Cant move items between layers CS6

[Abaris_Andrew]

I cant move items between layers in CS6.

The items are not locked

The items are not in groups

The layers are all unlocked

I select the item I want to move then try and move the item to the layer above (or below) with the "dot" on the right side of the layers pallete and nothing happens!

Please help? What am I doing wrong?

Suggestions please

Andrew

[Jesseham-jc1rvC]

They changed the way the panel works with cs6.  You should still be able to move individual objects by grabbing the dot and moving it.  If you want to move multiple objects within the layers panel, you have to select and grab them to the left of the circle, around their name.

[Abaris_Andrew]

The issue seems to be document related.

I've just tried the same move on another document and it worked!

I've re-started Illustrator CS6 and I get the same result from the original document.

(not created by me - sent to me from a "designer")

I'll try and copy and paste the entire contents of the document to a new document and see if that fixes it.

[mjarrott]

The dot icon controls the appearance options for the objects in a layer (drop shadows, fill, opacity). In order to move objects between layers first select those objects and then click and drag the colored square (located to the right of the circle) to the new layer.

Hope this helps.

Michael

[Abaris_Andrew]

I know to use the feature.... it just doesnt work!

aaaaahhhhhh!

Can somebody tell me why?

[Abaris_Andrew]

OK, I think I know why.

It has something to do with documents saved in Ilustrator versions earlier than CS6.

Solution: Open the document as normal in CS6. Select All (Make sure all items are unlocked)

Copy - Create New Document - Paste (make sure Paste Remember Layers is turned on)

All the layers should now work correctly!

[Pepijn Godefroy]

That would be something, upgrading to a new CS version would force you to 'remake' all your old files???

And it is not even true because it also happened in the new file I created.

I made some squares in 4 different layers and could easily move them around. Also from sub to top layers and back again, which couldn't be done in CS5.

But then the object popped out of its layer and became a separate <path> layer.

I hate that so I turned on the Panel option "show layers only".

And then I couldn't move objects anymore between layers by selecting and dragging the little square.

turned the option off and it worked fine again...

So there's your solution.

Not really happy with it though.

[Monika Gause]

No item can be on its own as a <path> without a  layer on top.

Could you post some screenshots of what you're doint there?

[Pepijn Godefroy]

true. the <path> was in the toplayer and came from a sublayer. see screens.

I now discovered that with the option 'show layers only' off, I can also move objects from a toplyaer into a sublayer in CS5! great!

by showing the <path> you can drag that into a sublayer. this couldn't be done by selecting the object when it was 'invisible' (as a <path> 'layer') by grabbing the colored square from the top layer into a sublayer (gave a 'no entry' sign).

thing is that in CS6 if the option 'show layers only' is selected, you cannot drag anything anymore...

so there is an extra restriction, rendering the "show layers only" option useless as working mode.

Why?

[Pepijn Godefroy]

sorry, because of downscaling screens were unreadable.

now cropped and posted again

[Abaris_Andrew]

Cheers mate...

I thought I was going mad!

Like you, I never liked using the Sublayers, so in SC6 I turned them off.

I tried your example above and got the same result (as per the rest of my existing jobs)

I agree with your findings, that working in "Show Layers Only" mode is now pointless!

I find it strange that we are the only 2 people in the Adobe Universe that have come accross this problem.

Many thanks for the explanation and screen shots.

Andrew

[AFCathaCA]

Thanks to this discussion, I was finally able to figure ot what was going on: By toggling the Show Layers Only button in the Layers Panel Options, moving objects from layer to layer via dragging the layer panel dot is disabled (it is still possible to do that from the contextual menu Arrange: Send to Current Layer command. The object one wants to move must be selected and the destination layer must be highlighted for this to work). This smells (stinks rather) like a dead tropical bug if you've ever smelld one.

[Cristóbal Vila]

Well, the latest post on this topic was from July 2012. Today is March 2013 and I'm suffering this exact problem (I updated to CS6 recently). This is clearly a BUG, and I have sent a bug report to Adobe. It's really strange that Adobe has no fix this in so long time… 😕

The question is that I ever enable the "Show Layers Only" checkbox, in fact I have this enabled by default on my customized “New Document Profiles” (no need to enable for every new document, it was default for me).

I have reverted this checkbox to OFF (disabled) for all my “master” documents, since this is not usable right now, because I NEED to move elements between layers continuously.

I hope that Adobe fixes this and other bugs ASAP.

Thanks for your clues about where was the issue, guys.

[Tubbycat]

I'm having the same problem. Just downloaded v6 a couple days ago and this has been driving me nuts. I, too, hate sublayers. So now I can't work the way I like best--ugh.

A small, but not ideal, workaround is that I select the item I want to move to a different layer, copy and cut, then select the layer in the layers panel that I WANT it to be in, then paste. It moves it to the layer, but unfortunately it doesn't past the item directly where you had it--you end up having to drag it back to where you want it placed in your design. Not bad if you are working on somelthing simple, but something more elaborate, I imagine, would be a pain in the *beep*.

Thanks for everyone's input--I thought I was going crazy.

Leona

[CouchIV]

Hi all, I am having the same problem and tried following workaround : I defined a Keyboard shortcut (Menu->Edit->Keyboard shortcuts or shortcuts, sorry I work with a german version) for the Menu-> Object->Arrange->Send to Current Layer command (I chose ctrl+E but it is up to you). Know I can select objects from many different layers, then select the layer where I want to have the objhects, and press the shortcut (ctrl+E). It is quiet quick :-).

[IsabelleMetz]

I'm having the same issue! Thanks for the tip. It's such a small thing... but super annoying! Hope it gets changed back with the next update...

[ipearx2]

It appears in Illustrator CS6 you can now copy/paste items into a new layer. i.e.

1. Select the items that are on the wrong layer.
2. Cut the items.
3. Select the layer you want items to go in the layers palette.
4. Paste in place (to keep the same location on the page).

I'm pretty sure this didn't use to work in older versions. Coming from Freehand it was frustrating to find it didn't work this way, so I'm glad it does now. It does have the advantage you can select multiple things from multiple different layers, and they'll end up on one layer.