Adobe InDesign CS4 - Manual (Page 390)

382 USING INDESIGN CS4
Frames and objects
Select nested or overlapping objects
When a frame contains an object, the contained object is said to be nested inside a container, or frame. Three common
kinds of nesting are: paths inside frames, frames inside frames, and groups inside groups. Always be aware of exactly
which objects or object attributes you need to select, which ones are currently selected, and which selection tools to use
to modify selections.
You control selections in nested groups using the Direct Selection and Selection tools, as well as the Select Content and
Select Container buttons. You can select text characters using the Type tool at any time, no matter how deeply a text
frame is nested.
Select nested, grouped, or overlapping objects
When you nest objects or place objects on top of each other on the same layer, it can be difficult to select a single object
or frame. The Object menu and context menu contain selection options to make it easier to select the object you want.
Selecting nested objects
A. Image selected B. Path of the frame containing the image is selected C. Group containing frame selected
Opening the Info panel makes it easier to see which object is selected.
1 Using the Direct Selection tool , click the nested or grouped object.
2 If you can’t select the object you want, use one of the following techniques:
• Choose Object > Select, and choose one of the selection options.
• Position the pointer over the object you want to select and right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) to
display the context menu. Then choose Select and the desired selection option.
Note: Selecting objects using the context menu commands is not the same as using the Object > Select menu commands.
From the context menu, the selections are based on the exact point where you clicked to display the context menu. This
means that the next object above or below the mouse click would be selected, rather than the next object in the stacking
order.
• Hold down Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS), and then click the same place repeatedly until you’ve selected
the frame or group you want. (Do not click an anchor point.)
• To select all objects in a group individually, use the Selection tool to select the group, click the Select Content
button
on the Control panel, and then choose Select All.
3 To progressively drill down or up through a stack of objects, do one of the following:
• Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS), and then choose an option from the Select context menu.
Choose Object > Select > Next Object Below or Next Object Above repeatedly until the object you want is selected.
When you reach the beginning or end of the stack, the selection doesn’t change.
• Hold down Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) and click the stack to drill down from the top of the stack. When
you reach the end of the stack, the selection starts over at the top of the stack. To drill up from the bottom of the
stack, hold down Alt+Ctrl (Windows) or Option+Command (Mac
OS) and click the stack using the Selection tool.
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Updated 18 June 2009