Layers, Blocks and Colors

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andrew
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Layers, Blocks and Colors

Post by andrew » Tue Nov 18, 2014 10:51 am

Note: A new version of this tutorial can be found at:
https://qcad.org/en/tutorial-layers-blo ... attributes



Since this question comes up a lot, I tried to illustrate the relationship between blocks, layers and colors (and other attributes).

Consider this drawing which consists of one single block reference:
Screen Shot 2014-11-18 at 10.08.59.png
Screen Shot 2014-11-18 at 10.08.59.png (42.22 KiB) Viewed 29138 times
The block has been inserted on layer 'magenta'. However, the individual entities can have all kind of different colors depending on their color and layer settings.

Let's look at the drawing, split up by layer:
layer_block.png
layer_block.png (168.37 KiB) Viewed 29138 times
So, entities that are part of a block can have their color (and other attributes) defined:
- fixed (e.g. the circle, which is shown as yellow)
- by layer (e.g. the center lines above on layer 'red')
- by block (e.g. the square magenta which is magenta because the block has been inserted on layer 'magenta', move the block reference to layer 'red' and the square will turn red)

Blocks are used to group entities together that belong logically together such as a mechanical part, a piece of furniture, etc.
Layers define the meaning of entities (does an entity represent a wall, a center line, an edge or a water pipe).

It might take some experimenting to get the hang of these two concepts, but its worth the time since these two concepts are fundamental to CAD.

webrider
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Re: Layers, Blocks and Colors

Post by webrider » Tue Mar 08, 2016 12:56 am

Andrew, while creating a training video on "Blocks and Layers" I found my way to this very informative post and the other post about block colors. I have two questions for additional clarification, using Pro v3.4.6. 1. When an entity of a block (viewed with the property editor while in block edit mode) is "by- layer" does this mean that entity of the block will always remain the color of the layer that the entity was on when the block was created; no matter which layer the block is placed into? If the answer is "yes" then I might just understand layers and block entity colors. 2. Will the afore mentioned entity also become invisible when the layer the entity was on when the block was created is also made invisible? Thanks.

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andrew
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Re: Layers, Blocks and Colors

Post by andrew » Tue Mar 08, 2016 8:28 am

webrider wrote:1. When an entity of a block (viewed with the property editor while in block edit mode) is "by- layer" does this mean that entity of the block will always remain the color of the layer that the entity was on when the block was created; no matter which layer the block is placed into?
Yes.
webrider wrote:2. Will the afore mentioned entity also become invisible when the layer the entity was on when the block was created is also made invisible?
Yes, each entity will become invisible if the layer of the entity is hidden. If an entity is part of a block, the entity also becomes invisible if the layer the block reference is on is hidden.

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