How to Set Transparency in BricsCAD

Quick answer: Transparency controls how see-through drawing entities appear, useful for de-emphasizing reference-only or less important content. You can apply it to a selection of entities or to an entire layer, and it’s capped at 90%, not 100%, deliberately.

Setting Transparency

• ByLayer: applies the current layer’s transparency property.
• ByBlock: entities inherit the transparency of the block they’re inserted into once that block is placed in a drawing.
• A specific value: from 0 (fully opaque) up to 90. It’s capped there deliberately, to avoid confusion with layers that are frozen or turned off, since a fully transparent (100%) entity would be visually indistinguishable from one that’s simply invisible.

Two Different Defaults

New entities generally use the transparency set by CETRANSPARENCY. Hatches and gradient fills specifically have their own separate default, controlled by HPTRANSPARENCY.

Printing Transparency

Transparency only shows up in a printed drawing if the Plot Transparencies option is checked in the Print or Page Setup dialog. Without it, transparent entities print as if they weren’t transparent at all.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why can’t I set transparency all the way to 100%? It’s capped at 90% on purpose, so a fully transparent entity can’t be visually confused with one that’s frozen or turned off entirely.

Do hatches use the same default transparency as everything else? No, hatches and gradient fills have their own separate default, set by HPTRANSPARENCY, distinct from CETRANSPARENCY for other entities.

Will my transparent entities look transparent when I print the drawing? Only if you’ve checked Plot Transparencies in the Print or Page Setup dialog. Otherwise they print as fully opaque.

Can I set transparency for a whole layer instead of individual entities? Yes, you can apply it either to a selection of entities or to every entity on a given layer.