The Layers Panel is used to organize and manage the layers that make up your map. It lets you create, reorder, and configure layers, controlling how different parts of the map are rendered and edited.

The Layers Panel is located on the right side of the editor and can be collapsed to an icon-only view to provide more workspace. Layers are displayed as a vertical list and are rendered from bottom to top. Assets contained within layers higher in the list are drawn above those below them.

There is no limit to the number of layers that can be added to a map.

Layer Types

Inkarnate supports several different layer types, each designed for a specific purpose.

• Object Layer: Stores stamps, text, lines, and shapes.

• Brush Layer: Stores painted textures and colors.

• Land Layer: Stores painted textures and colors together with a Land Shape Mask which defines the shape of the land.

• Filter Layer: Applies visual effects to the map.

• Grid Layer: Displays a configurable grid.

• Layer Mask: Restricts where parent layer is visible.

• Color Layer: Provides the background color for the map. Every map contains a Color Layer at the bottom of the layer stack, which cannot be moved or deleted.

See the corresponding layer articles for more information about each layer type.

Active Layers

Inkarnate automatically remembers the last layer you used for each type of editing. This allows you to switch between tools without having to reselect the appropriate layer each time.

For example, you can paint terrain on one Brush Layer, place objects on an Object Layer, then return to the Brush Tool and continue painting on the same Brush Layer.

Each group of tools uses its own active layer:

• Object Tools (Select, Stamp, Line & Shape, and Text) work on the active Object Layer.

• Brush Tool works on the active Brush Layer or the active Layer Mask when editing a mask.

• Land Tool works on the active Land Shape Mask.

Selecting a different layer of the corresponding type makes it the new active layer.

Layer Actions

Each layer supports a number of common actions. You can drag and drop layers within the list to change their rendering order. The following frequently used actions are also available directly from the layer list when a layer is hovered:

• Rename by double-clicking the layer name.

• Show or Hide a layer using the eye icon.

• Open Layer Options using the gear icon.

At the bottom of the Layers Panel, additional panel-wide controls are available:

• Show Filters: Toggle the visibility of all Filter Layers without changing their individual visibility settings. This is useful for temporarily disabling filter effects while editing your map.

Layer Menu

Open the layer menu using the ⋯ button or by right-clicking a layer. Available actions include:

• Rename

• Show / Hide

• Layer Options

• Add Mask

• Duplicate

• Flatten

• Delete

Flatten

Flatten combines the selected layer and all visible layers below it into a new Brush Layer named Flattened. The new layer is placed at the bottom of the layer stack, directly above the Color Layer.

Flattening converts the combined result into pixels, so the original objects, layer properties, and other editable information are lost. The resulting Brush Layer can still be painted and edited like any other Brush Layer, but the original layers can no longer be edited individually.

Flattening is a destructive operation, but it can be reverted using Undo until the action is no longer available in the undo history.

See Also

• Object Layers: Organize line, shape, stamp, and text objects while controlling shared layer settings and rendering order.

• Brush Layers: Store the terrain textures used by Clip Masks.

• Land Layers: Create and manage Land Layers.

• Filter Layers: Apply visual effects to the map.

• Grid Layers: Display configurable grids.

• Layer Masks: Restrict where a layer is visible.

• Color Layer: Provides the background color for the map.

• Object Panel: Select, organize, and manage line, shape, and stamp objects on the active Object Layer.