Using Layers
When working with complex landscape designs, it is often
advantageous to organize your drawing into layers. You can add plants into one
layer, fill regions into another, and so forth. For example, suppose you have
finished adding fill regions and want to begin designing a garden. You can place
the fill regions into a layer and lock it, which will prevent them from being
accidentally selected.
Or, you might separate your landscape design into areas,
such as front yard, side, and back, and move all of the objects in each area
into their own layer. You could then hide all of the areas except the one you're
currently working on, which would help the program run faster.
There is always one layer that is currently active.
Whenever you create a new object, it is automatically added to the current
layer.
To edit layer settings, click the drop-down button to the
right of the active layer. (You can also double-click the layer button.)

The following dialog will appear:

Layer The layer name.
Click to set a new name.
Hide Click to hide the
objects in the layer. When the layer is hidden, a small icon will appear.
Lock Click to lock the
objects in the layer. When the layer is locked, a small icon will appear.
Add Layer Press to add
a new layer.
Delete Layer Press to
delete the selected layer.
OK Press to accept your
changes.
Cancel Press to cancel
your changes.
To show or hide objects in a layer:
1. Click the desired
layer tab to make it active.
2. Click the drop-down
button.
3. Select Hide
objects in this layer to toggle the visibility on or off.

To lock or unlock objects in a layer:
1. Click the desired
layer tab to make it active.
2. Click the drop-down
button.
3. Select Lock
objects in this layer to lock or unlock the objects.

To select the objects in a layer:
1. Click the desired
layer tab to make it active.
2. Click the drop-down
button.
3. Click Select
objects in this layer.

To move the selected objects into a layer:
1. Select the object(s)
you want to move into the layer.
2. Right-click in the
viewport, point to Move to Layer, and click the desired layer.
Tips:
• You
can also hide and lock objects by type. See Showing & Hiding Objects for
details.
• When
you add an object to the landscape, the current layer is automatically unlocked
and made visible.
•
Hidden objects do not appear in a realtime walkthrough.
•
Objects in hidden/locked layers are saved and loaded to/from disk
normally. That is, you can save your landscape with hidden and/or locked layers,
and the objects will remain in the landscape design when you later open the
file.
•
Layers are specific to the current landscape design. In other words,
changing the layer settings in one file will not affect any of your other
files.
•
Objects in hidden and/or locked layers cannot be selected, edited, or
deleted.
See also:
Showing and Hiding
Objects Selecting Objects Editing Objects Undoing and Redoing
Changes
|