AutoCAD layers

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In AutoCAD, layers organize objects in a drawing.

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You can organize objects by function or purpose.

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Layers also reduce the visual complexity of a drawing by hiding information you don’t need to view.

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This also improves display performance.

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While you can have as many layers as you wish in AutoCAD, only one layer can act as the current layer.

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All new objects are drawn on the current layer by default.

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In the ribbon, Layers panel, the name of the current layer displays.

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In this case, the layer is titled, “0”.

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Layer 0 is the default base layer of all AutoCAD drawings, and it cannot be renamed or deleted.

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Typical industry practice is to create multiple layers before you begin drawing, rather than creating all drawing objects on Layer 0.

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With a drawing open that has multiple layers, from the ribbon, Layers panel, expand the Layers drop-down.

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Select a layer.

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In this case, a layer titled “Furniture” is selected.

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Notice that the current layer name updates accordingly.

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Anything you create will be placed on the current layer.

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Back on the ribbon, Draw tool, select Circle.

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In the drawing area, create a circle to represent a table.

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To verify the layer of any object, just hover the cursor over the object and a tooltip displays, indicating the object properties.

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These include the object’s type, color, layer, and linetype.

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Double-click the object to display the Quick Properties palette.

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The properties displayed here include the same as the tooltip, plus other information.

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However, you can use this palette to change the layer of the object.

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From the palette, expand the Layer drop-down.

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A list of all drawing layers displays.

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From here, you can select another layer to assign the object.

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On your keyboard, press ESC twice to close the drop-down and then the palette.

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Double-click another object in the drawing to review its properties, including its assigned layer.

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When you’re finished, press ESC.

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Locate an object that is not on the current layer and click it once.

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In this case, a door is selected.

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Notice in the ribbon, Layers panel, that the current layer updates to be the layer that the door is placed on.

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In this example, the layer is titled “DOORS”.

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Now, with the same object still selected, press CTRL and click an object that is on a different layer.

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This time, the current layer is not listed in the ribbon, because both objects are on different layers.

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Press ESC to deselect the objects.

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Expand the Layers drop-down again and select another layer.

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Hover your cursor over the circle you just drew.

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The properties tooltip now indicates the layer that the object was created on,

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while the current layer remains set to the one you selected.

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Knowing how to switch between layers and how to determine which layers that objects are placed on

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can provide much-needed organization to your drawings and streamline your workflows.