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Lock, hide, and delete objects

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  1. Illustrator User Guide
  2. Get to know Illustrator
    1. Introduction to Illustrator
      1. What's new in Illustrator
      2. Common questions
      3. Illustrator system requirements
      4. Illustrator for Apple silicon
    2. Workspace
      1. Workspace basics
      2. Learn faster with the Illustrator Discover panel
      3. Create documents
      4. Toolbar
      5. Default keyboard shortcuts
      6. Customize keyboard shortcuts
      7. Introduction to artboards
      8. Manage artboards
      9. Customize the workspace
      10. Properties panel
      11. Set preferences
      12. Touch Workspace
      13. Microsoft Surface Dial support in Illustrator
      14. Undo edits and manage design history
      15. Rotate view
      16. Rulers, grids, and guides
      17. Accessibility in Illustrator
      18. Safe Mode
      19. View artwork
      20. Use the Touch Bar with Illustrator
      21. Files and templates
    3. Tools in Illustrator
      1. Tools at a glance
      2. Select tools
        1. Selection
        2. Direct Selection
        3. Group Selection
        4. Magic Wand
        5. Lasso
        6. Artboard
      3. Navigate tools
        1. Hand
        2. Rotate View
        3. Zoom
      4. Paint tools
        1. Gradient
        2. Mesh
        3. Shape Builder
      5. Text tools
        1. Type
        2. Type on a Path
        3. Vertical Type
      6. Draw tools
        1. Pen
        2. Add Anchor Point
        3. Delete Anchor Point
        4. Anchor Point
        5. Curvature
        6. Line Segment
        7. Rectangle
        8. Rounded Rectangle
        9. Ellipse
        10. Polygon
        11. Star
        12. Paintbrush
        13. Blob Brush
        14. Pencil
        15. Shaper
        16. Slice
      7. Modify tools
        1. Rotate
        2. Reflect
        3. Scale
        4. Shear
        5. Width
        6. Free Transform
        7. Eyedropper
        8. Blend
        9. Eraser
        10. Scissors
    4. Quick actions
      1. Retro text
      2. Neon glow text
      3. Old school text
      4. Recolor
      5. Convert sketch to vector
  3. Illustrator on the iPad
    1. Introduction to Illustrator on the iPad
      1. Illustrator on the iPad overview
      2. Illustrator on the iPad FAQs
      3. System requirements | Illustrator on the iPad
      4. What you can or cannot do on Illustrator on the iPad
    2. Workspace
      1. Illustrator on the iPad workspace
      2. Touch shortcuts and gestures
      3. Keyboard shortcuts for Illustrator on the iPad
      4. Manage your app settings
    3. Documents
      1. Work with documents in Illustrator on the iPad
      2. Import Photoshop and Fresco documents
    4. Select and arrange objects
      1. Create repeat objects
      2. Blend objects
    5. Drawing
      1. Draw and edit paths
      2. Draw and edit shapes
    6. Type
      1. Work with type and fonts
      2. Create text designs along a path
      3. Add your own fonts
    7. Work with images
      1. Vectorize raster images
    8. Color
      1. Apply colors and gradients
  4. Cloud documents
    1. Basics
      1. Work with Illustrator cloud documents
      2. Share and collaborate on Illustrator cloud documents
      3. Share documents for review
      4. Upgrade cloud storage for Adobe Illustrator
      5. Illustrator cloud documents | Common questions
    2. Troubleshooting
      1. Troubleshoot create or save issues for Illustrator cloud documents
      2. Troubleshoot Illustrator cloud documents issues
  5. Add and edit content
    1. Drawing
      1. Drawing basics
      2. Edit paths
      3. Draw pixel-perfect art
      4. Draw with the Pen, Curvature, or Pencil tool
      5. Draw simple lines and shapes
      6. Image Trace
      7. Simplify a path
      8. Define perspective grids
      9. Symbolism tools and symbol sets
      10. Adjust path segments
      11. Design a flower in 5 easy steps
      12. Perspective drawing
      13. Symbols
      14. Draw pixel-aligned paths for web workflows
    2. 3D objects and materials
      1. About 3D effects in Illustrator
      2. Create 3D graphics
      3. Map artwork over 3D objects
      4. Create 3D Text
      5. Create 3D objects
    3. Color
      1. About color
      2. Select colors
      3. Use and create swatches
      4. Adjust colors
      5. Use the Adobe Color Themes panel
      6. Color groups (harmonies)
      7. Color Themes panel
      8. Recolor your artwork
    4. Painting
      1. About painting
      2. Paint with fills and strokes
      3. Live Paint groups
      4. Gradients
      5. Brushes
      6. Transparency and blending modes
      7. Apply stroke on an object
      8. Create and edit patterns
      9. Meshes
      10. Patterns
    5. Select and arrange objects
      1. Select objects
      2. Layers
      3. Group and expand objects
      4. Move, align, and distribute objects
      5. Stack objects    
      6. Lock, hide, and delete objects
      7. Copy and duplicate objects
      8. Rotate and reflect objects
      9. Intertwine objects
    6. Reshape objects
      1. Crop images
      2. Transform objects
      3. Combine objects
      4. Cut, divide, and trim objects
      5. Puppet Warp
      6. Scale, shear, and distort objects
      7. Blend objects
      8. Reshape using envelopes
      9. Reshape objects with effects
      10. Build new shapes with Shaper and Shape Builder tools
      11. Work with Live Corners
      12. Enhanced reshape workflows with touch support
      13. Edit clipping masks
      14. Live shapes
      15. Create shapes using the Shape Builder tool
      16. Global editing
    7. Type
      1. Add text and work with type objects
      2. Create bulleted and numbered lists
      3. Manage text area
      4. Fonts and typography
      5. Format type
      6. Import and export text
      7. Format paragraphs
      8. Special characters
      9. Create type on a path
      10. Character and paragraph styles
      11. Tabs
      12. Find missing fonts (Typekit workflow)
      13. Arabic and Hebrew type
      14. Fonts | FAQ and troubleshooting tips
      15. Create 3D text effect
      16. Creative typography designs
      17. Scale and rotate type
      18. Line and character spacing
      19. Hyphenation and line breaks
      20. Spelling and language dictionaries
      21. Format Asian characters
      22. Composers for Asian scripts
      23. Create text designs with blend objects
      24. Create a text poster using Image Trace
    8. Create special effects
      1. Work with effects
      2. Graphic styles
      3. Appearance attributes
      4. Create sketches and mosaics
      5. Drop shadows, glows, and feathering
      6. Summary of effects
    9. Web graphics
      1. Best practices for creating web graphics
      2. Graphs
      3. SVG
      4. Slices and image maps
  6. Import, export, and save
    1. Import
      1. Place multiple files
      2. Manage linked and embedded files
      3. Links information
      4. Unembed images
      5. Import artwork from Photoshop
      6. Import bitmap images
      7. Import Adobe PDF files
      8. Import EPS, DCS, and AutoCAD files
    2. Creative Cloud Libraries in Illustrator 
      1. Creative Cloud Libraries in Illustrator
    3. Save
      1. Save artwork
    4. Export
      1. Use Illustrator artwork in Photoshop
      2. Export artwork
      3. Collect assets and export in batches
      4. Package files
      5. Create Adobe PDF files
      6. Extract CSS | Illustrator CC
      7. Adobe PDF options
      8. Document info panel
  7. Printing
    1. Prepare for printing
      1. Set up documents for printing
      2. Change the page size and orientation
      3. Specify crop marks for trimming or aligning
      4. Get started with large canvas
    2. Printing
      1. Overprint
      2. Print with color management
      3. PostScript printing
      4. Print presets
      5. Printer's marks and bleeds
      6. Print and save transparent artwork
      7. Trapping
      8. Print color separations
      9. Print gradients, meshes, and color blends
      10. White Overprint
  8. Automate tasks
    1. Data merge using the Variables panel
    2. Automation with scripts
    3. Automation with actions
  9. Troubleshooting 
    1. Crash issues
    2. Recover files after crash
    3. File issues
    4. Supported file formats
    5. GPU device driver issues
    6. Wacom device issues
    7. DLL file issues
    8. Memory issues
    9. Preferences file issues
    10. Font issues
    11. Printer issues
    12. Share crash report with Adobe
    13. Improve Illustrator performance

Lock or unlock objects or layers

Locking objects prevents you from selecting and editing them. You can quickly lock multiple paths, groups, and sublayers by locking their parent layer.

  • To lock objects, click the edit column button (to the right of the eye icon) in the Layers panel for the object or layer you want to lock. Drag across multiple edit column buttons to lock multiple items. Alternatively, select the objects you want to lock, and then choose Object > Lock > Selection.

  • To unlock objects, click the lock icon  in the Layers panel for the object or layer you want to unlock.

You can also use the following commands to lock and unlock objects:

  • To lock all objects that overlap the area of the selected object and that are in the same layer, select the object, and then choose Object > Lock > All Artwork Above.

  • To lock all layers other than the layer that contains a selected item or group, choose Object > Lock > Other Layers or choose Lock Others from the Layers panel menu.

  • To lock all the layers, select all the layers in the Layers panel, and then choose Lock All Layers from the panel menu.

  • To unlock all objects in the document, choose Object > Unlock All.

  • To unlock all objects within a group, select an unlocked and visible object within the group. Hold down Shift+Alt (Windows) or Shift+Option (Mac OS) and choose Object > Unlock All.

  • If you locked all layers, choose Unlock All Layers from the Layers panel menu to unlock them.

Note:

The Lock menus are disabled when you’re in isolation mode.

Unlock objects on canvas

You can unlock objects directly from the canvas using the lock icon without the need to go to the Layers panel. Do one of the following: 

  • Using the lock icon: To enable this feature, set Preferences > Selection & Anchor Display > Select and Unlock Objects on Canvas. A lock icon is displayed on the canvas for the lock objects. Click this icon to unlock objects.
  • Right-click the locked object and choose Unlock > object-name.

Note: Layers can be unlocked only from the Layers Panel. The lock icon is not displayed for objects that are on a locked layer. 

unlock objects

Hide or show objects or layers

Choose from the following methods:

  • In the Layers panel, click the eye icon  next to the item you want to hide. Click again to redisplay the item. If you hide a layer or group, all items in the layer or group are hidden.

  • Drag across multiple eye icons to hide multiple items.

  • Select an object you want to hide, and choose Object > Hide > Selection.

  • To hide all objects above an object in a layer, select the object and choose Object > Hide > All Artwork Above.

  • To hide all unselected layers, choose Hide Others from the Layers panel menu, or Alt‑click (Windows) or Option‑click (Mac OS) the eye icon for the layer you want to show. Alternatively, to hide all other layers other than the layer that contains the selected object or group, choose Object > Hide > Other Layers.

  • To show all objects, choose Object > Show All. All previously hidden objects are shown. Any previously selected objects are selected.

  • To show all layers and sublayers, select Show All Layers from the Layers panel menu. Hidden objects aren’t displayed by this command, only hidden layers.

  • To show all objects within a group, select an unlocked and visible object in the group. Hold down Shift+Alt (Windows) or Shift+Option (Mac OS) and choose Object > Show All.

Note:

The Show All and Hide menus are disabled when you’re in isolation mode.

Delete objects or layers

  1. Do one of the following:

    • Select the objects and then press Backspace (Windows) or Delete.

    • Select the objects and then choose Edit > Clear or Edit > Cut.

    • Select the items you want to delete in the Layers panel, and then click the Delete icon . Alternatively, drag the item name in the Layers panel to the Delete icon in the panel, or choose Delete “Layer name” from the Layers panel menu.
    • Select Delete Hidden layers from the Layers panel menu to delete all the layers and sublayers that are marked hidden.

    Deleting a layer also deletes all artwork that is in the layer. For example, if you delete a layer that contains sublayers, groups, paths, and clipping sets, all those elements will be deleted along with the layer.

    Note:

    A document must have a least one layer. If a document has only one layer, the Delete icon and Delete command are not available.

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