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M
media kat
Known Participant
March 17, 2022
Question

Basic layer questions

  • March 17, 2022
  • 4 replies
  • 404 views

1. After selecting a layer and drawing some artwork, will the artwork always reside on the selected layer?

2. When selecting artwork on the Artboard, how do you know which layer the selected artwork is on in the Layers panel?

Thanks

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4 replies

M
media katAuthor
Known Participant
March 17, 2022

Thanks everyone for the replies!

I am trying to use a template .ai file that has blank layers already set up for designing character artwork to animate in adobe character animator. I am a bit confused by how the layers are structured. The top most layer is called +Character and below it there are lots of other layers.

1. Are these all called layers? Are some of them sublayers or anything else?

2 Why is the organization of all these layers set up so some are indented, such as the Head layer, which is contained inside of +Character? And, all of the other layers that are contained within the head layer?

Thanks!

Doug A Roberts
Community Expert
Doug A RobertsCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 17, 2022

Some of them may be sublayers, but you can also rename groups and individual objects in the layers panel.

Every individual object or group in Illustrator will be visible in the layers panel. Think of it like a file system with Layers as top-level 'folders'.

    Ton Frederiks
    Community Expert
    Ton FrederiksCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 17, 2022

    2. When selecting artwork on the Artboard, how do you know which layer the selected artwork is on in the Layers panel?

    Click the looking glass in the Layers panel. It will jump to the layer with the selection.

     

      manal shanableh
      manal shanableh
      Legend
      March 17, 2022

      Question 1: YES

       

      Question 2: when you select an artwork, automaticlly you will be selecting the its layer,

      you will notice small colored square right to the layer ( that you select an item from)

       

      each layer has its color 

      notice the screenshot (green square right the layer)

       

       

        Jacob Bugge
        Community Expert
        Jacob BuggeCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        March 17, 2022

        kat,

         

        1. It will, until/unless you move it to another one; which can occur in different ways, one sometimes sneaky way is to Group it with something on a higher Layer.

         

        2. That Layer becomes highlighted.

         

        You can read more here,

        https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/layers.html

         

        and on other pages here,

        https://helpx.adobe.com/search-results.html?q=layers+illustrator&scope=%5B%22helpx%22%5D&subscope=%5B%5D&limit=10&start_index=0&sort_orderby=relevancy&sort_order=desc&post_facet_filters=%7B%22applicable_products%22%3A%5B%5D%7D

         

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