The Lay Out Hangers command came about because one of my coworkers suggested that it would be cool if a hanger command existed that acted like Main Couplings. Why? Well, Main Coupling will allow you to pick a welded line to visualize where the couplings will go before they are inserted, and it will offset the couplings so that they don't get too close to the heads. Substitute hangers for couplings and you see why this idea came about.
So, we have the situation below. The designer wants to put a hanger on that first piece of steel, then every 15' thereafter (third piece of steel, here). The entire branch line has been cropped for brevity.
Pick Lay Out Hangers
This displays the dialog box:
I set Hanger Distance to 15' and outlet offset to 6". If we knew what the distance to the first piece of steel was, we would use that as the entry for First Hanger at:. Instead, we can select the distance from the drawing itself. Notice, also, that adjustments can be made for sloping pipe, although that is not necessary, here.
Pick the Pick It < button next to the First Hanger at: entry field. Then, pick the main, then the first piece of steel. The NEArest osnap is great for the first pick (on the main) and PERpendicular is great as a second onsap (on the steel)
In my case this yields a distance of 2'5 7/8"
Pick OK. Pick near the end the pipe to be hung (hint: no need to pick exactly on the end, just near it). In this case, it is the short takout piece. Then, zoom out so that all of the line is on the screen, or at least as much as you want hung.
When you use this, you will see green plines and possibly red ones. The green ones indicate that the hangers will be inserted at the distance specified in the Hanger Distance entry field. The red ones indicate that the hangers would fall within the Outlet Offset distance of a head (here, 6").
The H-Factor 
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