2023

User Guide | 479
To display the Layers palette, choose View > Layers.
You can work with layers in the Layers palette.
Every layout has a Default layer. You can add and remove items from the Default
layer, but you cannot delete the Default layer.
A layout can contain up to 256 layers, including the Default layer.
Understanding layers
A QuarkXPress layer is like a clear overlay that covers every page in a layout.
You can put almost anything on a layer, including picture boxes, text boxes,
lines, tables, interactive objects, and any other kind of QuarkXPress item.
Layers can be useful in many different ways:
You can put all pictures on a one layer and all text on another layer, allowing ●
you to work more easily with boxes should they overlap.
You can put different translations of a document on different layers, and thus ●
store all language versions of the document in the same layout. When you
print the layout, you can hide all of the layers except the one that contains
the language you want.
You can put different versions of a design on different layers, so that you can ●
easily switch back and forth among variations on the design theme when
showing a design to a client.
You can use layer locking to prevent accidental changes to layers containing ●
page elements that should not be altered. For example, if you’re going to be
printing on stock that is preprinted with a letterhead and background
graphic, you can include that letterhead and background graphic in a layer so
that you can see what the finished printed piece will look like, and then you
can lock that layer and omit it from printing.
If you have used image-editing applications such as Adobe Photoshop, you may
already be familiar with the concept of layers. However, layers have some
implications in QuarkXPress layouts that they do not have in image editing:
Even if a front layer is showing, you can “click through” any empty portions of ●
that layer and select items on underlying layers, without having to manually
change the active layer.