Drawings often contain lots of unnecessary information. Often this is things like text, dimensions and hatching which may be getting in the way of the structural and built elements, or they may be objects such as furnishings or from other disciplines (for example, electrical and mechanical layout info) which is not required at the present moment.
In order to simplify the drawing so the user can concentrate on the relevant objects, it is possible to switch between visible or invisible and back again. This is called Toggle Visibility.
Dwg Files
In a dwg file, the list of layers is displayed in the Model contents window.
Right-click on any layer name and select Toggle Visibility.
All objects on that layer will be removed from view.
Repeat the process to restore the visibility of objects.
Before Dimensions Layer is toggled off.
After Dimensions Layer is toggled off.
Note: The lightbulb next to the Layer name has changed to blue, indicating that it is Off. A yellow lightbulb indicates the layer is toggled On.
PDF Files
The PDF files are not made up of Layers and for all intents and purposes are an screenshot of the drawing on which they are based. Therefore, the only option in pdfs is to turn the whole sheet on or off. This is very useful when working with multi-sheet pdfs.
The Toggle Visibility option is disabled but the Activate Page tool replaces it. The lightbulb colour reflects the state of the sheet: yellow for active (visible), blue for Inactive (invisible). Only one sheet can be active at any time.
DWF Files
The DWF files can be made up of 2D elements ( lines, polylines, arcs, blocks etc) or 3D elements (faces, solid objects or 3D objects such as walls and slabs) .
This varies depending on how the drawing was created in the first place. The Model Contents tree will vary accordingly.
The Model Contents tree will allow the toggling on/off of any object found in the dwf file.
Due to objects overlapping the results will not always be as clearly defined as when switching of layers in dwg files. However, with 3D dwf files the option to toggle off all objects of a certain category (for example, roofs below) can be very helpful.
