Lesson A: Layers

• Open the downloaded document called 6 Document Structure.indd. Go to pages 2 and 3 and fit that spread in the window (⌘-option-0/Ctrl-Alt-0).

We’ve used the Layers panel a bit in previous exercises and I hope you noticed how layers can help us achieve a few useful goals. Let’s examine those and other uses of this feature.

Controlling Stacking Order

• With the Selection tool, select each of the objects on page 3.

Notice that they all have a blue frame edge. Now, select only the back-most square (it resembles the InDesign app icon).

• Get the Layers panel: Window > Layers.

Notice that this document has three layers, one of which is locked (please leave it that way for now). Also note that one of the layers, called Our Stuff, has a small square to its right that is the same color as the object’s frame edge. That square is a proxy, a stand-in, for the selected object.

• Click the small arrow to the left of the layer’s name to disclose the objects that inhabit this layer, one of which, labeled “<rectangle>,” also has a blue square to its right. For a moment, let’s return our attention to the page.
• Right-click on the selected shape on page 3, then choose Arrange > Bring to Front.

Looking back at the Layers panel, you’ll see that the object is now at the top of its layer, but has not risen to another one. The Arrange commands control the stacking order within a layer only.

• Right-click on the selected shape again and this time choose Arrange > Send Backward.

It’s now between the other two shapes in the stacking order. Despite being useful for this exercise, I seldom disclose a layer’s content, as the proxy to the right of the layer is often all I need. Feel free to collapse that layer again.

• Drag the blue proxy upward onto the empty square to the right of the layer called above it all.

The object is now outlined in red, the color associated with that layer. The object is also in front of the other two on the page and will remain so even if you later use Arrange > Send to Back. That command is currently unavailable since there’s nothing else on that layer.

Reminder: To create a new layer, open the Layers panel menu and choose New Layer…. In the dialog that appears, you give the layer a name and choose a color.

For Segregating Content

We use layers for more than controlling stacking. Layers are also handy for keeping different kinds of content separated.

• To the left of the above it all layer, click on the eye icon. That layer’s content vanishes. Clicking there again brings it back.

Consider a publication like the teacher’s edition of a textbook. It may have content that the student edition does not. That content can be kept on a layer that is hidden when the student edition PDF is generated, and shown when the teacher edition PDF is made.

• Double-click on the above it all layer’s name.

A dialog opens in which you can rename the layer or change its color. You can also set it to be non-printable. Such a layer can be used to house notes to yourself or colleagues without fear that they will be published.

• Notice the choice to Lock Layer. Check that box then click OK.

To the left of the layer’s name is now a padlock. Clicking that icon or where it would be unlocks or locks a layer, respectively. Why would you lock a layer? Read on.

For Protecting Content

A locked layer’s content cannot be selected, therefore it cannot be harmed. I sometimes use layers to hold delicate objects that I don’t want to screw up later. In this document, there is a locked layer called Notes.

• Rather than unlocking the Notes layer, toggle its visibility (the eye icon) to see that its content is the beige frame on the left side of page 2 (and the other pages, too).

Reordering Layers

When a layer is created, it appears above the layer that had been highlighted. You may want it below.

• Drag the layer above it all by its name slowly downward until a line appears below the layer Our Stuff, then release the mouse. The above it all layer, and its content on every page, is behind the content of every other layer.
• Drag it back to the top so its name is not absurd.