Stop naming your layers "Layer 1 copy 4" and acting surprised when things break

I spent 3 hours last week tracking down a missing gradient overlay in a client file because someone named every single layer "Rectangle" or "Group." When I asked them about it, they said it was faster to just keep working than stop and rename. Sure, maybe saves 2 minutes upfront, but I had to rebuild the whole comp from scratch because I couldn't tell which frame was which. Has anyone else had to deal with a messy file from a coworker where you just wanted to scream at your monitor?

3 comments

3 Comments

riley51712d ago

Laugh out loud at the idea that "Rectangle copy 17" is somehow time saved. I once spent an hour clicking through a dozen layers named "Shape 1" just to find the one that had a stroke applied to it. The person who made it said they were "streamlining their workflow." Yeah, streamlined right into a dumpster fire. Guess we all learned something that day, huh?

the_viola15d ago

Wait, they actually said it was faster to skip renaming? That's wild to me because I've spent way more time untangling mystery layers than I ever would just typing "Hero Background v3" or whatever. I can't believe they thought rebuilding the whole comp was somehow the better outcome here.

sandra14615d ago

And isn't that just how life goes, @the_viola, shortcuts always end up taking twice as long in the end.