InDesign for QuarkXPress Users [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Basic Layer Operations

You can create a generic new layer (without naming it) by clicking the New Layer button on the Layers palette. InDesign automatically assigns a color and selects the layer so that objects you draw or place will be assigned to it. To create a layer and set its attributes (like its name) at the same time, either choose New Layer from the palette menu, or hold down the Option/Alt key while clicking the New Layer button. The Layer Options dialog box (see Figure 24-2) appears. You can also open this dialog box by double-clicking on any layer in the palette.

Assigning Objects to Layers

Whenever you create a new object on your page, InDesign assigns it to the the layer which has the pen icon on the Layers palettecalled the

target layer . To make a layer the target, just click on the layer's name.

InDesign doesn't have QuarkXPress's Move Item to Layer command. Instead, if you want to move an object to a different layer, first select the object. (Note that Option/Alt-clicking the layer name selects all the objects on a layer.) You'll see a small square appear beside the name of the layer (or layers) the objects are on. Drag this square to the layer where you want to move the objects. The color of the objects' frame and selection handles will change to the new layer color. You can also duplicate the selected objects to another layer by holding down the Option/Alt key while dragging the square icon. Secret tip: If you want to drag to a locked or hidden layer, hold down the Command/Ctrl key when dragging.

Rearranging and Combining Layers

The order in which you see the layers in the Layers palette indicates their stacking order in the document. A layer at the top of the palette is "higher" in the stacking order than the layers below it, so its objects will obscure objects that are on layers "below" it. (The stacking commands discussed in Chapter 19 only apply to the stacking order

within a layer .)

To rearrange the stacking order of layers, simply drag the layer up or down within the palette (see Figure 24-3).

You can also combine the elements of two or more layers onto one: In the Layers palette, select the layers which you want to combine by Shift- or Command/Ctrl-clicking their names. Then choose Merge Layers from the palette menu.

Duplicating and Deleting Layers

Duplicating a layer makes a copy of the layer and all of the objects on it. You can do this by selecting the layer and choosing Duplicate Layer in the palette menu. Or, bypass the Layer Options dialog box by simply dragging the layer on top of the palette's New Layer button.

When you delete a layer in XPress, the program gives you the option of moving objects on that layer to another layer. You have no such luck in InDesign, which simply deletes all the objects on that layer. To delete a layer, select it and click the Delete Layer button (or choose Delete Layer from the palette menu). If you have a bunch of layers you're no longer using (there are no objects on them), you can select the Delete Unused Layers command on the palette menu to delete them.