Child objects

[jackamus]

Is there a way to switch off child objects in the layers tab? Meaning that every object can be independently copied regardless of its group and moved to another position without a bounding box that ties it to its previous location.

[walt.farrell]

I don't understand what you mean by the comment about the bounding box. Can you provide an example?

Also, you can select items that are in a group, and duplicate them, and drag them outside of the group now using the Layers panel. So perhaps I'm not sure what you mean by that part of your question, either.

[jackamus]

Hi Walt,

If I have a group of objects then select one object, copy and paste then drag it to another position from its original position then if I select it again in order to make another copy to paste elsewhere a bounding box appears linking the pasted object to its original group. I am unable to free it up other than to cut it and ten paste it elsewhere. It would be useful for grouped objects  to be unconnected to the original group for purposes of moving to another position.

In other words it would be like a bunch of objects that even though grouped could be independently dragged out of the group to a new position.

I'm happy to use a layer to contain a group of ungrouped objects that can be selected and dragged elsewhere.

The way I use AD is not like the way the rest of you do. its a way that suits me.

[thomaso]

To me it sounds you want to use the option "Lock Children" which enables you to handle (scale, move, …) child or parent object independent from their nested relation.

 

Unfortunately it is not only kind of hidden in the interface* and does not have a menu entry (> shortcut-key) but also is very hard up to impossible to be found in the Help.

* unless you select more than 2 parent layers, then it gets more obvious in the UI even if you have a layer selected that has no child at all, for instance a text layer:

[walt.farrell]

21 minutes ago, jackamus said:

In other words it would be like a bunch of objects that even though grouped could be independently dragged out of the group to a new position.

That certainly works if you "drag it out of the group" using the Layers panel. Are you talking about doing it directly in the workspace?

[jackamus]

30 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

That certainly works if you "drag it out of the group" using the Layers panel. Are you talking about doing it directly in the workspace?

Yes.

[walt.farrell]

53 minutes ago, jackamus said:

Yes.

You can't do that.

[Alfred]

2 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

Are you talking about doing it directly in the workspace?

 

36 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

You can't do that.

Doesn’t Ctrl-click (or Cmd-click on Mac) achieve the desired result?

Alternatively, double-click on an object to select the containing group, and then double-click again to select the object itself.

[Old Bruce]

@Alfred, As far as I know there is no way to get an item out of its group while working only on the canvas. We need to use the Layers panel for that.

[thomaso]

6 hours ago, jackamus said:

and moved to another position

17 minutes ago, Alfred said:

Doesn’t Ctrl-click

It appears the OP wants to move vertically in the Layers panel hierarchy without using the Layers panel but the layout window object only.

It could become a feature request to enable a 1-click-move even to leave a Group (or any parent) Layer via modifier key when using this button(s):

[Alfred]

4 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

@Alfred, As far as I know there is no way to get an item out of its group while working only on the canvas. We need to use the Layers panel for that.

 

1 minute ago, thomaso said:

It appears the OP wants to move vertically in the Layers panel hierarchy without using the Layers panel but the layout window object only.

Thank you both.

[jackamus]

1 hour ago, Alfred said:

 

Doesn’t Ctrl-click (or Cmd-click on Mac) achieve the desired result?

Alternatively, double-click on an object to select the containing group, and then double-click again to select the object itself.

But if you do that aren't you still selecting a child object that is still attached to the group?

[Old Bruce]

2 minutes ago, jackamus said:

But if you do that aren't you still selecting a child object that is still attached to the group?

That is what happens to me. 

I did find that if I use the pointer to select a child object inside a group then use keyboard shortcuts to Copy, Deselect All, and then Paste I have the copied child layer pasted outside the group, in the top of the Layers panel. It is important to Deselect All before pasting.

[thomaso]

@jackamus, have you tried the menu commands Layer > Arrange > Move Outside / Move Inside ?
With a keyboard shortcut assigned they will shift layers a lot easier than a manual mouse move within the Layers Panel.