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CAD tip CAD tip # 6982:

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If you want to quickly switch to frequently used layers in your AutoCAD drawings, you can assign keyboard shortcuts to the individual layers and switch them with a single button/key.

In the CUI dialog first create (see the "New command" icon") new commands (menu macros) in the form of:

  
'_-LAYER;_Set;mylayer1;;  
(replace "mylayer1" by your individual layer names)

Then assign keyboard accelerators to these newly created commands. In the section Keyboard shortcuts > Shortcut keys attach the required key combination ("accelerator", "hotkey"): first mouse-drag the command from the list of commands to the above mentioned section and then on the right side fill in the field Keys (good candidates for key combinations for a series of layers are e.g. Ctrl+NumPad0 to 9, Alt+NumPad0 to 9, Ctrl+Alt+NumPad0 to 9).

After you exit the CUI dialog you can quickly switch your layers from the keyboard, just by a simple key combination.

Another option for incremental browsing through layers or blocks using arrow keys or PgDn/PgUp is enabling the name search in the AutoCAD command line - see the Browse layers video how to cycle through layers (it is in Czech, so for EN version type Layer instead of Hladina and Block instead of Blok):

You can also just start typing the layer name - the autocomplete feature will propose the matching layer.


And if you don't want to switch layers yourself, use the automatic FLay reactor.

ACADACLTADTCivilACADM
100% *CAD
8.10.2009    47283×  

See also:
Tip 14542:How to easily add a transparency toggle in AutoCAD?
Tip 14417:Quick calculator on an AutoCAD keyboard shortcut.
Tip 14316:How to redefine the HATCH command to start with the settings option?
Tip 14281:Mapped network drives (S:, T:, X:, etc.) are not available in my CAD application.
Tip 13861:How to get rid of drawing tabs under AutoCAD ribbon.


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