Recovering lost AutoCAD entities from converted DWG files
*Applies to: AutoCAD R12, 13, 14, 2000, 2000i, 2002, 2004 and 2005*

If you are work with DWG files that have been converted from third party CAD packages or file formats, you may notice that the translations aren't always completely correct. As a result, problems can arise. One of the most commonly encountered problems is AutoCAD entities that appear on the display screen, but seem to be invisible to any and all editing commands. You can't erase them, modify them, or select them in any way. If you find this problem, try opening the Layer Properties dialog box and examine the color of the various layers. If you find any layer is using the color 0, you've probably found your problem. There is no color 0 in AutoCAD. Change the layer color to any between 1 and 255 and these entities will come back to life. You can now manipulate these entities any way you wish.

Submitted by: Mike Verheyden