SwiftSwitch

Manage your layers, text styles, dimension styles, multileader styles, and linetypes — organize favorites into groups, link layers and commands, and activate everything with a single click.

◻A-Wall
AStandard
↔DIM-100
↗Note
┈DASHED

Core features

Three things it does

Organized groups, one-click activation with linked layers and commands, and portable configurations you can share across drawings.

📂

Organize

Create custom groups and fill them with your most-used layers, text styles, dimension styles, multileader styles, and linetypes. Collapse, expand, and reorganize at will.

Key: Five style types, unlimited groups.
⚡

One Click

Click any item and SwiftSwitch activates it instantly. For non-layer styles, you can also link a target layer and an AutoCAD command — all fired in one click.

Key: Style + layer + command in a single action.
📤

Share

Export your entire configuration to a .sws file and import it into another drawing — or share it with your team. Choose Replace, Merge, or Selective import mode.

Key: Portable configurations across drawings and teams.

In action

See SwiftSwitch in action

Watch how SwiftSwitch switches your layers, text styles and dimension styles in a single click.

Home base

The Palette

A dockable palette that lives next to your drawing. All your favorite styles, organized and ready to go.

⚡ SwiftSwitch

☰
▼Annotations➕✏️🗑️
▼ Text Styles
📐Standard⚙️✖
→ TXT_Notes + MTEXT
📐Title⚙️✖
→ TXT_Titles + TEXT
▼ Dimension Styles
📐DIM-100⚙️✖
→ DIM_Maten + DIMLINEAR
▶Structure
+ New Group

CompanionBits

The SwiftSwitch palette — groups organize your favorites, click any item to activate it instantly.

The palette has three zones: a header with the hamburger menu for import/export, the group list where your favorites live organized by style type, and the + New Group button at the bottom.

Each group can be expanded or collapsed by clicking its header. Within a group, items are organized by type — Layers, Text Styles, Dimension Styles, Multileaders, Linetypes — each with its own collapsible sub-header. Click any item to activate it. Non-layer items show a ⚙️ button for configuring linked layers and commands.

Step by step

Workflows

Click the task that matches what you need to do.

SwiftSwitch organizes your favorite styles into groups. A group can represent a task ("Annotations"), a discipline ("Structural"), or anything that makes sense in your workflow.

  1. Click + New Group at the bottom of the palette.
  2. Enter a name for the group and click Create.
  3. The new group appears in the palette, expanded and ready to receive items.
  4. Use the ✏️ button in the group header to rename it, or 🗑️ to delete it.
Tip: Create groups that match your drawing phases — "Schematic", "Detail", "Annotation" — so you can switch context with a few clicks instead of hunting through dropdowns.

Once you have a group, fill it with the layers and styles you use most. SwiftSwitch reads everything from the current drawing and presents it in tabbed lists.

  1. Click the ➕ button in the group header.
  2. An add-item panel appears with five tabs: Layers, Text Styles, Dimension Styles, Multileaders, and Linetypes.
  3. Use the search bar to filter items by name — useful in drawings with hundreds of layers.
  4. Check the items you want to add. You can select items across multiple tabs.
  5. Click Add. All checked items are added to the group.
Annotative styles: SwiftSwitch marks annotative text styles and dimension styles with a 📐 icon so you can tell them apart at a glance.

This is the core of SwiftSwitch: click an item and it becomes the active style. For layers, it sets CLAYER. For text styles, it sets TEXTSTYLE. And so on.

  1. Click any item in a group. SwiftSwitch activates it immediately.
  2. For layers: the clicked layer becomes the current layer (CLAYER).
  3. For text styles: the style is set as the current text style.
  4. For dimension styles: the style is set as the current dimension style, including all dimension variable overrides.
  5. For multileader styles: the style is set as the current multileader style.
  6. For linetypes: the linetype is set as the current entity linetype (CELTYPE).
Validation: SwiftSwitch syncs with AutoCAD every time you hover over the palette. If a style was deleted or renamed, the item is automatically disabled.

For non-layer items (text styles, dimension styles, multileader styles, linetypes), you can link a target layer and an AutoCAD command. When you click the item, SwiftSwitch activates the style, switches to the linked layer, and starts the command — all in one action.

  1. Click the ⚙️ button on any non-layer item.
  2. The configure panel shows two fields: Layer (pick from dropdown or leave on "None") and Command (type or pick a suggestion like MTEXT, DIMLINEAR, MLEADER).
  3. The preview at the bottom shows exactly what will happen: "Activate DIM-100 → Switch to layer 'DIM_Maten' → Start 'DIMLINEAR'".
  4. Click Save. The linked layer and command are shown below the item name in the palette.
Power combo: Configure a text style with layer "TXT_Notes" and command "MTEXT" — one click and you're on the right layer, with the right style, already in the MTEXT command.

SwiftSwitch stores its configuration inside the drawing file (as an Xrecord in the Named Objects Dictionary). To share your setup across drawings or with colleagues, export it to a portable .sws file.

  1. Click ☰ → Export...
  2. Choose what to export: All groups or Select groups (pick individual groups to include).
  3. Optionally add a description — it's saved in the file and shown during import.
  4. Choose a file location and click Export. The file is saved as a .sws file (JSON format).
Team standard: Create a master .sws file with your office's standard groups and layer/style combinations. New team members import it and are instantly productive.

Import a .sws file to load groups and items from another drawing or colleague. SwiftSwitch gives you three import strategies to handle conflicts.

  1. Click ☰ → Import...
  2. Browse to a .sws file. SwiftSwitch shows a preview: how many groups, how many items, and the optional description.
  3. Choose an import mode: Replace (removes all current groups), Merge (adds new, skips duplicates), or Selective (pick which groups, merge items in existing groups).
  4. Click Import. SwiftSwitch loads the configuration and syncs all items with the current drawing.
Validation after import: Imported items are validated against the current drawing. Styles that don't exist are marked as invalid and disabled — they won't break anything. If you later add the missing style, SwiftSwitch will recognize it on the next sync.

Complete overview

What you can manage

Every style type SwiftSwitch supports, what it sets in AutoCAD, and the optional linked layer and command.

Style typeWhat it setsLinked layerLinked commandAnnotative
LayerCurrent layer (CLAYER)———
Text StyleCurrent text style (TEXTSTYLE)OptionalTEXT, MTEXT✓
Dimension StyleCurrent dim style (DIMSTYLE) + overridesOptional (+ DIMLAYER)DIMLINEAR, DIMALIGNED, …✓
Multileader StyleCurrent mleader style (CMLEADERSTYLE)OptionalMLEADER✓
LinetypeCurrent linetype (CELTYPE)OptionalLINE, PLINE, SPLINE—

Linked layers and commands are optional and only available for non-layer items. When configured, clicking an item triggers a three-step sequence: activate the style, switch to the linked layer, and start the linked command. For dimension styles, SwiftSwitch also sets the DIMLAYER system variable when a linked layer is specified.

Reference

Commands

AutoCAD commands to control SwiftSwitch from the command line.

SS

Open SwiftSwitch palette (short alias).

SWIFTSWITCH

Open SwiftSwitch palette (full command).

SSLOAD

Force refresh — reload all data from the drawing.

Ready to get started?

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