Layer Switch (SimpleAddon) Review

Some of us Archicad Users like the way layers are handled in other drawing programs. We don’t want to go into the Layer dialog CTRL+L every time when we want to change our layer settings. To get direct control over your layers on your workspace you should give the Layer Switch Archicad Add-On a try. It let’s you hide/show and lock/unlock layers directly on your workspace.

The Add-On is part of the SimpleAddon Suite developed by Miklós Groszeibl at 3Dimenzió.

Features

• Keep an overview of your current layer settings similar to what you are used to from other 2D & 3D drawing programs (think Gimp, Photoshop, Blender etc.)
• Create, delete and rename layers directly on your workspace
• Toggle visibility and locked status of layers directly on your workspace
• No need to go into the Layer Settings modal dialog
• Update layers of all selected elements with 2 clicks:
  1. Select a layer in the Layer Switch palette
  2. Click the Syringe button in the palette

Drawbacks

• Needs a click on Refresh Layer Lists if layers change by an operation outside of the palette. This is typically done automatically in other drawing programs
• Doesn’t support folders yet for AC26+
• Switching the layer combination by double clicking just applies the layer settings to the Custom layer combination instead of switching the layer combination directly in Archicad

Free version

The free version allows you to test the full functionality of the Add-On. After a certain number of operations in the palette (I think something between 10 and 20) it will stop working and display an information alert to order a license. With just under 10$ the license for the whole SimpleAddon Suite is very inexpensive and it includes 8 different Add-Ons!