Techniques for backgrounds & fading objects.

Best techniques for making backgrounds & fading objects.

I do a lot of drawings that require me to fade objects for

backgound to allow my objects to stand out. Many of my drawings

show electical runs in paper space on top of scaled objects in

model space. Many times I fade the model space objects by

making them gray and setting the plotter to fade those objects

out.

The problem I have here is that I am changing objects to gray

for plotting and visual effects to make may stuff stand out.

If someone takes my drawing in another project they will have

to undo my stuff for their project. Is there a better way

of making background fades?

Many of my drawings show electical runs in paper space on top of scaled objects in model space.

You really do this? Sounds to me like you're asking for trouble.

No trouble changing colors but there should be a better way.

There should be a better way to make faded backgrounds.

you coukld use xrefs and change thier layer colours...i'm not sure in which version it was introduced but i know in 2008+ you can cange layer colours independantly in each viewport however your profile does not indicate what version you are using so it may not be a solution for you....in either case i would strongly recommend that you draw all your stuff in model space...

Why wouldn't you use the "screening" option?

You mentioned AutoCAD screening option. How does AutoCAD intend to

people to make backgrounds? I don't want to make x-reference files

or have external reference files to the original drawing file.

They only seem to get lost in the shuffle. I just want one file to work on.

Screening or dithering is available when you plot. In the Plot dialog box where you make the selection for your plot style table (pen assignments), make your selection then click on the Edit button to the right. This will bring up the Plot Style Table Editor dialog box. In the Properties area look at the 6th line down from the top. It should be labeled Screening, with "100" set as the default. By changing this number you can control the density of the line thereby "screening" (a term used often in the printing industry) the image. This screening can be assigned, in a .ctb file, to a specific color being used in the drawing. Look at the list of colors on the left.

Taken from the Help file in AutoCAD:

Screening, color density:

"Specifies a color intensity setting that determines the amount of ink placed on the paper while plotting. The valid range is 0 through 100. Selecting 0 reduces the color to white. Selecting 100 displays the color at its full intensity. In order for screening to work, the Enable Dithering option must be selected."

So, bottom line is, a black line can be "screened" such that it appears to be a shade of gray. Got it?

When I change the color of my object to gray I use screening in the cbt

file to make the background object dim.

1. Type "OP" to open the Options dialogue window

2. Under "Display" tab, on the lower right corner, find "Fade control"

3. Move the control bar left and right to control the fading of each of the option.

Or, in a quicker way, use "XDWGFADECTL" to control xref file fading; Use "XFADECTL" for refedit items.

I was reading this with interest only to realize it was 6 years old and any advice I could give would be for naught to the OP. Thank you, 123404321, for diggin' this one up.