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<ul class="navigation"><li class="prev"><a accesskey="p" class="prev" href="WS65791E16-4E4C-45a8-B199-0AC4FDB71D98a.html" title="Select objects"><img src="images/blank.gif" alt="Previous" width="17" height="17" /></a></li><li class="next"><a accesskey="n" class="next" href="WSF9A0EEDB-D2FE-4061-B755-502401FDEF68a.html" title="Arrange objects in a stack"><img src="images/blank.gif" alt="Next" width="17" height="17" /></a></li></ul><div class="hierarchy"><a href="WSa285fff53dea4f8617383751001ea8cb3f-6f30a.html">Frames and objects</a> /
     <a href="WS714a382cdf7d304e9f688c1003dbfac89-7ffca.html"><b>Selecting objects</b></a> 
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                <h1>
                    Select nested or overlapping objects
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                <br clear="both" /><div id="minitoc"><div class="t"><div class="b"><div class="l"><div class="r"><div class="bl"><div class="br"><div class="tl"><div class="tr"><div><h3>Contents [<a href="#" onclick="return toggleMiniToc('minitoc-links', this);" class="hideLink">Hide</a>]</h3><ul id="minitoc-links"><li><p><a href="#WSF920EC97-8CE9-44ff-A116-59E6CDFED3C8a"><h4 class="topictitle4">Select nested, grouped, or overlapping objects</h4>
</a></p></li><li><p><a href="#WSa285fff53dea4f8617383751001ea8cb3f-6f14a"><h4 class="topictitle4">Select multiple nested objects</h4>
</a></p></li><li><p><a href="#WSa285fff53dea4f8617383751001ea8cb3f-6f0da"><h4 class="topictitle4">Selection options</h4>
</a></p></li></ul></div></div><br clear="both" /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br clear="both" /><div><div class="section"><p>When a frame contains an object, the
contained object is said to be <dfn class="term">nested</dfn> inside a container,
or frame. Three common kinds of nesting are: paths inside frames, frames
inside frames, and groups inside groups. Always be aware of exactly which
objects or object attributes you need to select, which ones are
currently selected, and which selection tools to use to modify selections. </p>
<p>You
control selections in nested groups using the Direct Selection and
Selection tools, as well as the Select Content and Select Container
buttons. You can select text characters using the Type tool at any
time, no matter how deeply a text frame is nested. </p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="WSF920EC97-8CE9-44ff-A116-59E6CDFED3C8a" class="nochunk"><a name="WSF920EC97-8CE9-44ff-A116-59E6CDFED3C8a"></a><h3 class="topictitle3">Select nested, grouped, or overlapping objects</h3><div><div class="section"><p>When you nest objects or place objects on
top of each other on the same layer, it can be difficult to select
a single object or frame. The Object menu and context menu contain
selection options to make it easier to select the object you want.</p>
<div class="fignone"><img alt="" id="gh_13" src="images/gh_13.png" /><div class="figdesc">Selecting nested objects </div><br /><dl><dt class="dlterm">A.</dt>
<dd>Image selected</dd><p class="dlseparator"></p><dt class="dlterm">B.</dt>
<dd>Path of
the frame containing the image is selected</dd><p class="dlseparator"></p><dt class="dlterm">C.</dt>
<dd>Group
containing frame selected</dd><p class="dlseparator"></p></dl>
</div><div class="tip"><img src="images/tip_help.png" />Opening the Info panel makes it easier to see which
object is selected. </div></div>
<ol><li><span>Using the Direct Selection tool&#160;<img src="images/P_AnchorSelect_Lg_N.png" />, click
the nested or grouped object. </span></li>
<li><span>If you can’t select the object you want, use one of the
following techniques:</span><ul><li><p>Choose Object&#160;&gt; Select, and
choose one of the selection options.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Position the pointer over the object you want to
select and right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac&#160;OS)
to display the context menu. Then choose Select and the desired
selection option.</p>
<div class="note"><span class="notetitle">Note:  </span>Selecting objects using the context menu
commands is not the same as using the Object&#160;&gt; Select
menu commands. From the context menu, the selections are based on
the exact point where you clicked to display the context menu. This
means that the next object above or below the mouse click would
be selected, rather than the next object in the stacking order.</div>
</li>
<li><p>Hold down Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac&#160;OS),
and then click the same place repeatedly until you’ve selected the
frame or group you want. (Do not click an anchor point.)</p>
</li>
<li><p>To select all objects in a group individually, use
the Selection tool to select the group, click the Select Content
button&#160;<img src="images/P_SelectDown_Md_N.png" /> on
the Control panel, and then choose Select All.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><span>To progressively drill down or up through a stack of
objects, do one of the following:</span><ul><li><p>Right-click (Windows) or Control-click
(Mac&#160;OS), and then choose an option from the Select&#160;context
menu. Choose Object&#160;&gt; Select&#160;&gt; Next Object
Below or Next Object Above repeatedly until the object you want
is selected. When you reach the beginning or end of the stack, the
selection doesn’t change.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Hold down Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac&#160;OS)
and click the stack to drill down from the top of the stack. When
you reach the end of the stack, the selection starts over at the
top of the stack. To drill up from the bottom of the stack, hold
down Alt+Ctrl (Windows) or Option+Command (Mac&#160;OS) and
click the stack using the Selection tool.</p>
<div class="note"><span class="notetitle">Note:  </span>The context menu
options are sensitive to the location of the pointer.</div>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
</div></div>
<div id="WSa285fff53dea4f8617383751001ea8cb3f-6f14a" class="nochunk"><a name="WSa285fff53dea4f8617383751001ea8cb3f-6f14a"></a><h3 class="topictitle3">Select multiple nested objects</h3><div><ol><li><span>Using the Direct Selection tool&#160;<img src="images/P_AnchorSelect_Lg_N.png" />, click
the nested object.</span></li>
<li><span>Hold down Shift as you click each additional nested object
you want to select.</span></li>
</ol>
</div></div>
<div id="WSa285fff53dea4f8617383751001ea8cb3f-6f0da" class="nochunk"><a name="WSa285fff53dea4f8617383751001ea8cb3f-6f0da"></a><h3 class="topictitle3">Selection options</h3><div><div class="section"><p>Options on the Select submenu (choose Object&#160;&gt;
Select or choose Select on the context menu) help you select overlapping,
nested, or grouped objects. The availability of some options depends
on the type of objects you’re working with. When using the context
menu, the object selected depends on the position of the pointer.</p>
<dl><dt class="dlterm">First Object Above</dt>
<dd>Selects the object at the top of the stack.</dd><p class="dlseparator"></p><dt class="dlterm">Next Object Above</dt>
<dd>Selects the object just above the current object.</dd><p class="dlseparator"></p><dt class="dlterm">Next Object Below </dt>
<dd>Selects the object just below the current object.</dd><p class="dlseparator"></p><dt class="dlterm">Last Object Below</dt>
<dd>Selects the object at the bottom of the stack.</dd><p class="dlseparator"></p><dt class="dlterm">Content</dt>
<dd>Selects the content of the selected graphics frame, or, if
a group is selected, selects an object within the group. You can
also click the Select Content button in the Control panel.</dd><p class="dlseparator"></p><dt class="dlterm">Container</dt>
<dd>Selects the frame enclosing the selected object, or, if an
object within a group is selected, selects the group that contains
it. You can also click the Select Container button in the Control
panel.</dd><p class="dlseparator"></p><dt class="dlterm">Previous Object / Next Object</dt>
<dd>Selects the next or previous object in the group if the selected
object is part of a group, or, if an ungrouped object is selected, selects
the next or previous object on the spread. Shift-click to skip by
five. Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac&#160;OS) to
select the first or last object in a stack.</dd><p class="dlseparator"></p></dl>
</div>
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