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Layer Table |
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Each drawing may contain multiple layers that contain the graphic items on the drawing. The Layer Table, shown circled, is used to create and manipulate these layers. The layers have a drawing order that is defined by their position in the table. Layers at the bottom of the table are drawn first, those at the top are drawn last. This means that objects on the bottom layers will be eclipsed (obscured) by overlapping objects on the layers at the top of the table. EazyDraw uses a "Painter's" algorithm when drawing graphics. Each individual graphic of a drawing is drawn in its entirety, one after another. Each graphic is drawn without regard for other graphics. If graphics do not overlap this drawing method is of no consequence. If graphics do overlap, the ones drawn first will be eclipsed by the ones drawn later. This drawing order applies to all graphics on a layer, then to each layer in sequence as defined on the layer table. The Layer Table is shown by opening the Layers Drawer for a drawing window. This is accessed from the "Layers" menu item found on the Format menu on the Main menu. Each EazyDraw drawing window (document) has it's own Layers Drawer and unique set of layers.
The state of each layer is shown on the drawing table. The possible values for the state are "On", "Off", and "Active". The layer state and the Visibility selection determine which graphics are shown on the drawing. The state of the layer may be changed by clicking on the state and typing in a new value. The state may also be changed by selecting the layer and using the popup menu found at the bottom of the drawer under the Visibility selection. The Cut, Copy, and Paste menu selections (and short cuts) work with layers. When the drawer is open and a layer is selected a Copy operation will copy the layer and all the graphics on the layer. A paste to a layer drawer on the same drawing or another drawing will add the layer and all graphics to the drawing. All of these actions may be applied to multiple layer selection. This includes drag and drop as well as Cut-Copy-Paste. Selecting a layer on the Layers Table does not make it the "Active" layer. Drawing actions are made on the Active layer. The Active layer is the layer with the Active label in the first column of the layer table. A layer is made active by first selecting it on the table then changing its state with the popup menu below the table in the Visibility section. |