You can turn plotting on or off for visible layers. If a layer contains reference information only, for example, you can specify that the layer is not plotted. If you turn off plotting for a layer, the layer is displayed but is not plotted. For example, you can create a layer for construction lines only [...]
You can set visibility defaults for specific layers in new floating viewports. For example, if all dimensions are on a layer named DIMENSIONS, you can restrict the display of dimensions by freezing the DIMENSIONS layer in all new floating viewports. If you create a viewport that requires dimensions, you can override the default setting by [...]
You can freeze or thaw layers in the active floating viewport without affecting other viewports. (Floating viewports are displayed in layouts; tiled viewports are displayed in model space.) Frozen layers are invisible. They are not regenerated or plotted. This feature is useful, for example, if you want to create an annotation layer that is visible [...]
You can freeze layers to speed up ZOOM, PAN, and VPOINT, improve object selection performance, and reduce regeneration time for complex drawings. AutoCAD does not display, plot, or regenerate objects on frozen layers. Freeze layers that you want to be invisible for long periods. When you “thaw” a frozen layer, AutoCAD regenerates the drawing and [...]
Turned-off layers are regenerated with the drawing but are not displayed or plotted. By turning layers off instead of freezing them, you avoid regenerating the drawing every time you thaw a layer. When you turn a layer on that has been turned off, AutoCAD redraws the objects on that layer.
