Working with Layers in AutoCAD

In this video tutorial you will learn about layers used in CAD. You will use Layer Manager to create, design and edit layers. Turn layers on and off. You will also learn about editing any single object without altering the layer property

Layers in Autodesk AutoCAD 

Layers are a way of managing, tidying and also controlling the visual layout of a drawing. A whole section of a drawing can be turned on or off, or simply one aspect can be controlled - text for example. This is all done by using layers within Autocad. 

The concept of layers is used in other software applications, such as Paintshop programs. For those not aware of the concept, we'll start from the beginning: 

When a new Autocad drawing is created, everything which is drawn is drawn on the one default layer, named 0. When creating drawings, the layer 0 shouldn't really be used. New layers should be set up with names corresponding to the content contained on them. 

What is a layer? 

A layer can be thought of as a large piece of clear plastic, as infinitely large as the drawing area in Autocad. When drawing in Autocad, everything is drawn on the default layer which is set current. Only the objects you are drawing are visible on the layer, the layer itself can never be seen - it is invisible. Each new layer is created by you, the user .Normally, it is acceptable to have a layer for each different part of a drawing. The layers created for a simple house plan could be as follows: 

Wall_External 

Wall_Internal Doors 

Windows 

Fittings 

Text_Notes 

Dimensions 

The separate lines and shapes representing each part of the house would be arranged on its relevant layer above. Each layer could be assigned its own colour so that everything drawn on that layer appeared the same colour. 

Remember I said that layers can be used to manage drawings? well for example, in order to see the drawing more clearly, we may want to remove all the text and dimensions from the drawing. We want to keep the information, just remove it from view. Deleting it wouldn't be appropriate as we would lose all of our work! All we have to do is tell Autocad to not display the Text_Notes and Dimensions layers by turning off the layers in layer manager. The layers can then ne turned back on again whenever we choose.