Entity Attributes (Color, Linetype, Lineweight)
Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2015 11:22 am
Attributes 'By Layer'
In CAD, the attributes of an entity (its color, linetype or "line pattern" and lineweight or "linewidth") are usually controlled by the layer the entity is drawn on. A layer called "walls" might define that all walls are shown in blue with a thick, continuous line. A layer called "center lines" might define that center lines in a mechanical drawing are shown with a thin, red, dash-dotted line, etc.
To make sure you know what layer you are working on, make sure you have the layer list enabled:
View > Layer List For new, empty drawings there is only one layer present: layer '0'. This layer can never be deleted.
To draw a red, dash-dotted line to indicate a center line, create a new layer:
Layer > Add Layer
Give that layer a logical name, for example 'center lines': Whenever you draw a center line, make sure that layer 'center lines' is active in the layer list: The line you draw will automatically have the desired attributes.
If you decide later that all center lines should be hidden, simply hide that layer (click on the eye icon). To change the color, linetype or lineweight of all center lines, simply edit that layer (Layer > Edit Layer).
Fixed Attributes
It is also possible to draw a green line on layer 'center lines'. One way to do this is to set the current drawing color to 'green'. Make sure that the pen tool bar is visible:
View > Toolbars > Pen
Set the current color in the pen tool bar to 'green': Everything you draw now will be drawn with the fixed color green, regardless of the layer you draw on.
While this might be tempting for a beginner to draw all entities with fixed attributes, this is almost never recommendable. You should almost always define all attributes of your entities 'By Layer'.
Changing Attributes
Attributes of existing entities can be adjusted using the property editor of QCAD:
View > Property Editor Select one or multiple entities and change the color, linetype, lineweight to the desired value.
In CAD, the attributes of an entity (its color, linetype or "line pattern" and lineweight or "linewidth") are usually controlled by the layer the entity is drawn on. A layer called "walls" might define that all walls are shown in blue with a thick, continuous line. A layer called "center lines" might define that center lines in a mechanical drawing are shown with a thin, red, dash-dotted line, etc.
To make sure you know what layer you are working on, make sure you have the layer list enabled:
View > Layer List For new, empty drawings there is only one layer present: layer '0'. This layer can never be deleted.
To draw a red, dash-dotted line to indicate a center line, create a new layer:
Layer > Add Layer
Give that layer a logical name, for example 'center lines': Whenever you draw a center line, make sure that layer 'center lines' is active in the layer list: The line you draw will automatically have the desired attributes.
If you decide later that all center lines should be hidden, simply hide that layer (click on the eye icon). To change the color, linetype or lineweight of all center lines, simply edit that layer (Layer > Edit Layer).
Fixed Attributes
It is also possible to draw a green line on layer 'center lines'. One way to do this is to set the current drawing color to 'green'. Make sure that the pen tool bar is visible:
View > Toolbars > Pen
Set the current color in the pen tool bar to 'green': Everything you draw now will be drawn with the fixed color green, regardless of the layer you draw on.
While this might be tempting for a beginner to draw all entities with fixed attributes, this is almost never recommendable. You should almost always define all attributes of your entities 'By Layer'.
Changing Attributes
Attributes of existing entities can be adjusted using the property editor of QCAD:
View > Property Editor Select one or multiple entities and change the color, linetype, lineweight to the desired value.