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Layers Panel

Documentation > User Manuals > v1.2.0 User Manual > User Interface > Dockable Panels

The Layers dockpanel is used for organizing files into layers and groups of layers. It can be opened from the main application menu (Window → Layers Panel), or by clicking its icon on the toolbar.

[[v1.2-Layers-Panel-toolbar-icon.png]]

Layers panel layout

The panel’s UI is fairly complex.

[[v1.2-Layers-Panel.png]]

From top to bottom, it contains:

  • The mode menu, for selecting [[how the layer combines with its underlying layers|v1.2 Layer Modes]].
  • The opacity slider, which controls how much of the layer’s content combines with its underlying layers.
  • The layers tree, sometimes called the layer stack.
    • The icon on the left represents the type of the layer.
      • Folder icons represent groups.
      • Normal painting layers don’t get any special icon.
      • Special kinds of layer get different icons.
    • Grid lines and spinner triangles help you organize the tree structure.
    • Layers can be dragged and dropped within the tree.
    • Layer groups are treated much like layers. Their name is shown in italics.
    • The eye icon open eye controls whether the layer is visible.
    • The lock icon open padlock controls whether the layer is locked for edits.
  • Actions which affect the currently highlighted layer. From left to right:
    • Add Layer: add a new layer above the current one.
    • Remove Layer: remove the current layer.
    • Move Layer Up, and Move Layer Down: these move the layer around in the tree.
    • Duplicate Layer: this makes an exact copy of the current layer (or group) at its current location.
    • Merge Layer Down: merge the layer into the one below it, if that’s possible. :ghost: [[Be careful, this can change the two layers’ appearance unexpectedly!|v1.2 Layer Merging and Normalization]]
  • The Show Background toggle turns MyPaint’s special background layer on or off. The button next to it allows a different background image to be chosen.

The background layer

This is a special hidden layer which can be thought of as an infinite piece of drawing paper. Images do not have to contain a visible background layer. The background layer can be turned off, in which case it is replaced with checker-board pattern. When the background layer is turned off, some actions in MyPaint have different outcomes:

  • When saving or exporting to a PNG image, the background layer is not included.
  • When merging layers, the effect is “more correct”, and not as prone to ghosting. See [[v1.2 Layer Merging and Normalization]] for details.

Merging and Normalizing Layers

MyPaint allows you to merge two or more existing layers in your work together, compacting them to save on disk space and computational overhead. There are a number of commands available from the Layers menu which perform layer merges or similar operations. Merge Layer Down Merge Visible Layers New Layer from Visible Convert to Normal Painting Layer :warning: At the time of writing this documentation for v1.2.x, all these operations perform a backdrop subtraction operation as a final stage.

Layer Modes

Supported Layer Modes MyPaint supports the layer blending modes documented in the OpenRaster specification, version 0.0.5. These are useful combinations of the layer blending and compositing modes defined in the W3C Compositing and Blending Level 1 Editor’s Draft as of 2015-10-28. A layer can be assigned one of these modes using the [[Layers Panel | v1.2 Layers Panel]]. The blending mode of a layer determines how its pixels combine with the pixels of its backdrop.