What Is Visretain in AutoCAD?

What Is Visretain in AutoCAD?

AutoCAD is a powerful software used by professionals in various industries for creating precise and detailed 2D and 3D models. One of the many features that contribute to its versatility is Visretain.

Visretain stands for “Visibility Retain,” and as the name suggests, it allows you to retain the visibility settings of individual objects or layers when changes are made to the overall display properties of a drawing. In simpler terms, it helps you maintain control over what is visible or hidden in your AutoCAD drawings, even after making modifications.

Why Use Visretain?

In AutoCAD, managing layers and their visibility can be a complex task, especially when dealing with large-scale projects. The traditional method of toggling layers on and off can become time-consuming and tedious.

This is where Visretain comes in handy.

Using Visretain, you can ensure that specific objects or layers remain visible regardless of changes made to the overall visibility settings. This feature allows you to maintain consistency in your drawings while still having control over individual elements.

How Does Visretain Work?

When Visretain is enabled for a drawing, any modifications made to the layer visibility settings will not affect objects or layers that have their own specific visibility properties assigned. This means that if you have set certain objects or layers to be always visible, they will remain unaffected even if you turn off all other layers or modify global visibility settings.

Enabling Visretain:

  • To enable Visretain, type “LAYERVISRETAIN” in the AutoCAD command line.
  • Set the value to “1” to enable Visretain.
  • Press Enter to save the changes.

Using Visretain:

Once Visretain is enabled, you can utilize it in various ways to control object or layer visibility. Here are a few examples:

  • Override Layer Visibility: You can override layer visibility by selecting an object or a group of objects and setting their visibility properties individually. These objects will remain visible even if you turn off the layer they belong to.
  • Show Isolated Objects: If you have isolated certain objects using AutoCAD’s Isolate Objects feature, enabling Visretain will ensure that these isolated objects stay visible, regardless of any changes made to the global visibility settings.
  • Create Layer Overrides: With Visretain, you can create layer overrides for specific viewport configurations. This allows you to have different visibility settings for different views without altering the overall drawing visibility.

In Conclusion

Visretain is an invaluable feature in AutoCAD that allows you to have better control over object and layer visibility. By enabling this feature and utilizing its capabilities effectively, you can save time and effort while maintaining consistency in your drawings. So, next time you find yourself struggling with complex layer settings, remember to leverage the power of Visretain!