LAYER SHUFFLING

Tricks for re-ordering and navigating between layers and objects.
By Estelle MacDonald

In addition to dragging layers and objects around in the project pane there are numerous keyboard shortcuts for re-ordering. It’s really useful to use these keyboard commands as you will speed up your workflow.

1. Open your layers tab > F5

In this case, my layers are in the wrong order. I need my text layer on top, then my shapes, and last of all my background.

2. Select the layer you need to move and press > command + shift + left bracket

The shapes layer has jumped to the very front of the composite.

3. Select the next layer, in this case the text and press > command + shift + left bracket. Now the text layer is at the top of the stack.

Now my project is looking better. In this example, I reordered my layers but these keyboard shortcuts also work for reordering objects, behaviors, filters - everything really!

Let’s have a look at the keyboard commands for moving objects and layers around.

The commands live in the object menu. Where you see the { or } brackets apply the shift key.

Bring to Front = command + shift + right bracket
Sends the layer or object to the very front of the composition.

Send to Back = command + shift + left bracket
Sends the layer or object to the very back of the composition.

Bring Forward = command + right bracket
Moves the layer or object forward 1 position.

Send Backward = command + left bracket
Moves the layer or object backward 1 position.

Moving layers and objects around using the keyboard commands is much easier than dragging and you can also navigate between layers and objects by using your up/down/left/right arrows.

When you are on a closed layer or on an object with behaviors or filters etc tap the right arrow to disclose the triangle and open the contents. Tap the down arrow again to navigate into the layer. To close a layer or object tap on the left arrow.

I use the full screen mode F8 and navigate between my layers and objects directly in the canvas. Give it a go, leave your dashboard up and watch it update. Reorder layers and objects with ease and navigate at the touch of an arrow.