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- Hello, and welcome to the Layers panel.



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Now, some of you might

figure this conversation is



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coming a little late in the game.



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After all, the Layers panel

seems pretty straightforward.



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It's been around forever,



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and we've seen it,



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I believe, in approximately

every movie so far.



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Okay, granted, at first

glance the Layers panel might



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seem I guess, like a very small dresser,



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filled with an infinite number

of impossibly deep drawers



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that can hold literally anything

and everything you like,



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which if Ikea sold it,



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you'd eat the meatballs,



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build it yourself,



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and tweet about how great it was,



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but the Layers panel is more

than just a magical cabinet



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of Scandinavian curiosities,



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it is in fact,



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a completely different way

of looking at your document.



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Think of it this way,



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the Document window displays

your artwork in two dimensions,



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horizontal and vertical.



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The Layers panel shows

you a third dimension,



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not depth exactly,



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but rather how the document is built,



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starting at the bottom,



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and working its way, eventually,



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to the top.



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This bottom to top thing,



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it's called the stacking order.



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Brick by brick, mortar by mortar,



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only in the Layers panel,



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you see one container

stacked upon another.



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Paths inside compound shapes,



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inside groups, inside layers.



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Rooms inside floors,



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upon which more floors

rise to make a tower.



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In other words,



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the Layers panel is a virtual

skyscraper that when captured



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from a bird's eye perspective

becomes the artwork



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that you see in the Document window below,



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and that's just the beginning.



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The Layers panel lets you

move things up and down,



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from one layer to another,



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even in and out of groups.



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Plus, you can name objects,



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and establish hierarchical relationships,



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thus permitting you to

tell the story behind



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the creation of your document.



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Now, Illustrator doesn't make

you organize a darn thing.



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You can plop everything

in the default layer one,



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and forget about it,



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which is very, probably

how most people work,



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but if you take a little

extra time to establish



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a few layers, and name a few key objects,



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the designers who follow you

will know what you were up to,



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and my guess is one of

those designers will be you.



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Mark my words,



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six months after you

create a complex document,



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you'll have no memory of

how you put it together.



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Right now, you're watching this chapter,



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but little do you know,



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your future self is just now

kissing you with gratitude.