Formatting the Drawing

Formatting means associating properties with drawing entities and using styles for different categories of entities.

Entity Properties

All drawing entities, such as Lines or Circles, have several properties. Some of the properties like Layer, LineColor, LineStyle, LineWeight, and transparency are common to all entities.

Entity Properties introduces the basics of properties. Organizing the Drawing with Layers explains the concepts of working with Layers.

General properties of drawing entities include:

• Layer
• LineColor
• LineStyle
• LineScale
• LineWeight
• ZPlane and Thickness
• Transparency: Entity transparency lets you fade entities and is primarily used for hatched and filled areas. Linework displays behind transparent areas. You can set transparency from 0 (no transparency) to 90%.

You can set and change Layer properties with the Layers Manager and entity properties on the Properties palette.

Layer Tools describes tools to change Layer modes or to delete entities on Layers.

Entity Styles

You can also change the styles of certain types of entities:

• TextStyle
• DimensionStyle
• TableStyle
• PointStyle
• RichLineStyle

The Styles toolbar contains commands to create, modify, and manage styles.

Other Formatting Commands

The remainder of this chapter provides information about:

• Unit system: Controls coordinate and angle display formats and precision.
• Drawing boundaries: Sets and controls the bounds of the grid display and checks drawing bounds.
• Renaming: Changes user-defined object names such as Layers, views, Blocks, or styles.