Expert: Bob - 12/10/2007

Question
This is my first year using autocad, I am a construction management major at Wentworth Institute of Technology and I am trying to complete a floor plan for a class. I am having trouble creating different layouts for autocad 2007. I would like to have one layout have just the layers for room names and dimensions. Another to have an electrical layer and a third layout to have the reflected ceiling plan layer. I can't figure out how to set the layers so it does that. Each time I do it all three of the layouts end up being the same. I was wondering if you could help.

Answer
Hi -
Of course you mean you want the first layout to have the floorplan with wall, doors, etc plus the room names and dimensions, and so on.

It looks like your problem is that you are freezing or turning off layers globally, rather than per layout.

On each layout page, double click in the viewport (or hit the MODEL button, or the maximize VP button, then use the Layer Properties dropdown menu to freeze unwanted layers in that viewport --- the icon that is a snowflake overlapping a piece of paper, next to each layer in the list. ONLY that layout will have that combination of frozen and unfrozen layers, unless you make a copy of the layout.

Your bigger problem is that no one has taught you properly how to create layouts, and you are making a naive mistake.  If you dont have a good book, buy one and study up. Either the school goofed or you were absent the day they taught how to set up layouts.

You should not be attempting to do your work and solve very basic AutoCAD problems at the same time: your work will suffer. If you make sure to master the basics, AutoCAD is a great tool,  a drag if you dont.  And when you are working at a job, you MUST make your drawings easy for others to work on, by following standard practices.
Please trust me -- discipline makes you good.

BOB