Layer Order

Moving Objects to Layers

You can move an object from one layer to another in a few different ways. Make sure the layer with the object and the destination layer are both unlocked.

Select the object you want to move with the Selection tool. Click the name of the destination layer in the Layers panel, then choose Object > Arrange > Send To Current Layer from the Layers panel dropdown menu.

Drag the selected-art indicator (small color square), located at the right of the layer in the Layers panel, to the layer you want.

Create a New Layer While Moving

You can move objects or layers into a new layer by selecting the items and choosing Collect in New Layer from the Layers panel dropdown menu. Hold down Command (Mac) or Control (PC) to select nonconsecutive items; hold down Shift to select consecutive items.

Reordering Layers

This is helpful for moving items into and out of groups, as well as reordering layers and their content. To move or reorder layers or sublayers, click on the name of the layer or sublayer and drag it up or down the Layer panel to reorder the content.

Bring to Front/Send to Back

You can use the Object>Arrange> (Bring Forward, Bring to Front, Send Backward, Send to Back) to reorder the layers as well.

• Bring Forward: Moves the object forward one layer at a time.

• Bring to Front: Moves the object forward to the top of the group or to the top of the layer.

• Bring Backward: Moves the object backward one layer at a time.

• Bring to Back: Moves the object backward to the bottom of the group or to the bottom of the layer.

Selecting Objects

When your files get complicated, trying to select or locate them can be a monumental task if you’re trying to click on it with the selection tool. In the Layers panel you can select the object by clicking on the layer, then clicking to the right of the target icon. A color box will appear showing that the object is selected. That object will now be selected in the artwork.

Locating Objects

You may be working on your artwork and have an item selected, and now you want to find where it is in the Layers panel. Use the Locate Object command from the Layers panel dropdown menu. This command is especially helpful for locating items in collapsed layers.

Editing Groups

To edit a group of items, you do not need to ungroup the objects, make an edit, and then try to select all the parts and regroup them. Keep everything grouped and locate the group in the Layers panel.

Open the group by using the arrow to the left of the group name. Inside the group, select the layer you want to edit, then click on the circle (target) at the right of the layer. A color square will show next to the target, and the object will be selected on the artboard. This isolates the object so you can make edits to the selected object artwork without having to ungroup it.

Add Objects to a Group

To add objects to a group without ungrouping the content, select the layer that is outside the group and drag the layer into the group in the stacking order you want.

Remove Objects From a Group

To remove objects from a group without selecting the layer that is in the group, drag the layer outside of the group or into another group.

Editing Clipping Masks

There are several ways to work on Clipping masks, but the Layers panel makes it easy because it works in the same way as editing groups. The one difference is the mask itself acts as a “window” where the artwork appears.

Adding to an existing mask requires releasing the mask, adding or editing the content, and remasking. In the Layers panel, you keep the mask and clipping intact and add, edit, or delete content like you would a layer group.

Consolidate Layers and Groups

Merging and flattening layers are similar in that they both let you consolidate objects, groups, and sublayers into a single layer or group. Merging layers allows you to select which items you want to consolidate into one layer. Flattening takes all the visible items in the artwork and consolidates them into a single layer. Both merging and flattening retains the stacking order of the artwork, but other layer-level attributes, such as clipping masks, aren’t preserved.

Merge Selected

To merge items into a single layer or group, hold Command (Mac) or Ctrl (PC) and click the names of the layers or groups that you want to merge. This allows nonconsecutive selection of the layers. To select a set of layers that are consecutive, click on the first layer then hold Shift and click on the last layer. This selects everything between the two layers or groups you clicked on. Then, select Merge Selected from the Layers panel dropdown menu. All items will be merged into the layer or group you selected last.

Layers can only merge with other layers that are on the same hierarchical level in the Layers panel. Likewise, sublayers can only merge with other sublayers that are within the same layer and at the same hierarchical level. Objects can’t be merged with other objects.

To flatten layers, click the name of the layer into which you want to consolidate the artwork. Then select Flatten Artwork from the Layers panel dropdown menu.

Release Items to Separate Layers

Release To Layers is used to prep files for web animation in which each object needs to be on a layer. The Release To Layers command redistributes all of the items in a layer and creates individual layers for each object.

• Release each item to a new layer: Choose Release To Layers (Sequence) from the Layers panel menu after you click on the layer.

• Release To Layers (Build): To release items into layers and duplicate objects to create a cumulative sequence, choose Release To Layers (Build) from the Layers panel dropdown menu. The bottommost object appears in each of the new layers, and the topmost object only appears in the topmost layer. This is how cumulative animation sequences are created using this feature.