Can you group layers together?

[MGSparkle]

So I'm working with a project that has many, many layers. Is there a way to perhaps group some of the layers together? Like eyes go in a folder and mouths go in another? Maybe there's something I can do in illustrator or photoshop to sort them out?

[Rick Gerard]

It is called Pre-compose. I very useful tool. Select all the layers you want in a group and then choose Layer>Pre-compose or Ctrl/Cmnd + Shift + C. This will give you a new composition with all of your layers. It's kind of like creating a layer group in Photoshop and then making that layer group a smart object.

If you want to keep all the layers in the same comp you can select the ones you want to group and then right click on the little colored box by the layer name and choose a new color for the layers. This makes layers easily selectable (select label group) and then you can use  the shy feature to hide or reveal the selected layers. I use label groups in nearly every project that has more than two or three layers.

[chanstha]

They have 22,000 employees and billion dollar worths. I suppose all staffs have specific best selected degree. But still adobe has 0 IQ in such cases. I dont know should I even laugh. LOL

[lisandrofortuna]

Apple Motion is faaar better than AE. 
I find myself googgling a lot of this basic things thanks to the horrendous and unintuitive interface AE have. Meanwhile in Motion things behave like they have to behave, and it's far more intuitive lol.

I just can't believe this nonsense of not having Groups and having to pre-compose everything, it's so ridiculous.

[chanstha]

Thanks, Will give it a try.

[Todd_Kopriva · Accepted solution]

See After Effects Help for information on precomposing.

[BenjaminMarkus]

Depending on what you're doing pre-composing may or may not be the best option.  If you're going to be animating all the layers then I might suggest parenting and working with Shy Layers.  Goodmotion also came out with this plug-in called GM Fold Layers which might be interesting to try out when the new version is released.

[Alan_AEDScripts]

I have released a plugin for Layer Grouping in After Effects also... with the brilliant name 'Layer Groups for After Effects'. Its on AEScripts.

[Syntax_One]

Is it still available?

Thank you!

[Corniger]

"THIS PRODUCT HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED". Bummer of the day, while I'm drowning in Layers upon layer upon layers, because splitting sucks in AE 

[andi_urra]

An alternative script is "Zorro the Layer Tagger" by Lloyd Alvarez:

http://aescripts.com/zorro-the-layer-tagger/

It allows for filtering layers based on tags.

[Michelle-i1Studio]

Please Adobe, make folders in the layers like Photoshop and AI. It's been long enough!

[jossbutter_5624]

:white_heavy_check_mark: In Illustrator:

• Use Layer Groups. Open the Layers panel (F7), create new top-level layers for categories (e.g., Eyes, Mouths), then drag related sublayers into those folders.

• You can collapse/expand groups to keep your workspace tidy.

:white_heavy_check_mark: In Photoshop:

• Use Layer Groups/Folders. In the Layers panel, select layers you want to group, then press Ctrl+G (Cmd+G on Mac). Name the group (Eyes, Mouths, etc.).

• You can nest groups within groups, color-code them, and lock them for better control.

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