Layers, styles and locking

Three things sound alike and are different. A style is how a mark looks. A layer is a set you show, hide and lock. A take-off group is a line of the bill. A mark can have all three.

Layers

1. Open Layers in the left panel and choose New layer. Name it for the job it does: Consultant, Demolition, Site notes.
2. Click the layer to put new markup on it as you draw. Click again to stop.
3. To move marks you have already made, select them and use the arrow button on the layer's row.
4. Open any layer with the small arrow to list what’s on it: the shapes, arrows and words as well as the measurements. Click one to go to it.

Not on a layer is where everything goes until you choose a layer. It lists what’s on it and can be hidden and locked like the others.

Locking

• The padlock on a layer row stops everything on it being picked up or changed. It stays visible, and it still counts.
• The padlock on an item row (or Lock the selection in place in the right-click menu) locks that one item, wherever it is.
• Click on or beside something locked and a short note says why nothing moved and which padlock is on it, with a button to open it. The note can be turned off in Settings.
• Unlock everything (the arrow beside New layer, or the command palette) opens every padlock at once.

Hiding, and how strong it looks

The eye hides a layer, and every item in a layer's list has an eye of its own. Hiding is only for looking: everything hidden stays in the register and in every total, and a hidden item can’t be picked until you show it. Hiding an item is your own view; in a Dato Room it’s never sent to anybody.

Opacity (in the arrow beside a layer) draws a layer lighter, from 10% to 100%, with a slider or by typing the percentage. Print and export aren’t changed.

In a Dato Room each item also carries a small tag with the name of the person who made it.

Markup basics ›

In DatoMark Open Layers