Why Hide and Unhide Things?
When you are creating a design there are times you want to work on something lower in the stacking order and the foreground stuff gets in the way. You can easily hide objects & layers in Illustrator making it easy to see and edit the objects below.
I have to be honest that I use the hide/unhide options in Illustrator a lot less than I use the lock/unlock because when I want to work on an object lower in the stacking order I usually still need to know where the objects above are overlapping it and that is easier if they are visible. That said, I still use the hide/show shortcut daily because sometimes it is the easiest way to get at the piece you need.
In this tutorial, you will learn how to hide/show objects and layers, how to select an object or layer and hide all everything above it or all other layers, and how to use isolation mode (which kind of hides everything else and lets you concentrate on one object or group).
How to Hide Objects in Illustrator
- Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + 3 (Windows) | Cmd + 3 (Mac), or
- In the Layers panel, click the eye icon to toggle it off next to the object you want to hide, or
From the menu choose Object > Hide > Selection
How to UnHide Objects in Illustrator (Show All)
Unless you are using the Layers panel to hide and unhide objects, when you unhide you make EVERYTHING visible by “showing all”.
- Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Alt +3 (Windows) | Cmd + Opt + 3 (Mac), or
- From the menu choose Object> Show All, or
- Toggle the eye icon on in the visibility column in the Layers panel (this will unhide that one object, group or layer)
How to Hide and Unhide Layers in Illustrator
Using the Layers Panel gives us the most control over hiding and unhiding layers, groups and objects and the layers panel is the only place you can specifically hide layers. It should be noted that the Layers panel has precedence over the menu and keyboard shortcut options. If you had hidden layers and objects choosing to unhide them from the menu or keyboard won’t work. The menu option will be greyed out.
- Click the Eye Icon to toggle it on or off in the visibility column of the Layers panel
Show Hidden Layers
- Click the empty space in the visibility column next to the object you want to unhide to toggle the visibility on.
Hide Other Layers
This is a feature that comes in super handy if you are working on a really complex file as it will keep the layer you are specifically working on visible and hide everything else.
Alt + Click (Windows) | Opt + Click (Mac) the eye icon next to the layer you want to remain visible.
UnHide all Layers
Alt + Click (Windows) | Opt + Click (Mac) an eye (doesn’t have to be the same eye) in the visibility column
Show Layers in Outline view
This is another feature I really love. This lets me set some layers to show but in outline mode. This allows me to see where everything still is but… with less distraction and I can more easily see and select the objects below. And… if I need to the objects in outline mode are still selectable. Notice how the eye icon changes to an outline.
- Ctrl + click (Windows) | Cmd + click (Mac) the eye icon next to the Layer you want to show in outline view (Note this works at the Layer level you can not show individual objects in outline view)
Hide & Unhide in Illustrator FAQ
Hide Objects Outside the Artboard
If you are like me the area outside of your artboard is usually littered with objects I created and then didn’t use or copies of things I thought I might need more of etc. If you are showing off your work to a client or supervisor then being able to hide the mess comes in handy.
From the menu, choose View > Trim View
Hide Artboards
You can also hide the artboard. Instead of having the grey background area with the white artboard the whole screen turns white. It doesn’t hide the artwork.
- From the menu choose View > Hide Artboards, or
- Shift + Ctrl + H (Windows) | Shift + Cmd + H (Mac)
Hide the Grid in Illustrator
It’s probably a flaw in my keyboarding but I hit the keyboard shortcut to show the grid quite often and most of the time I find it distracting.
- View > Hide Grid, or
- Ctrl + ” (Windows) | Cmd +” (Mac)
How to Hide Guides in Illustrator
I love guides and use them all the time but periodically you are going to want to stand back and have a good look at your artwork you will want to be able to turn the guidelines off temporarily.
- View > Guides > Hide Guides, or
- Ctrl + ; (Windows) | Cmd + ; (Mac)
A Word of Caution:
I hope you found some tips and tricks in this tutorial that speeds up your workflow. The one caveat about hiding objects is that you want to show them again as quickly as possible. I have had a few times where I hid something, made my edit, and then got focused on something else entirely and ended up saving the file with the object hidden. Then, when I returned a few days later I started rebuilding whatever it was because I couldn’t see it. I was thinking “I’m sure I did this already” but it wasn’t till later that I realized how much time I had wasted.
So… make it a habit to show everything again before you save the file and stop working!
Before you Go…
Hiding and unhiding objects and layers make it easy to see what you are working on especially when that is partially covered in the stacking order. Another tactic to give you control of shapes, groups, clipping groups etc in illustrator is to use Isolation Mode which locks all other objects and brings your view of what you are working on to the front of the stacking order.
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