Creating Layers in Corel

[Stacey K]

So, I volunteered to make a flyer for this group I'm in. We are handing it out all over town, etc. It was supposed to be a quick project but there are 2 other people involved who are "designers' but they use Photoshop, possibly Illustrator, but they want to edit this flyer in Photoshop. He wants to change the wording for the 27th time instead of bothering me. I used Calibri and it's variations. Boring yes, but it's for a school thing so we need to keep it clean and easy to read - LOTS of text on this flyer with a few solid rectangles and a couple streaks on top and bottom. He keeps asking me to put everything in different layers because the text is "wonky".

I think I saved it incorrectly the first time by not clicking on maintain layers. There's only 2 layers...one for art one for text. Should this be multiple layers and each text box in it's own layer? I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong or is this something not possible to do? TIA

I can't post the flyer and I'd rather not get into a debate about it's contents. Just know it's text boxes and rectangles LOL

 

[CanuckSigns]

I use Corel every day, I never use layers, I've spoken to a few other shops who are Corel only and they are in the same boat. I've never understood the point of having tons of layers in a design, usually when I get a file from a designer who uses Adobe, every single element is on its own layer, I had one where every single text character was its own layer, that was a fun one to troubleshoot.

If they want easy editability for the text, you should be able to export it as a PSD file for them to edit in photoshop.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

I hate layers in vectors. If I get a file with layers, I copy and paste into a new window which puts it all on 1. I don't see the point.

 

[Bobby H]

What is the problem with layers in a CorelDRAW or Adobe Illustrator file? I have zero problem using layers in either application. Layers tend to be more necessary in Illustrator and they're absolutely vital in Photoshop. Just try using an ancient version of Photoshop without layer capability, such as version 2.5. When layers were introduced in Photoshop 3.0 it was a God-send.

I have plenty of CorelDRAW files where everything is on Layer 1. But if the project gets more complex I absolutely will organize the elements across multiple layers. And I don't care if anyone else viewing the file gets annoyed by that. I'm pretty good with naming layers, keeping the contents organized and including notes warning what's approved to use and what is not. I'll move rejected ideas or other raw assets to other layers and lock/hide them. It's not hard to open the Objects palette.

The selection behavior of Adobe Illustrator pretty much forces users to organize and isolate various elements on layers. In CorelDRAW you have to drag a box completely around an object to select it (if you don't click it directly). In Illustrator the selection box only has to partially nick an object to select it. So a lot of things can be selected unintentionally. With any kind of complex artwork in Illustrator it's a chore not to have things organized and isolated across various layers.

It was supposed to be a quick project but there are 2 other people involved who are "designers' but they use Photoshop, possibly Illustrator, but they want to edit this flyer in Photoshop. He wants to change the wording for the 27th time instead of bothering me.

Creating a flyer in Photoshop is like trying to mow a lawn using a pair of scissors. It's just stupid. Those "designers" are clue-less hacks for insisting on using such a counter-productive method.

Yeah, text in Photoshop gets "wonky" because every text string creates its own layer. Text formatting options are very limited in Photoshop. And unless they're extremely careful all those text objects will be rasterized in lower, non-vector resolution when printed.

Photoshop is a great application. But it has its own narrow range of purposes. Photoshop is not a substitute for a vector drawing application or a page layout application. I get really annoyed by these fake designers who insist on doing all their "professional" design work within Photoshop. Those hacks are a big source for bad JPEG-based logos. I don't particularly enjoy having to re-create the artwork from other people in vector format. It's a waste of time and a waste of client's money. Some projects would get finished faster if these kinds of "designers" had a clue.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

Why not just delete whatever isn't needed in the final file? I still don't see the point.

 

[Stacey K]

These are very informative answers, thank you! I met with him last night and he pulled it up in photoshop. There were just a few things that were wonky that he could have easily fixed. For the sake of getting the project done he just wrote the changes on paper and I just finished up the final edits.

I told him in the sign world we don't have much use for layers and only use Photoshop for...photos. He just agreed with me for the sake of being done with it LOL

The flyer is to make our community aware that the superintendent has contracted with a group to bring CRT into the curriculum for this school year. Considering this is a conservative district, there are some very upset people. The school board is voting on it in August so there's a sense of urgency. If I end up on the news, I'll make sure to give a shoot out to my friends at Signs101 (totally kidding, I'm staying under the radar for business reasons)

 

[Bobby H]

The flyer is to make our community aware that the superintendent has contracted with a group to bring CRT into the curriculum for this school year. Considering this is a conservative district, there are some very upset people.

I learned quite a bit being in a long-term interracial relationship. Not many people want to be thought of as racist, sexist, prejudiced, etc. Not many people are deliberately, overtly that way either. However it is very common for people to say or do thoughtless things that really don't go over well with a person of a different race, gender, etc on the receiving end of it. Some of the backlash over "PC culture" boils down to people just not wanting to burden themselves with having to think before they say something rude. The reality is minorities, women, etc aren't taking that $#!+ anymore. And they shouldn't have to either.

I think the CRT thing is a bunch of over-blown hooey. Like it or not American history is filled with a lot of unflattering and even shameful moments. Much of that is a consequence to our nation having the most diverse "melting pot" on the globe. That doesn't have to be wrapped up in a fancy label like CRT. And many school districts insist they're not doing that. They're teaching American history as is, warts and all. What we shouldn't do is attempt to white-wash that history, to pretend certain things didn't happen. I think it's pretty telling that many Americans first heard of the Greenwood District Massacre in Tulsa by way of the HBO TV series Watchmen. There's a bunch of people here in Oklahoma that never knew about that atrocity. And Oklahoma has plenty of its own sordid history involving clashing cultures.

Why not just delete whatever isn't needed in the final file? I still don't see the point.

Because some clients will change their minds and go back to a prior revision. Or they'll want to use ideas from one revision on a different project. I don't like having to go back and re-make something I deleted.

 

[myront]

... In CorelDRAW you have to drag a box completely around an object to select it (if you don't click it directly). In Illustrator the selection box only has to partially nick an object to select it. So a lot of things can be selected unintentionally. With any kind of complex artwork in Illustrator it's a chore not to have things organized and isolated across various layers...

Hold Alt key and marquee select shapes, anything the marquee touches will be included in the selection just like the annoying illustrator way.
As for layers, I don't have use for more than 3. Cut decals will get a "cut" layer, a reg mark layer, as well, as a "Punch cut" layer. All print only stuff is 1 layer.

 

[Adam Vreeke]

As has been stated above, you don't need layers for simple things such as business cards or a simple yard sign. However on something more intricate layers are almost required.

When I was first designing in college and had no idea how to properly use layers, doing a simple project took a lot longer trying to get things in the right order, selecting things, or unselecting things. Putting items into layers makes items easier to select, organize and control, believe me doing layers correctly can save you hours of design time. Now this doesn't mean you need to put each and everything into its own layer like I have seen before (each sentence or line was in its own layer). But having even very basic layers will make your life easier, Background, type, design elements are the basic 3 you could have. Or if you are recreating something, put it in a layer and lock it. That way after finishing you will find that you didn't accidentally move the piece and now your whole thing is off.

Do the printers need all the layers? No, but if there is any sort of change that you need to do it may take you a looooong time to get what you need to do if everything is in all 1 layer. Of course this all depends on the design. And anyone that says they don't need more than 1 layer when designing something complicated are either lying, don't know how to properly use layers, severely wasting their time or all the above.

As for your OP it just sounds like they need it in layers because they are designing it in photoshop . If you want to keep your layers, save as an .eps

 

[Stacey K]

As has been stated above, you don't need layers for simple things such as business cards or a simple yard sign. However on something more intricate layers are almost required.

When I was first designing in college and had no idea how to properly use layers, doing a simple project took a lot longer trying to get things in the right order, selecting things, or unselecting things. Putting items into layers makes items easier to select, organize and control, believe me doing layers correctly can save you hours of design time. Now this doesn't mean you need to put each and everything into its own layer like I have seen before (each sentence or line was in its own layer). But having even very basic layers will make your life easier, Background, type, design elements are the basic 3 you could have. Or if you are recreating something, put it in a layer and lock it. That way after finishing you will find that you didn't accidentally move the piece and now your whole thing is off.

Do the printers need all the layers? No, but if there is any sort of change that you need to do it may take you a looooong time to get what you need to do if everything is in all 1 layer. Of course this all depends on the design. And anyone that says they don't need more than 1 layer when designing something complicated are either lying, don't know how to properly use layers, severely wasting their time or all the above.

As for your OP it just sounds like they need it in layers because they are designing it in photoshop . If you want to keep your layers, save as an .eps

It's funny you mention the fact that you lock your layers. I do quite a bit of locking objects in LXI. Based on this thread, I'm to start playing around with layers. I can think of a few jobs off hand in which the "selecting and deselecting and locking" of certain objects might be made easier if I were to create one or even two layers and just lock the layer instead. Thanks!

 

[unclebun]

That's the key to when layers are actually useful. Locking and hiding. I almost never use layers in Corel, but there are a few instances where it's useful. If you are using vehicle templates for wrap designing, the ones which have everything in layers with a gray mask layer are great. All the template layers and the mask layer are locked to begin with, and the design layer is behind the mask layer. Thus you can build your graphic design and have your sheet sizes behind the mask so they don't stick out beyond the confines of the vehicle's edges. When it comes time to print, those pieces are ready to go with the excess edge material needed for doing the wrap. If you need to adjust something, like change the body color for a partial wrap, unlock the layer with the body edges, fill them with the color, then relock.

Another is when you want to design a sign on top of a photo of the building or vehicle or whatever. You size the photo until it's correctly scaled, then lock its layer so you don't accidentally select the photo while designing and move it or group it with something or accidentally resize it.

On the flyer, you could lock the photos in place if they are in their own layer. This all made more sense in the days of offset printing because you could have your 4cp layer, various spot color layers, your black or text layer. Then when it came time to make screens it was easy to separate them.

There is no reason for people who use Illustrator to make files with 583 layers and distribute them to others for use.

I can understand in Photoshop where you may want to apply effects and still have the original underneath, or have various objects in different layers with different effects. But flatten when you distribute...