Adobe Illustrator CC 2015 - Manual (Page 264)

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Selecting and arranging objects
Last updated 6/5/2015
Release items to separate layers
The Release To Layers command redistributes all of the items in a layer into individual layers and can build new objects
in each layer based on the object’s stacking order. You can use this feature to prepare files for web animation work.
1 In the Layers panel, click the name of a layer or group.
2 Do one of the following:
• To release each item to a new layer, choose Release To Layers (Sequence) from the Layers panel menu.
• To release items into layers and duplicate objects to create a cumulative sequence, choose Release To Layers
(Build) from the Layers panel menu. The bottommost object appears in each of the new layers, and the topmost
object only appears in the topmost layer. For example, assume Layer 1 contains a circle (bottommost object), a
square, and a triangle (topmost object). This command creates three layers—one with a circle, square, and
triangle; one with a circle and square; and one with just a circle. This is useful for creating cumulative animation
sequences.
Consolidate layers and groups
Merging and flattening layers are similar in that they both let you consolidate objects, groups, and sublayers into a single
layer or group. With merging, you can select which items you want to consolidate; with flattening, all visible items in
the artwork are consolidated in a single layer. With either option, the stacking order of the artwork remains the same,
but other layer-level attributes, such as clipping masks, aren’t preserved.
• To merge items into a single layer or group, hold down Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) and click the names
of the layers or groups that you want to merge. Alternatively, hold down Shift to select all listings in between the
layer or group names you click. Then, select Merge Selected from the Layers panel menu. Note that items will be
merged into the layer or group that you selected last.
Layers can only merge with other layers that are on the same hierarchical level in the Layers panel. Likewise,
sublayers can only merge with other sublayers that are within the same layer and at the same hierarchical level.
Objects can’t be merged with other objects.
• To flatten layers, click the name of the layer into which you want to consolidate the artwork. Then select Flatten
Artwork from the Layers panel menu.
Locate an item in the Layers panel
When you select an item in your document window, you can quickly locate the corresponding item in the Layers panel
using the Locate Object command. This command is especially helpful for locating items in collapsed layers.
1 Select an object in the document window. If you select more than one object, the frontmost object in the stacking
order will be located.
2 Choose Locate Object from the Layers panel menu. This command changes to Locate Layer if the Show Layers Only
panel option is selected.