TABLE OF CONTENTS Creating new layers
Assigning a color and a linetype to layers
Moving existing objects onto a new layer
Controlling the visibility of layers
Working with linetypes
In precomputer days, drafters used sets of transparent overlays on their drafting tables. These were sheets that stacked on top of one another, and the drafters could see through several at a time. Specific kinds of information were drawn on each overlay, all related spatially so that several overlays might all be drawn to the same floor plan. Each overlay had small holes punched near the corners so the drafter could position it onto buttons, called registration points, that were taped to the drawing board. Because all overlays had holes punched at the same locations with respect to the drawing, information on the set of overlays was kept in alignment.
To help you organize your drawing, AutoCAD provides you with an amazing tool, called layers, which is a computerized metaphor for the transparent overlays, only much more powerful and flexible. In manual drafting, you could use only four or five overlays at a time before the information on the bottom overlay became unreadable. In AutoCAD, you aren't limited in the number of layers you can use. You can have hundreds of layers, and complex CAD drawings often do.
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...
