Working with layers is central when drafting in Autocad, leading to a more efficient and organized set of drawings. We explore layers in full in our Autocad 2d training courses.
You could think of Autocad layers as transparent sheets or overlays. We usually have several of them, called a layer stack, with separate information on each layer displaying in different colours, line types and line weights. In our example here, we keep Layer 0 for most of our drawing – it displays as white on the screen but prints in black. We also have a layer for hidden, dashed lines, another for construction lines, and others for dimensions, text and hatching. You can have as many layers as you wish. Depending on the industry you might have a layer for plumbing, one for electrical, one for furniture, etc.
To create and manage layers, click the Layer Properties Manager button on the top left of the layers toolbar, or type la > Enter into the Command Line. Right-click and select New Layer or click the New Layer button. Give it a name, eg. Construction lines. Layers can also be locked to prevent changing content by accident. You can make a layer invisible by turning off the light bulb icon. Freezing takes more time than turning a layer off – there is a subtle difference between locking and freezing, but not worth bothering too much about – stick to locking.
To change a layer colour click on the small square colour icon – this will open a Colour picker dialog box. Usually stick to the half dozen default colours at the bottom of the Index colour tab. The other colour options are more than you would need for ordinary drafting purposes, but possibly could be useful in interior design.
Then choose a line type by clicking on the line type name; this will have the default Continuous. A dialog box will then open up allowing you to click Load to load a variety of line types into your various layers, for example ACAD_ISO02W100 is a dashed line, good for hidden lines.
You can see that by utilizing just a few different layer types, your drawing will be more organized and interesting, thus making it easier to read and understand.
More information on all features of the program can be found at the AutoDesk website. And see many examples of our clients’ work on our Facebook page.
Other related Autocad 2d Blog Posts:

• Autocad 2d basics
• Autocad 2d introduction
• Autocad 2d drawing
• Autocad 2d workspace
• Autocad 2d isometric