Overview

This is one of my favorite lessons to teach. It may be that I appreciate the respite from new drawing routines. It may be that I like dialog boxes. But more probably, it's just that by this point in the course, I'm really tired of looking at black-and-white drawing!

In the drafting world, we learn to differentiate between objects by well-established uses of linetypes and lineweights (widths). The number and spacing of dashes in a line, the width of a line, or combinations of dashes and width say a lot about what is being represented on the drawing. (For more information about specific representations, look in any basic drafting text.) We'll learn to use these tools in a CAD environment as well. But in the CAD environment, you'll have an additional tool at your disposal color.

This lesson will lead you through two different methods of using linetype, lineweight, and color to differentiate between objects in your drawing; these are the direct approach (using specific commands such as LType , LWeight , and Color ), and using layers. Each method should be considered exclusive. That is, you shouldn't combine them, as the results will no doubt aggravate someone.

6.1 The Simple Command Approach