In graphic design and digital illustration, "grouping" is a feature that allows you to combine multiple individual graphical elements or objects into a single unit. This can make it easier to manage, move, transform, or apply effects to those elements as if they were one object.
Grouped elements can still be edited individually, without ungrouping them. To do this, you usually need to double click on the group or use a specific tool or mode (like the Direct Selection tool in Adobe Illustrator or Edit Group mode in Sketch).
Grouping can be particularly useful when:
Working with Complex Designs: If your design contains many elements, grouping related ones can make the design more manageable. For example, you might group all the elements that make up a logo, an icon, or a section of a layout.
Aligning or Distributing Objects: If you want to align or distribute multiple objects as if they were a single unit, you can group them.
Applying Effects or Styles: If you want to apply the same effect (like a drop shadow, stroke, or fill color) or transformation (like rotation, scale, or translation) to multiple objects at once, you can group them.
Preventing Accidental Changes: If you have elements that are positioned correctly in relation to each other and you don't want to accidentally move or edit them individually, you can group them.
In DEX, you can group objects by selecting them and using a command like "Group" (often found in the right-click menu or the main menu, and typically having a keyboard shortcut like Ctrl+G. You can also ungroup objects if you want to manage them individually again.
Remember, while grouping can make complex designs more manageable, overuse can also make a design hard to navigate, especially for other people who might work on it. So it's important to use it judiciously and keep your groups organized.
To group objects so that they can be moved, rotated and scaled as a single object first select them and then click the Layout→Group→
button.
To ungroup a group first select it and then click the Layout→Group→
button.
The following objects cannot be grouped:
•Dimensions
•Guides
•The origin
•Fiducials
•Courtyards
•Footprint
•Footprint Part types
•Footprint Part references
•Silkscreens
•Placement points
•PCB nets and tracks
•Pads
•Track junctions
•Schematic nodes and wires
•Symbol Part types
•Symbol Part references
•Buses
•Node IDs
•Ports
•Interwire connectors
•Symbols
•LOCKED ITEMS
Reasons: Electrical and/or Dimensional Integrity.