Sequence in which elements print

Module(s): Layout

You need to distinguish between the sequence in which elements within a document print and the sequence in which documents and other elements in a layout print. The settings you make for the printer or the Windows driver also have an effect on the sequence.

Printing sequence within a document

• Sequence in which elements are created or modified: by default, elements are drawn based on the sequence in which they were created or modified. The element you created or modified most recently is always on top and hides the other elements to which the same sequence value has been assigned.

  Tip: To bring an element to the top: move the element and specify the same point for from point and to point. The element is then "re-created" and is on top of the other elements.

• Sequence in which elements are displayed: you can define the sequence in which elements are displayed by entering a value between -15 and +16. The elements are displayed on screen in accordance with the value set: the higher the value, the further up the element. In other words, the element to which you have assigned the highest value is displayed on top of all the other elements. If several elements have the same value, they are displayed based on the sequence in which they were created or modified. You can generally place surface elements in the background.
  New elements are given fixed default values, which you can define using the Options, Desktop environment page, General area, Sequence defaults button. You can modify these values. To do this, click an element with the right mouse button, and, on the shortcut menu, choose Format Properties - Sequence or select Modify Format Properties - Sequence on the Edit menu.
  Elements from V2003 with the Always on Top format property are given a value of +12.
• Surface elements (hatching, patterns, fills, bitmap areas, OLE elements, XRefs): you can specify whether surface elements behave like other elements (i.e. printing based on creation sequence or display sequence) or whether they are to stay in the background.
  In the latter case, the creation sequence and display sequence defined only controls the sequence in which the surface elements are displayed among themselves.
  Specify the following settings if you want to print surface elements in the background so that they are hidden (covered) by design entities:
  • To print straight from the layout editor: select the Print Layouts tool and open the Printer tab. Go to the Selection area, click the button beside Elements to print and select the Surface elements in background of each document option.
  • To print using Print: open the Show/Hide tool and select the Surface elements in background option.
• Scanned images:
  • To print straight from the layout editor: scanned images always print in the background (within a drawing file).
  • To print using Print: scans are printed in the foreground or background depending on the setting in Show/Hide.

Printing sequence with several documents

• Documents are printed in the sequence in which they have been added to the layout. In other words, those placed first are printed first and are hidden (covered) by the documents added later. To place documents with fills and scans in the background, you need to place them in the layout first.
• When placing drawing files as a fileset: the sequence in which drawing files are printed depends on their number; in other words, drawing files with a higher number hide those with a lower number.
• You can use the List Layout Elements tool to change the document sequence later. Documents that appear at the top of the dialog box hide those below.

Sequence in which documents and other elements in the layout are printed

First, the program prints the contents of the documents and then the elements you placed directly in the layout (title blocks, symbols, fills). In other words, these elements you placed directly in the layout hide the contents of the documents.
To avoid this, you need to save these elements in a separate document.

Note: For display on screen and PDF export, the sequence in which elements are displayed is taken into account. The documents placed are given a value of -13. This value cannot be modified. Consequently, documents placed in a layout cover elements with a display sequence of -14 and 15, which are placed directly in the layout. The Surface elements in background and Surface elements in background of each document options do not affect elements placed directly in layouts.

Settings at the printer

The settings vary depending on the printer you are using (HP, Océ etc.). Please refer to the documentation that came with your printer. To optimize the results, you may have to change the settings several times.

Example (HP DesignJet 650C): Pen parameters - Overlay
Example (HP DesignJet 800): Setup menu - HP-GL/2 setting - Overlay

• off: (default setting): elements hide one another in accordance with rules 1-3.
• on: elements blend (fills will become mixed colors, lines will be visible in fills). Rules 1-3 do not apply!

Example (Océ 9700, Job Director): Data format - Language-specific settings - Controller

• Overlay: elements hide one another in accordance with rules 1-3.
• Blend: elements blend (fills will become mixed colors, lines will be visible in fills). Rules 1-3 do not apply!

Settings you can make for the Windows driver

Most Windows drivers (e.g. for HP DesignJet 650C) automatically deactivate certain printer settings (e.g. the Overlay function). In most cases, you cannot use the driver to control these functions.
Use output channels instead.