Layers are disorganized or hard to manage

Symptoms

If one or more of these match what you are seeing, you are on the right page.

• •Layers are all named after their shape type
• •Finding a specific element means scrolling a long list
• •Dragging a layer accidentally moves it into a group
• •The timeline track list is too long to navigate

Causes and fixes

Ordered from most to least likely. Work down the list — each cause is paired with what to do about it.

1. 1

   Elements are using their default names.

   Double-click a layer name in the Layer Panel to rename it. Named layers are what make search and the timeline track list usable.

2. 2

   Related elements are not grouped.

   Select them and press Ctrl+G. Groups collapse to one row, carry their own transform, and nest to any depth for hierarchical structure.

3. 3

   Stacking order is being managed by dragging alone.

   Use the z-order commands instead: Ctrl+Shift+] to bring to front, Ctrl+] forward one step, Ctrl+[ back one step, Ctrl+Shift+[ to send to back. Dragging in the Layer Panel is what accidentally drops layers into groups.

4. 4

   The timeline is being navigated by scrolling.

   Use layer search and the track type filters in the timeline, and the keyframe-only filter to hide tracks with nothing on them.

5. 5

   Tracks are visually indistinguishable.

   Assign track colors so related layers read as a set at a glance in the timeline.

Related pages