XREF TO XREF FOR LAYER CONTROL.

[mechecoinc]

I had read the use of an xref to another xref to be used in my drawings such that I could grayscale the background yet retain the original untouched. This allowed the architect to update their drawings and I did not have to go back to the architect's file and "fix the layers" on my drawing for the xref to grayscale. I think it went like the following, but I can not get it to work:
•Architect's DWG is XREF (attached?) to my file named arch-background.dwg (using layer 0?)
•arch-background.dwg is "fixed or modified" such that ALL of the xref'd architects layers are set to "bylayer" (If the architect hard codes the color, this is suppored to fix it)
•arch-background.dwg is then xref'd (overlay) to my mechanical drawing where the architectural background is already grayscaled
The idea is that when the architect updates their drawings, I no longer have to worry about resetting layers which could be 50 sheets or more per project per week.
I hate the fact that I did NOT print the steps since I cannot find them.

Thanks

[Wanderer]

I had read the use of an xref to another xref to be used in my drawings such that I could grayscale the background yet retain the original untouched. This allowed the architect to update their drawings and I did not have to go back to the architect's file and "fix the layers" on my drawing for the xref to grayscale. I think it went like the following, but I can not get it to work:
•Architect's DWG is XREF (attached?) to my file named arch-background.dwg (using layer 0?)
•arch-background.dwg is "fixed or modified" such that ALL of the xref'd architects layers are set to "bylayer" (If the architect hard codes the color, this is suppored to fix it)
•arch-background.dwg is then xref'd (overlay) to my mechanical drawing where the architectural background is already grayscaled
The idea is that when the architect updates their drawings, I no longer have to worry about resetting layers which could be 50 sheets or more per project per week.
I hate the fact that I did NOT print the steps since I cannot find them.

Thanks

That sounds like it should work... just so long as your VISRETAIN sysvar remains set to the default of 1.

[dkoch]

Is the architect using just AutoCAD objects, or do the files have ACA objects also? Depending upon the display settings, objects or object components could have hard-coded plot styles/colors that the process you outlined would not resolve.