The Overlay Panel in 2023

[Mike Witherell]

Hi gang,

I've been meaning to ask this question for a while now:

What is the purpose of the Overlays Panel in InDesign?

Can it be used at all for anything?

Why is it there?

As I recall, DPS was introduced in 2012; removed in 2015; and evidently end-of-lifed in 2019.

Is the Overlays Panel relevant anymore? Can it be used for anything? Does it work for AEM folks? 

I note that there is little to read about in the helpx files.

[BobLevine]

AFAIK, it'll still work for AEM but for us folks without a bottomless pit of a budget, it's quite effective with in5 projects.

[Mike Witherell]

Hey Bob,

Are you saying that if you have In5 installed, the usefulness of the Overlays panel is more functional? Or is it that you have something that can export with In5 installed?

[BobLevine]

Without in5 the overlays panel is pretty much worthless. in5 ties into those features for its exports. They work the same way that DPS did.

[Mike Witherell]

Thanks Bob. Do ANY of the Overlays panel 8 interactive tricks work in PDF or EPUB exported projects?

[Steve Werner]

Bob stated it well above. I'm pretty sure the Overlays panel has no usefulness in either PDF or EPUB. Only AEM and in5 now.

[Mike Witherell]

Thanks Bob and Steve. I wanted to make sure of basic facts, since there is a dearth of info in the helpx about it (mostly dead hyperlinks). According to this webpage, Overlays still works for folks in the AEM world.