Layer states not staying applied

[Anonymous]

I am having a lot of trouble with layer states staying applied. I can create my layer state then select it, and it will apply the layer changes as expected but when I exit the drawing and reopen, the changes are removed and the layout is in 'unsaved layer state'.

[lim.wendy]

Hi there,

Can you post the drawing so that we can test it out?

[Anonymous]

Sorry Wendy, we don't share our drawings/civil 3d customisations

[Jowennl]

Hi @Anonymous,

This is how  I think you should do it. If you don't follow 7, 8 and 9 it won't save any changes you've done.

1-CreateNew-LayerState.png2-Need 7 8 9 for this to work.png3-Checking Purpose.png

You might also want to try export as .LAS so that you can share the same layerstate to other drawings. Just make sure you load the same linetype to all other drawings and you can import .LAS

Try to do step 1-9 then when you save and close it will remember the LAYERSTATE changes.

Cheers,

Jowenn

[Anonymous]

Legend! That worked thanks. I was trying to modify the layers in LAYERSTATE rather than just in the viewport/layout. Worked a treat

[Anonymous]

Actually it didn't work. The layer state still resets back to unsaved layer state when i reopen the drawing

[Jowennl]

Hi @Anonymous,

I'm pretty sure it should and I've been using this method so many times. Can you please try it again and make sure all other layer state in that drawing have been deleted. One alternative option you can do is create new layerstate, export as .LAS save to a folder delete your current layer state then import back the .LAS and do step 1-9. If this still won't work then I will make a detailed screencast when I got free time later.

When you open and it show unsave that is fine just click restore and see if it remember any changes you've done. Best I think is make an export .LAS and import it back and it will permanently remember.

4- Dont be bother by this.png

Cheers,

Jowenn

[Anonymous]

I went to Options, to the Open and Save tab, then check the box, Retain changes to Xref layers

[Anonymous]

The command VISRETAIN is a toggle to make xrefs retain the layer state.  

[alexandresynth]

Brother, this problem is ETERNAL in AutoCAD and i already lost my hopes it will someday be fixed.

Layerstate is a troy horse, it seems will help u but it will stop you in so many ways.

Is pretty easy to fix but i think that autodesk does not give a care to AutoCAD anymore, that is the truth.

Can come here 500 ppl with beautiful profiles giving a full explanation seeking to receive from you the seal of right answer so in their profiles will show that they answered and solved the problem but the fact is that this is an error in AutoCAD. The viewport never keeps the layer state, if u back to model work, switch the layer states and back to layout to see how is each sheet you will see that its all mixed up and u need manually re-choose the layer state for each viewport, THERE IS NO EXCUSE THAT CAN EXCUSE THIS, ITS A ERROR IN AUTOCAD!!!!!!!!

Ppl here try to cover to protect autoCAD but the fact is that is an error.

And more, if you change the color of something in Model it will neverrrrrrr change the color in the viewports, and you will lose weeks trying to fix but everytime when you choose the layerstate the previous color of some layer will return to the previous color that you dont want.

Ppl can come here and give a beautiful answer saying "ahh all u need is click here and there and update..." but it seems to me they dont know that we work in Model and not in layout, we deal with project with a million lines on the screen, can just cant manually layer by layer and viewport by viewport and layout by layout update everything.

If ppl lose more time going there in support and demanding AutoCAD to change this in next updates instead of defending the indefensible once they know that its a error but they dont want to say it, this problem would be solved since 2018 or earlier.

Hugs from 2024 and the problem carries on...

@alexandresynth - this post has been edited due to Community Rules & Etiquette violation.

[grenier4]

Still routinely having this problem in AutoCAD 2025. As far as I can tell, a viewport does not maintain an active link to a Layer State that has been applied to it. When I click on a viewport or double-click and enter a viewport, there's nothing identifying that the viewport is currently in a particular layer state... even if I just applied one. There's no viewport properties field that indicates what layer state is in use for that viewport. The dropdown for layer state always says "unsaved layer state," even if I just applied a saved layer state. Also, there is not a way to override and force layers to be ON in a layer state... so if you turn something off in model space, away it goes in paper space too. What sense does that make? I want a viewport to be a pristine, preserved combination of visibility and style settings (Vectorworks handles this functionality so much better than AutoCAD). The usefulness of Layer States is severely undermined by the need to go back and reapply them to each viewport before you can publish your drawings. I want to be able to make changes to my model, update my saved Layer State accordingly, and have that update carry through all viewports that use that Layer State... without having to go back and reapply it to every one! Unless I'm mistaken, that functionality does not seem to exist.

[Mehdi_Rostami]

Set the VESRETAIN value to 1

[grenier4]

VISRETAIN is already set to 1, it does not help. If a Layer State is updated I still have to go through every viewport and reapply that Layer State to each viewport that uses that Layer State... there is no associativity. Also... I didn't realize this was a Civil 3D Forum... I am in regular AutoCAD.

[dvoddenM4TBA]

Edit: I may have been confusing the freeze option with the viewport freeze option in the layer properties manager. When in the viewport on my sheet tab I can toggle the vp freeze icon for each viewport, and that seems to stay with the viewport, even if I change the layerstate while working in model space. I don't know if this will help anyone, but it seems to work for me. 

Have there been any solutions to this problem yet? I created 2 sheets with layer state called "view 1" for sheet 1's viewport, and "view 2" for sheet 2's viewport. When I go to the model tab and change the layer state it resets the layer state for every viewport. As Grenier4 mentioned above, visretain is already set to 1. I have followed every post about this subject, and nothing seems to work. This project will likely require at least 5 different sheets, and I would like to avoid changing the layerstate every time I want to print out a sheet. Is this possible? Other users have said it is, but I cannot make it work for me, no matter what I do. I have attached a copy of my dwg in case anyone wants to try and make it work, if you can then please let me know what you did.

[Mehdi_Rostami]

Hi @dvoddenM4TBA 

when you make obeject layer edit inside model space, it will override the viewport layer setting. for example when you change the linetype to something not set ByLayer, since it is not following the layer linetype it is going to look different. or if you change the object layer, it will adopt the new layer setting so, again your VP layer property is going to change. if you keep the object in the same layer and all properties are set to be "ByLayer" then you can easily assign different property for each VP. like in one VP dashed-white-0.3mm in another VP solid-yellow-0.0mm. 

In your work I think you are missing two things. first NOT editing the layer setting from the layer state manager instead of VP, second NOT checking the "Apply properties as viewport override".

I just downloaded your file, added another VP and edited the E-BLD lines for each view and as you see I have 3 different looking building lines per view setting that I can apply to other viewports. still looking different in model space without VP override setting. Select the VP and then go to layer state setting, select the desired layer state, hit restore. if you made any change through the VP not layer stater setting edit section, you need to hit update so your view adopt your viewport layer override settings.

[grenier4]

I'm still waiting for Autodesk to add the ability to override a layer in a viewport to be always visible or unfrozen. Until they do that, working in the model space can cause changes to viewports. If you need a layer off in the model space but want it to always be on in a particular viewport, there's no way to do that. Once I start to make complex and really specifically-formatted viewports, I tend to just keep everything visible and unfrozen in the model space, which makes it annoying to work in the model space. I also tend to really meticulously update my Layer States and reapply them just before plotting. Note: These are also drawings with a lot of external references.