topic Re: Viewport above hatch in paperspace in AutoCAD Forum

Viewport above hatch in paperspace

m_kingdon — Fri, 17 Oct 2025 00:06:20 GMT

Hi all,

Something I've never fully understood is how viewports behave in terms of draw order. I have a series of drawings where I need to isolate a part of the scheme. The easiest solution was to use a semi-transparent white hatch on the paperspace. But it seems impossible to put any other viewports above this white hatch.

If I change the page settings and untick the "Plot paperspace last" option then the hatch disappears entirely.

Is there another way I can just put the viewport on top? I don’t really want to have to cut islands into the hatch. The purpose of this workflow was to try and save time and be simple.

Re: Viewport above hatch in paperspace

VincentSheehan — Fri, 17 Oct 2025 11:41:17 GMT

I'm thinking the hatch will need to be in model space. Maybe make it a reference file, xref it into your sheet and set the Display Order.

Re: Viewport above hatch in paperspace

pendean — Fri, 17 Oct 2025 12:38:36 GMT

@m_kingdon FYI Viewports 100% ignore DRAWORDER settings and workarounds. Nothing new there, and if I understood your need correctly, the other post's suggestion is what you need to do.

Re: Viewport above hatch in paperspace

imadHabash — Fri, 17 Oct 2025 13:55:36 GMT

Hi,

As much as i understand the issue...
If the hatch is just for masking unused parts of the viewport ... how about to clip the viewport to the desired shape by VPCLIP (Command).

Re: Viewport above hatch in paperspace

m_kingdon — Fri, 17 Oct 2025 23:27:46 GMT

Because I still want to show what is outside the scheme area, but semi-transparent. I want the viewer to focus on the scheme, but still understand how the scheme fits into the local area.

Re: Viewport above hatch in paperspace

m_kingdon — Fri, 17 Oct 2025 23:37:38 GMT

If I can’t find a solution involving the paperspace then an xref might be the best alternative. Using an xref is a good idea that would have other benefits, but I have three stages next to each other so it would be complicated to get the competing wipeouts to show correctly.

I will have another look.