{"id":5401,"date":"2026-07-13T09:18:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T08:18:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.luso-cad.com\/?p=5401"},"modified":"2026-07-13T10:15:44","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T09:15:44","slug":"xref-visretain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.luso-cad.com\/en\/xref-visretain\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Prevent Loss of Layer Settings in Xrefs in LusoCAD"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Working with external referencesXrefs<\/a>is a common practice in CAD projects of any size. However, some users may notice that certain layer settings, such as colours, linetypes, or visibility states, appear to disappear when they reopen the drawing or reload an external reference.<\/p>

In most cases, this behaviour is related to system variables that control how LusoCAD manages the properties of layers originating from Xrefs. Understanding these settings helps to avoid loss of configurations and ensures a more consistent working experience.<\/p>

What is the VISRETAIN Variable?<\/h2>

The system variable:<\/p>

VISRETAIN<\/span><\/p>

controls how the host drawing treats layer properties from external references.<\/p>

When<\/p>

VISRETAIN = 1<\/span><\/p>

The changes made to the Xref layers in the current drawing are maintained and saved with the file.<\/p>

For example, if you change:<\/p>