Illustrator Fundamentals

Grouping objects

Group / command G

This allows you to select several objects and combine them so that they are subsequently treated as a single unit. However, when you use the direct-selection tool (the hollow one) you can still select a single element within a group and manipulate it separately.

You can combine several objects into a group so that the objects are treated as a single unit. You can then move or transform a number of objects without affecting their attributes or relative positions. For example, you might group the objects in a logo design so that you can move and scale the logo as one unit.

Grouped objects are stacked in succession on the same layer of the artwork and behind the frontmost object in the group; therefore, grouping may change the layering of objects and their stacking order on a given layer. If you select objects in different layers and then group them, the objects are grouped in the layer of the topmost selected object.

Groups can also be nested—that is, they can be grouped within other objects or groups to form larger groups. Groups appear as items in the Layers panel. You can use the Layers panel to move items in and out of groups.

1. Select the objects to be grouped

2. Choose Object > Group