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Is it possible to know the position of each object within a single group i.e. how far they are in front or back. e.g. if I have 10 objects I would want to know the positions of each in regard to each other. I don't think that I can use 10 layers as they have to be grouped together.
Sort of, yes.
In the Selector tool, Ctrl-click to select one of the objects in the group then press Tab to cycle through the objects in depth order. As you do that watch the selection handles and optionally the status line, the colour line or the name gallery to identify the objects.
Phil
Cheers Phil
Hi Salaam,
I just ran a little test with 10 objects in 10 layers and you can indeed group them. :)
You can group them, but if you do all of the objects jump to the topmost layer. I was pretty sad when I discovered that little tidbit on my first major project to use layers...Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert H
Thanks Odat... bummer
Thanks Robert,Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert H
just what I needed. It allows me to easily arrange the order and when grouped the order is maintained.
If you group ten objects that are on ten different layers they do indeed group but are then all on one layer, the top layer if memory serves.Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert H
Derek
Perhaps I'm being dense, but that behavior makes sense to me. Having groups cut through layers sounds horribly complex.Quote:
Originally Posted by Odat
If I want to group objects but still have them on separate layers for future editing, I just copy them to a new layer or a new file and then group.
What am I missing?
same hereQuote:
Originally Posted by amoore
Having groups that cuts through layers without disturbing them might be pretty useful, actually. You could group things like wheels of a car, for example, where two are behind and two are in front of the chasis, and be able to move them around as a group while keeping chasis layer in the middle. Or perhaps be able to group hair, which have some parts in the front and some parts in the back of the face. Photoimpact groups objects this way (groups objects without disturbing the layers), and I often find it handy.
I can tell you it makes a lot of sense for a group to exist as a single "compound" object in the code as well! Having the contents of a group all together in one place speeds up redraw, allows groups to be used as if they were simple objects and allows "group transparency" to work.
I think the concept of being able to group things across layers comes initially from bitmap programs such as Photoshop. Their "Layers" are not the quite the same things as Xtreme's Layers and so I suggest we should not think about changing Xtreme's grouping but rather think about how to achieve the same functionality in a different way...
Check out Xhris's new tutorial about the Name Gallery. That can be used to set up very flexible "Collections" of objects that can exist on any number of layers.
Phil
Oh, I agree it makes perfect sense. However at the time I didn't really think about it and grouped a bunch of stuff from various layers together temporarily for some reason, and didn't realize what happened until after I saved the document. I ended up spending a bit of time shifting everything back to it's proper location.Quote:
Originally Posted by amoore
Now of course I'm a bit more careful about things.. :D