On the Layer II Toolbar are some companion icons. LAYISO and LAYUNISO. Selecting LAYISO (the one on the left) will isolate all objects on one layer.
After selecting one or more objects, all layers except the layers of the selected objects are either turned off, frozen in the current layout viewport, or locked, depending on the current setting. The layers that remain visible and unlocked are defined as isolated.
Locked layers are dimmed by default. But by typing in “S” for settings, you can specify the percent of the dimming from the Lock option in this command (I like 75%). You can also change the value with the LAYLOCKFADECTL system variable.
If you make changes to layers within a session and you want to restore the layers to the state they were in immediately before you entered the LAYISO command, use the LAYUNISO command (the one on the right).
There appears to be no undo stack on this command. So once you isolate a layer, you need to unisolate it when you are done. Do not move on to another isolation. If you do, you can however use Layer Previous to step back through these layer changes.
New at AU
“How many times have you gotten a DWG file from some where and needed to view, collaborate, mark up, or print it and didn’t have AutoCAD or a proprietary viewer to use. Well Acrobat 8 Professional and Acrobat 3D version 8 handles that for you by creating a feature rich PDF without having AutoCAD on your system.” – Tim Huff
A very good little tutorial on how this is done by Tim Huff. I know Tim and he is very sharp guy. He has many tricks up his sleeve. Tim has helped my firm (HMC Architects) get up to speed on the Acrobat line of products.
Go to “Creating PDF’s from DWG’s without AutoCAD!”
Thanks Tim!
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Next on the Layer II toolbar is Layer Current (LAYCUR).
This will change whatever entities you select to the current active layer.
Select objects to be changed to the current layer: Use an object selection method (window, crossing, or just pick) and press ENTER when you are finished.
If you have the command line open, you will be notified of the number of items move and the layer that to which they were moved.
2 objects changed to layer “A-Wall” (the current layer).
Layer Match has been around for a while as an Express Tool, but now is part of the Layer 2 Toolbar.
Issue the command and select an object (or objects) to be changed and then select an object that is on the layer you want them to be moved to.
Enter “N” after selecting the object to open the Change to Layer dialog box, then you can select a layer by name.
If you enter -laymch at the command prompt and the options and inputs are displayed at the command prompt.
Hey – what happened to my Layer Express tools?
They have moved to a new Layer II toolbar. Just right click on any toolbar and it will open the Toolbar selection list. Check off Layer II on the list and it will appear.
I recently came across a variable that was set in an older release on my machine but not my newest install of AutoCAD 2008 . It controls the View Transitions. You can have them smoothly glide in and out – or turn it off (my preference)
Here is the “how to” from the help files in AutoCAD 2008…
To change the appearance of view transitions
- At the Command prompt, type VTOPTIONS
- In the View Transitions dialog box, check one or more of the following options:
- Enable Animation for Pan and Zoom. Makes a smooth view transition during panning and zooming.
- Enable Animation When View Rotates. Makes a smooth view transition when the view angle is changed.
- Enable Animation During Scripts. Makes a smooth view transition while a script is running.
- Set the transition speed by moving the slider.
- To preserve performance, set the minimum frames per second for showing smooth view transitions. When a smooth view transition cannot maintain this speed, an instant transition is used.
- Click OK.
Wow – are we all getting old – or what? Well maybe it is just me…
AutoCAD is turning 25. And I remember it when it was just a toddler tool (sniffle, sniffle). It has grown up…
And there is a web site to celebrate the milestone…
Here is a blurb they sent me…
“Autodesk now reports 8 million licensed users worldwide. And in honor of their anniversary Autodesk is launching a Web site celebrating 25 years of design innovation, at www.autodesk.com/autocad25. ”
“The site celebrates Autodesk
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