Group, lock, and duplicate objects (2024)

You can combine several objects into a groupso that they are treated as a single unit. You can then move ortransform the objects without affecting their individual positionsor attributes. For example, you might group the objects in a logodesign so that you can move and scale the logo as one unit.

Groups can also be nested—groupedinto subgroups within larger groups. Use the Selection, Direct Selection,and Group Selection tools to select different levels of a nestedgroup’s hierarchy.

If you’re working with a stack of overlappingobjects, and you group some objects that aren’t adjacent in thestacking order, the selected objects will be pulled together inthe stacking order, right behind the frontmost selected object. (Forexample, when objects are stacked as A, B, C, D from front to back,and you group B and D together, the stacking order becomes A, B,D, C.) If you group objects that exist on different named layers,all of the objects move to the frontmost layer on which you selectedan object. Also, the objects you select must either be all lockedor all unlocked.

1. Select multiple objects to be grouped or ungrouped.

   If your selection includes part of an object (for example, an anchor point), the group or ungroup operation will group or ungroup the entire object.

2. To group the selected objects, chooseObject> Group.

   To ungroup the selected objects,Object> Ungroup.

Note:

If you’re not sure if an object is part of a group,select it using the Selection tool andlook at the Object menu. If the Object> Ungroup commandis available, you’ve selected a group.

Note:

This option is an application-level setting. This implies that this option is applied to all documents.

Youcan use the Lock command to specify that you don’t want certainobjects to move in your document. Locked objects stay locked whena document is saved, closed, and then reopened.

As long asan object is locked, it cannot be moved. However, you can select lockedobjects if you turn off the Prevent Selection Of Locked Objectsoption in General preferences. When you select a locked object,you can change attributes such as color.

1. Select the object or objects that you want tolock in place.

2. Do any of the following:

   • To lock the objects, choose Object>Lock.

   • To unlock an object, click the lock icon.

   • To unlock the objects on the current spread, chooseObject> Unlock All On Spread.

Note:

You can also use the Layers panel tolock or unlock both objects and layers. When you lock a layer, thepositions of all objects on a layer are locked, and the objects cannotbe selected. See Layers.

1. Do any of the following:

   • To hide an object,select it and choose Object > Hide.

   • To show hidden objects, choose Object > Show All On Spread.

1. Select an object or objects, and choose Edit>Duplicate.

1. During a transformation, do one of the following:

   • If you’re dragging the Selection tool, theRotate tool, theScale tool, orthe Shear tool, startdragging, and then hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (MacOS)after you begin dragging. To constrain the duplicate’s transformation,Alt+Shift-drag (Windows) or Option+Shift-drag (MacOS).

   • If you’re specifying a value in the Transform or Controlpanel, press Alt+Enter (Windows) or Option+Return (MacOS)after you’ve typed the value.

   • If you’re pressing arrow keys to move objects, hold downAlt (Windows) or Option (MacOS) as you press the keys.

1. Select the object or objects you want to duplicate.

2. Choose Edit> Step and Repeat.

3. For Repeat Count, specify how many duplicates you want tomake, not counting the original.

4. For Horizontal Offset and Vertical Offset, specify how farto shift the position of each new duplicate from the previous duplicatealong the x and y axes, respectively, and clickOK.

Note:

To create a page full of duplicates, first useStep and Repeat with Vertical Offset set to 0 (zero); this willcreate one row of duplicates. Then select the entire row and use Stepand Repeat with Horizontal Offset set to 0; this will repeat therow down the page.

1. Select an object.

2. Using the Selection tool, hold down Alt (Windows) or Option(Mac OS) and begin dragging.

3. While still dragging, release the Alt or Option key. Pressthe Left Arrow and Right Arrow keys to change the number of columns.Press the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys to change the number of rows.Drag a rectangle to specify the size of the grid.

4. Release the mouse button.

Note:

You can also use layers to selectively hide orshow elements in a document, and you can assign layers a non-printingstatus.

1. Select the object or text frame that you don’twant to be printed.

2. Open the Attributes panel (Window> Output> Attributes).

3. In the Attributes panel, select Nonprinting.

More like this

• Arrange objects in a stack
• Select nested or overlappingobjects
• Lock or unlock layers
• Set a layer as nonprinting
• Grids