A few weeks ago, I was shown an InDesign feature (by a designer that shall remain nameless) that I never knew existed. It’s called Object Layer Options, and it lets you control which layers are visible when you place a layered Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign or Acrobat (pdf) document into InDesign. I don’t know how I ever got along without it, as I’ve used it on numerous occasions in just the past few weeks.

Say, for example, I have a Photoshop document containing multiple layers that I want to place into InDesign. To show its different layers, I no longer need to use Photoshop to turn off all the layers except the one I want visible and save a separate file for each layer. Now, I can just place this ONE file multiple times and choose which layer(s) I want showing in each instance.

You can either do this after you have placed the file or as you are placing the file. If you have already placed the file, select the  picture box containing the file and click Object > Object Layer Options…
(Right clicking on the picture box also brings up the Object Layer Options…)

Click for larger image

Then choose which layer you want to show by clicking on or off the eyeball icon.

Click for larger image

Click for larger image

You can also choose which layer you want showing when you initially place the image.
In the Place dialogue box in the bottom left corner, check Show Import Options.

When you select your file and click Open, another dialogue box will open in which you can choose which layer you would like showing.

Click for larger image

Hope this saves you some time in the future!