The Visibility tool
Tool |
Tool set |
Shortcut |
Visibility |
Basic |
V |
The Visibility tool changes the visibility of the layer or class associated with a clicked object, or only the visibility of the object itself, depending on the mode. If you click an object in a sheet layer or design layer viewport, only the visibility in that viewport changes (with some exceptions); for viewports with the visibility set by style, layer and class visibilities can only be edited from the Edit Viewport Style dialog box (see Creating and editing viewport styles). A viewport's object, class, and/or layer visibilities can be changed when editing the viewport's design layer; see Changing viewport visibility from the design layer. You can also make rapid changes to the visibilities of multiple layers, classes, or objects in the drawing by double-clicking the tool itself.
Several modes are available to specify whether to change class, layer, or object visibility, and to set the type of visibility change to make.
Mode |
Description |
Classes |
Affects the visibility of the clicked object's class |
Layers |
Affects the visibility of the clicked object's layer |
Objects |
Affects the visibility of the clicked object |
Visible |
In Classes or Layers mode, sets the class or layer of the clicked object to be visible; in Objects mode, makes the clicked object visible |
Invisible / Hidden |
In Classes or Layers mode, Invisible mode sets the class or layer of the clicked object to be invisible. In Objects mode, Hidden mode shows the clicked object "ghosted" (transparent with a light blue tint). In the Vectorworks preferences and Quick Preferences menu, you can change hidden objects to be invisible, if desired. |
Greyed |
In Classes or Layers mode, sets the clicked object's class or layer to gray |
Preferences |
Specifies the behavior when the Visibility tool is double-clicked |
There are several other ways to change class, layer, and object visibility in the drawing area, in addition to the Visibility tool.
Class and layer visibility: See Setting global visibility with class and design layer options for details about the Class Options and Layer Options settings.
Object visibility: See Object visibility commands for details about commands on the View menu.