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About this lesson
This lesson will help you to better understand how layers work in Keynote.
Exercise files
Download this lesson’s related exercise files.
Working with Layers1.5 MB Working with Layers
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Quick reference
Topic
This lesson will help you to better understand how layers work in Keynote.
When to use
Each time we add a new object to Keynote, it creates a new layer where that object will be located. If we don’t understand how these layers work in conjunction with other layers, it can be very frustrating. This lesson will help you to have a good understanding of how layers work.
Instructions
When we place a new object on our Keynote canvas, we are essentially creating a new layer.
Adding a second object onto our canvas adds a new layer to our slide.
We can move objects forward or backward by using the layer tools located on the formatting pane under the “Arrange” tab.
There are 4 options for moving layers:
- Back: brings the object to the very foreground layer
- Bring: sends the object to the very background layer
- Backward: sends the object back one layer
- Forward: brings the object forward one layer
We can adjust the position of multiple objects at the same time by highlighting the objects and choosing the appropriate move operation.
Login to download- 00:04 Keynote is amazing at working with objects, shapes, charts, lines, images,
- 00:09 audio files, video.
- 00:11 You name it, and
- 00:12 Keynote will help you to turn something ordinary into something extraordinary.
- 00:17 One thing you will find as you work with more and more objects,
- 00:19 however, is that they can sometimes be slightly confusing when it comes to which
- 00:23 objects appear to be on top of others.
- 00:26 In this lesson, we will be talking about layers, what they are, and
- 00:30 how we can use them to our advantage when building our slide decks.
- 00:33 First, let's talk about what layers are.
- 00:36 When we place a new object on a fresh canvas, it creates a layer.
- 00:40 Most people don't think of it as a layer, but as an object, and that's fine too.
- 00:45 If we add another object, we add a second layer.
- 00:48 If we add a third object, we add yet a third layer.
- 00:52 You get the idea.
- 00:55 It's hard to imagine how these layers relate to other layers
- 00:58 because Keynote is a two-dimensional design environment.
- 01:02 Let's take these three layers, move them around a little bit, and change some of
- 01:06 their colors to give you a better sense of their relative relationship to each other.
- 01:11 As you can see, the first layer appears to be in the background,
- 01:14 while the third layer appears to be in the foreground.
- 01:17 The order in which we add these objects to a slide is the order in which they appear
- 01:22 in layers relative to each other.
- 01:25 When I add yet another object, this new and
- 01:28 now fourth object will take the place of the foremost layer.
- 01:32 In some cases, it may be necessary to move layers forward or
- 01:35 backward one layer at a time.
- 01:38 Or even move an object to the very back or the very front.
- 01:43 Let's walk through how to do this.
- 01:45 In this example I will move layer two, AKA object two, forward one layer.
- 01:52 In other words, layer two and layer three will swap places.
- 01:56 To do this we first need to select object two.
- 02:01 Next, let's head over to the formatting pane and
- 02:04 click on the Arrange tab under the Format button.
- 02:07 At the very top of the formatting pane,
- 02:09 you will notice four buttons that we will use when working with layers,
- 02:13 Send to Back, Bring to Front, Send Backward, and Bring Forward.
- 02:19 While Send to Back and Bring to Front will move the selected object either to
- 02:22 the very back or bring to the very front, the Send Backward and
- 02:27 Bring Forward options will move the object forward or backward one layer at a time.
- 02:32 For this example, with object two highlighted,
- 02:35 we will choose the Bring Forward option.
- 02:38 As you can see, doing this will bring object two just in front of object three.
- 02:43 Object three will now assume the position of layer two,
- 02:46 sending it backward one layer.
- 02:49 If we want to bring object two to the very foreground, we click the front button.
- 02:54 If you we want to move it to the very background, we click the back button.
- 02:59 One more note to add to this, if we were to add yet another object or layer to this
- 03:04 slide, that object, regardless of how we changed layers prior to adding the new
- 03:09 object, would assume the position of layer five, or the foreground most layer.
- 03:14 Working with layers really is as simple as that, but
- 03:17 most people tend to get hung up on them because it's hard to envision three
- 03:20 dimensional space in a two dimensional world.
- 03:23 Now that you have a better understanding of how layers work and how to manage them,
- 03:27 you should have no problem in managing your own layers in your Keynote slide deck.
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