AutoCAD 2005 Layers as an Organization Tool

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Layers as an Organization Tool

To understand what layers are and why they are so useful, think again about the transparent overlay sheets used in hand drafting. Each overlay is designed to be printed. The bottom sheet may be a basic floor plan. To create an overlay sheet for a structural drawing, the drafter traces over the lines of the floor plan that they need in the overlay and then adds new information pertinent to that sheet. For the next overlay, the same thing is done again. Each sheet, then, contains some information in common, in addition to data unique to that sheet.

In AutoCAD, using layers allows you to generate all the sheets for a set of overlays from a single file (. Nothing needs to be drawn twice or traced. The wall layout will be on one layer and the roof lines on another. Doors will be on a third. You can control the visibility of layers so that all objects residing on a layer can be made temporarily invisible. This feature lets you put all information keyed to a particular floor plan in one .dwg file and from that drawing, to produce a series of derived drawings, such as the foundation plan, the second floor plan, the reflected ceiling plan, and the roof plan, by making different combinations of layers visible for each drawing. When you make a print, you decide which layers will be visible. Consequently, in a set of drawings, each sheet based on the floor plan will display a unique combination of layers, all of which are in one file.


Figure 6.1: A diagram of several drawings coming from one file

Layers, as an organization tool, allow you to classify the various objects in a computerized drawing—lines, arcs, circles, and so on—according to the component of the building they represent, such as doors, walls, and windows. Each layer is assigned a color, and all objects placed on the layer take on that assigned color. This lets you easily distinguish between objects that represent separate components of the building . And you can quickly tell what layer a given object or group of objects is on.


Figure 6.2: Separate layers combined to make a drawing

First, we’ll look at the procedure for achieving this level of organization, which is to set up the new layers and then move existing objects onto them. Following that, you will learn how to create new objects on a specific layer.

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