Adobe® Creative Suite® 4 Bible

Chapter 25. Working with Layers

IN THIS CHAPTER

Using the Layers palette

Using layers in InDesign

Using layers in Illustrator

Using layers in Photoshop

Using layers in Flash

Using layers in Dreamweaver

Viewing layers in Acrobat

The real benefit of layers is their ability to organize a project into several easy-to-select sections. Previously, this was done with groups, but groups can be tricky to work with, requiring the Group Selection tool to work within a group. Layers are a much more convenient way to organize all the images and objects in a document.

Another benefit of layers is that you can quickly turn them on and off. If a project is sluggish because of its size and content, you could place these slow-to-refresh items on a layer and make them invisible so they don't slow down the rest of the project.

Layers also may be locked. You may want to lock parts of your completed project, so you don't accidentally select and move them.

You also can create several design ideas and keep them on several layers. Then you can quickly switch between the various designs using layers. This is a concept mastered by Photoshop with the Layer Comps feature.

Layers are available in Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Flash, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, and Acrobat, but the ways layers are used in each of these applications are very different. Layers in each of these applications include some basic concepts that are common for all applications:

• InDesign: Layers in InDesign use the most basic layer features, but even ...