Setting global visibility with class and design layer options

Command

Path

Class Options

Layer Options

View

Document context menu

The Class Options and Layer Options commands control how all the inactive classes or design layers in a drawing display. For example, a drawing project can be set to display only the active class, temporarily hiding all objects assigned to other classes. When you make a different class active, the objects in the new active class display, and all other objects are hidden. This makes it easier to display, snap to, and edit objects in the current class or design layer.

These commands establish the maximum allowed visibility settings for the inactive classes and layers. Individual inactive classes and layers can be set to lower visibility (made invisible or grayed) using the Visibility columns or The Visibility tool, but if class/layer options are set to Active Only or to one of the gray settings, inactive classes/layers cannot be displayed with normal visibility (see Concept: Visibility of drawing elements).

Objects that are in both the active class and the active layer always display with normal visibility.

To change the class or layer visibility options:

Select the command and then the option.

Command

Description

Shortcut

Active Only

Displays only objects in the active class/layer; only the active class/layer prints

Ctrl+Shift+Alt+3 (classes, Windows)

Cmd+Shift+Option+3 (classes, Mac)

Ctrl+Alt+3 (layers, Windows)

Cmd+Option+3 (layers, Mac)

Gray Others

Displays the active class/layer normally and all other classes/layers are grayed (except for those set to invisible); even though visible, objects in grayed classes/layers cannot be edited

Ctrl+Shift+Alt+4 (classes, Windows)

Cmd+Shift+Option+4 (classes, Mac)

Ctrl+Alt+4 (layers, Windows)

Cmd+Option+4 (layers, Mac)

Gray/Snap Others

Displays the active class/layer normally and all other classes/layers are grayed (except for those set to invisible); objects in any normally displayed or gray class/layer can be snapped to. Only objects in the active class/layer can be edited.

Ctrl+Shift+Alt+5 (classes, Windows)

Cmd+Shift+Option+5 (classes, Mac)

Ctrl+Alt+5 (layers, Windows)

Cmd+Option+5 (layers, Mac)

Show Others

All classes/layers display normally, except for those set to invisible or grayed; even though visible, objects in classes/layers other than the active class/layer are not editable and cannot be snapped to

Ctrl+Shift+Alt+6 (classes, Windows)

Cmd+Shift+Option+6 (classes, Mac)

Ctrl+Alt+6 (layers, Windows)

Cmd+Option+6 (layers, Mac)

Show/Snap Others

All classes/layers display normally, except for those set to invisible or grayed; objects in any normally displayed or gray class/layer can be snapped to. Only objects in the active class/layer can be edited.

Ctrl+Shift+Alt+7 (classes, Windows)

Cmd+Shift+Option+7 (classes, Mac)

Ctrl+Alt+7 (layers, Windows)

Cmd+Option+7 (layers, Mac)

Show/Snap/Modify Others

All classes/layers display normally, except for those set to invisible or grayed. Objects in any normally displayed or gray class/layer can be snapped to; only objects in normally displayed classes/layers can be edited. (An object on another layer can only be edited if its layer scale and view are the same as those of the active layer.) Locked objects display with gray highlighting.

Ctrl+Shift+Alt+8 (classes, Windows)

Cmd+Shift+Option+8 (classes, Mac)

Ctrl+Alt+8 (layers, Windows)

Cmd+Option+8 (layers, Mac)

The current class or design layer visibility changes accordingly.

 

Was this page helpful?