2 Replies Latest reply: Dec 18, 2009 4:23 AM by JETalmage RSS

    pasting into Illustrator, why cant it paste above the layer I've selected?

    TF22Raptor2 Community Member

      Hi all,

       

      Pet peev I've noticed with Illustrator is that is always pastes what ever your pasting to the top of the layer pile! Why does it do this? Is there a way to change that? I'm so used to to simply selecting the layer I'm working on then having it simply paste above that layer like in Photoshop, Illustrator makes this so much double handling!

       

      Any help would be great

        • 1. Re: pasting into Illustrator, why cant it paste above the layer I've selected?
          Larry G. Schneider CommunityMVP

          If you have Layers A B C D and copy something from layers B E F from another document and paste it into the first document. Then the order will be A B E F C D.

          • 2. Re: pasting into Illustrator, why cant it paste above the layer I've selected?
            JETalmage Community Member

            TF,

             

            This is not Photoshop, wherein something pasted usually requires another entire raster image on top of the preexisting one(s)--which is essentially what a Photoshop Layer is. Do not think of Illustrator Layers as anything at all like Photoshop Layers. They are not. When you paste something into a pre-existing Layer in Photoshop, you are not pasting another object; you're just coloring some pixels. A Layer in Illustrator typically contains many objects.

             

            It would be ridiculous for a vector program to create a new layer every time you issued a Paste command. Perhaps an argument might be made for a  "Paste Into New Top-Level Layer" keyboard option but, frankly, I would seldom use it. It is not arduous to create a new Layer first, and then Paste.

             

            Select anything in your file. Instead of Ctrl V (Paste), use Ctrl F (Paste In Front) or Ctrl B (Paste In Back). The clipboard content will be pasted above/below the selected object in the object stack.

             

            If you're talking about copying/pasting between two similarly-organized Illustrator files, be aware of the Paste Remembers Layers setting.

             

            JET