How to have an XREF drawing appear faded after it has been inserted into a working drawing.
Fading xrefs in AutoCAD. If you want to dim (fade) all drawing objects coming from attached Xrefs (both the model- and paperspace), set the XDWGFADECTL variable to a higher value. And vice-versa: the zero or negative value of this variable displays the xref-layers (external references) in a normal standard way (not dimmed, faded, milky). Print XREF entities faded.: AutoCAD supports dimmed (faded) display of drawing objects from xrefs - see the XDWGFADECTL variable. But this applies just for the display. If you wanted to print/plot the drawing, dimming of xref objects was only achievable through assigning plot styles. Since AutoCAD 2011 you can use layer transparency. In the Layer properties manager select all xref layers (a.
Solution:
To fade the display of your XREF, follow these steps:
Create a layer for your XREF
Lock this new layer
Select the XREF and change and go to properties
Set the Layer to your new XREF layer (the one that's locked)
On the command line enter LAYLOCKFADECTL. When prompted, enter a value between -90 and 90, with 90 being the lightest.
Note: The XREF will only appear faded in the onscreen display, making it useful for design work and presentations. When plotted, it will not be faded.