are shown in the illustration below.

The use of the Design Director is used throughout this Training Guide.

 

 

The Design Director showing layer filters for layer ‘Assembly’

Worked Example

To create a new layer, right click inside the Design Director Tools | Palettes | Design Director and select New Layer.

Name the layer, then apply the appropriate Color and Line Style.

In the illustration below, the layer Sketch is the newly created layer.

Newly created ‘Sketch’ layer

Layer Filters

Layers can be grouped into inter-related categories using Layer Filters.

This is usually done to provide quicker access to layers relating to a specific area in a drawing, such as an architectural layout.

Layers can be added to and removed from filtered layer categories at any stage without deleting the layers or their resident objects from the drawing.

Layer Filters can be grouped according to a ‘wildcard’ selection, which groups layers according to specific criteria, such as GroundFloor.

All layers, including Filtered Layers, are created, modified and stored in the Design Director.

Creating a Layer Filter

New Layers can be created in the Design Director, then added to any of the grouped Layer Filter Sets.

Worked Example

In this example, two layers named Sleeve and Damper, shown below will be selected and filtered into a category called HVAC.

Display the Design Director in the Editor using Tools | Palettes | Design Director. The palette will automatically dock at the right edge of the editor. Open the Design Director.

Select the Sleeve layer, then hold down the CTRL keyboard key and select the Damper layer.

On the Design Director task bar shown below, select the New Layers Filter tool.

Creating a new layer filter

Input the New Layer Filter name, similar to the illustration below, then click ok. At this stage, there is no specific filter parameter required. Click OK.

The selected layers are now grouped in a Layer Filter category, shown below.

Damper & Sleeve filtered under ‘HVAC’

In the example, below, this exercise was repeated so that all the layers were grouped into specific layer categories.

By expanding the layers, the filtered layer set is shown below.

Creating a New Filtered Layer

New layers can be created, then dragged into the top-level layer to add new layers to an existing filtered set. In the example below, a new layer Garages was created, then dragged into the top-level layer FloorPlan, shown below.

New layer ‘Garages’ created, then dragged into top-level layer ‘FloorPlan’

Deleting a Named Layer Set

Named Filtered Layer Sets can be deleted at any stage in the Design Director without deleting the grouped layers or the objects resident on that layer in the workspace.

A named Filtered Layer Set can be deleted at any stage from the Design Director by selecting the Filter Name Set and using the Delete Layers Filter option, shown below.

The layers which are filtered under the named layer set will remain in the Design Director, shown below.

Wildcard Selection

Specific Layer Filters can be created using a wildcard for layers which contain a unique ‘keyword’ such as ‘GroundFloor’

When layer names contain a keyword relating to a specific area, wildcards can be used to filter these layers into specific categories.

In the example below, layers have been named according to their position in relation to the house, eg: GroundFloor. These layers can be grouped together and a specific keyword can be used to categorize these layers.

When future layers are named following this protocol, they will automatically be filtered in this category using the wildcard ‘GroundFloor’

A wildcard named GroundFloor* has been created in the filter parameters shown below.

This will automatically filter any layer with the prefix GroundFloor, shown below.

Draw by Layer Plus

Default & Ribbon : Options | Advanced Preferences | Apply General Property Changes to All Tools Presets

This drawing aid allows layer properties such as name, color, linetype, linetype scale etc to be preset at the commencement of a drawing sequence and retains such layer properties when switching to other drawing tools such as circles, arc, polygons etc.

This significantly reduces the amount of time taken to maintain structured layer control within a drawing as the layer properties remain static until another layer is selected at the start of a new drawing sequence.

This condition is a Program setting done by activating Options | Advanced Preferences | Apply General Property Changes to All Tools Presets.

Worked Example

Start a new drawing using the preferred template.

Apply the following setting from the Options | Advanced Preferences dialog box below.

Using the Design Director create a new layer, shown below. Call the layer Profile and apply a new color and linestyle to this layer, similar to the illustration below.

Select any line tool, such as Rectangle, then activate the newly created layer ‘Profile’ in the Design Director by checking the box immediately to the right of the layer name, shown below.

Draw a few lines or a profile shape, then select a different draw tool, such as a circle or arc.

As can be seen from the illustration below, the layer properties were retained when moving from the Rectangle to the Circle tool.

Take Note

Layer control is now managed by the user and all preset layer conditions will be used for all future drawing objects of the current drawing sequence. Dimensions, Text and Hatching will also be drawn on the current layer, so take care to change to the appropriate layer when inserting objects which require different layer properties.