I really struggle with using Layout. It’s always dragging and lagging. I find the usability of the “features” or LACK of features (like multiple leaders off a single note) very frustrating. It’s almost as if I would prefer working in Bluebeam Revu instead of Layout (if I had it!) or even InDesign.
Is it just me?
Hi @anabab - what features would you like to see? I use LayOut and AutoCAD for documents and neither does multiple leaders off a single note but I can see where that would be helpful. Perhaps you can share an example of what you’re looking to achieve. There may be a good solution from the community.
In my experience, lags with LO often start (and can be resolved) in the SU model, specifically cleaning up geometry. That said, I have a file that kept crashing in LO 2024 but is running smoothly in 2025.
Share a LO file so we can see what you are working with and how you have things setup.
You can do multiple leaders, you just have to add a line with the same style as the original leader.
Or just copy the existing leader. 
Sorry for my slow response. I just cant believe that multiple leaders off a single note is NOT feature - it’s so basic to me. In terms of other features, I guess that’s not the right word I should have used in my frustration - it’s more the usability of the interface is just ridiculous. Putting aside the lag which makes it super frustrating, say i do have a leader and I want to copy it and use it elsewhere, when you click and copy/move it moves the text but not the pointer. So then you have to try to grab the arrow point (which doesn’t always grab) and try to move it and it doesn’t work or it moves the WHOLE LEADER so then you have to re-draw the text to where you want and then try to grab the arrow point again. It just seems WAY to finicky. Doing this stuff should not take that long.
Also it’s really hard to read the pull down menu for the different leader endings (dots, squares, arrows etc) so unless I remember the exact one, I have to click through - and that’s just a pain and frustrating. Why isnt that more readable? I do have a 27" plus monitor!
Those are some of my pain points. If the lag wasn’t so bad then maybe it could keep up with my pace but Layout cant. My file is 98,200 kb. I don’t think that is crazy large. How could someone issue a CD set using layout if me trying to do measly little millwork drawings (8 pages) or furniture layout diagrams (2 pages) can’t function in it!?
It should just be a click add to add a leader like in bluebeam or cad. It should not have to be a re-draw. Because then say you want to save your settings for adding dashed lines throughout a document - now every time I have to ADD a leader line, I have to click through the line settings to make a leader line setting (with an arrow or dot etc).
Also, I have found that copying a leader is a pain because the user interface of clicking and moving the leader lines is just not friendly. Say I copy a leader so I can re-label a item, I click & drag and it keeps the arrow point on the existing placement. Then I have to go back and try to click that arrow tip and it doesn’t always grab it. So then I have to either just start fresh with a new leader line. It should be much more simple.
Below is a picture of the kinds of leaders I use for my architectural documents - some are dots while others are arrows. But you can see how one note sometimes needs two leaders - and that should be super easy to do and its not.
Sorry I wasted my time and yours. Hopefully multiple leaders will be an option that is added at some point but I was just trying to offer an option that is workable in the mean time. Frankly I don’t have any problems with labels in LayOut but I’m sure you don’t really care.
This is not my experience with labels and leaders.
As for multiple leaders off a label – I just watched a Bluebeam video and to be honest I don’t see an advantage for me over doing what DaveR suggested to you.
As for the different leader styles, why don’t you create a scrapbook with them so you can select the one you want rather than having to change them?
This sounds like a skill issue, to be honest. I issue 20-30-40 page sets of CDs for custom homes (usually broken into 2-3 sets of 10-15 pages in LO) - lots of detail, sometimes with every Simpson piece of hardware, etc.
Are you using the viewport override and using raster in the working space? Or are you using Vector or Hybrid in the working space? Are you using the new or old graphics engine?
Regarding leaders, arrows, end types… do you know how to use the scrapbook? And do you know how to use the eye dropper?
Post a LO file that is giving you trouble and maybe we can diagnose what is causing the lag / issues…
This is false… if you setup a scrapbook item or you setup a template and use the eyedropper you don’t need to go through the arrow / end point selection every time… only the first time you want it to be something different… and the if you want to swap back and forth just eyedropper, the one you want, place the new one, move on.
I am new to Layout so I can see it being a skills issue - which is why I was wondering if it was just me and there was help out there or if there are other people complaining about the usability of it too. I do know the eyedropper tool and the vector vs. hybrid - I would have to check but I have it set to be the faster one and so it only renders slowly when I export.
I guess I should look for a good video about the scrapbook section to find direction.
It’s the lag that really gets me. I have (what I thought) was a 2023 machine (XPS 15 9520 with 32gb memory and 512 of storage) which had a good graphics card that was new at the time of purchase. It could be my files that I am working from but is a 97,300kb SketchUp file really so heavy that it would slow layout down?
I was really fast in Bluebeam… but I am new to Layout so maybe I am just in that learning curve. But I just can’t believe the lag I get! Bluebeam never had lag…
Not a waste - DaveR. Just didn’t seem to be a time saver to me to draw new line. I just can’t believe that multiple leaders off a note isn’t a thing!
I didn’t tell you to draw a new line. Apparently you didn’t actually look at what I posted so it was a waste of time.
Hold up - don’t be so upset. I am catching up on all of the responses and your initial response about copying an existing leader I responded to. And I responded generally to the skills issue response and separate suggestion(s) about using scrapbook. So I am reading and participating here buddy.
Are you working in raster or are you trying to render your viewports in hybrid or vector as you work?
Do you know about draft mode?
Are you using the new or old graphics engine?
Since you are on a laptop are you sure LayOut is using the NVIDIA card when it is running or just using the integrated card, which would probably slow things down?
Are your graphics drivers up to date (from NVIDIA, not from Windows Update).
There is a lot that can be going on. You still haven’t posted a LayOut file.
yes I find notating in LayOut quite maddening…but for different reasons.
The pain points for me are:
the cursor doesnt select exactly where you point it. It tries to select all sorts of things overlapping or nearby. the object selection boxes have so much a padding, and this changes based on zoom level. Sometimes an object is very difficult to selec ti fyou paste it into a sheet and there are other things sitting “above” it.
sheets with large amounts of text are extremely slow, and text does not always sit where you expect that it should. Like the line spacing is all out of whack.
the eyedropper tool for color picking doenst work if you have anything overlapping or if you’re working on 2 monitors.
Some of the Dimension and leader padding is strange and obscures things.
the interface has a lot of wasted screen real estate meaning we can’t have all the tools and Pages/Tags/etc on screen at once (and i use two tool trays; one on the left and one on the right)
Aside from that, there are some “confusing things” that get into the way of many users experience in LO, including mine at times. The way that style overrides work is confusing.
Example - instead of the Line Weight being in “points” it should be described as a “multiplier”
Styles do need to be exposed more between SKP and Layout (some consistency eg introducing Scenes to Layout, not just styles), ideally with Style and scene Updates pushed from LO to SKP and vice versa.
Thank you for your response BMike. I am getting back into the file now so I can check on some of the things you mention. Most of my viewports are set to raster and I have (under document setup) that the display resolution is medium and its clicked to do an output override to hybrid) I did not know about draft mode, so I will test that today. I am pretty sure my graphics card is new (my laptop was new in 2023) and I have been keeping up with updates. For reference it is a NVIDIA GeForece RTX 3050 Laptop GPL. I had a little talk with Chat GPT and make sure that layout is now using my NVIDIA graphics card so hopefully using that and draft mode will make things smoother.
Hopefully those last things will help this file move faster today. I will let you know!
Hi @anabab … now I’m the one apologizing for the slow response. I rarely have the need for multiple leaders off a single note and literally two days after I replied to your original post I needed one 
I understand your frustration. In my case, I drew a line as the second leader, then copy style/ paste style for a quick fix. I use copy style/ paste style so often that I have them set up as shortcuts.
Regarding usability, I think the leaders are easy to work with once you get used to the differences in functionality between single click, double click and triple click. Modifying the text placement can be annoyingly frustrating but once I get one leader set up the way I like it, hello copy style/ paste style. Since you have your preferred leader style, consider adding them to a scrapbook for easy reference.
In my experience, any lag in LayOut is often because of the SketchUp model and not LayOut. I use the CleanUp3 extension when I’m ready to send to LayOut. It’s helped me tremendously.
I hope that helps. Good luck. I am rooting for your success!
