Working with Layers
Once you start creating more elaborate designs in Inkscape, you'll probably find yourself struggling to click certain things without selecting something else. This is where Layers come in. As the name indicates, they are like stacked slices of the image which can be stacked, arranged, added and removed.
Layers can be very useful for several purposes:
Arranging sets of objects by z-order (or stacking)
Grouping objects which should be made visible/invisible or locked/unlocked together
Setting background layers which are visible but not selectable
To start working with layer, click Layer → Layers. This menu box does is help us add, visualize, and manage any layers in our document.
The following window appears having a layer and the layer tools
The standard Inkscape document only has one layer to start with. Since the first layer is shown on the screen the attributes of layer 1 appears on the layer dialogue box.
There are six buttons in the layer dialogue box that helps in managing the layers.
Adding layer:
Click on the Add layer (+) button to get a Add Layer dialog box to pop up.
In the pop up window, assign a name to your new layer and then tell Inkscape where it should position it.
The position is relative to your currently selected layer.
For example, when the layer name is given as 'Layer 2' and position as above current, a new layer gets added and its details are shown in the layer window
Also now the relative button appear for usage for layer 2 (in the above image, lower layer one level and lower layer to bottom is highlighted). When you click on layer 1 in the same box, the relative buttons for layer1 gets highlighted (in the below image, raise layer one level and raise layer to top is highlighted)
To rename a layer, double-click on the layer name in the Layers dialog or right-click the layer and select ‘Rename Layer’.
Designing on the layer:
To actually use and draw on layers, select a layer from the Layers window to activate it. Then start designing on the canvas.
For example,
Layer 1 is selected and square is drawn
Layer 2 is selected and circle is drawn
Everything you draw will stay on that selected layer unless you either select an object from another layer, or you activate a different layer from the menu.
Hiding and locking layer
A couple of icons can be seen next to each layer.
The eye icon can be clicked to either hide or display that layer. When the layer is hidden the icon appears as shown below
That next icon is locking or unlocking that layer. It means, that layers will no longer selected or edited. When it is locked, the appears as shown below.
Positioning the layer
The layers can be positioned by using the buttons highlighted below
To raise a layer one level press Shift+Ctrl+PgUp or click the "raise the current layer" arrow in the Layers dialog.
To lower a layer one level press Ctrl or click the "lower the current layer" arrow in the Layers
To raise a layer to the top press Shift+Ctrl+Home or click the "raise the current layer to the top" arrow in the Layers dialog.
To lower a layer to the bottom press Shift+Ctrl+End or click the "lower the curent layer to the bottom" arrow in the Layers dialog.
Duplicating layer
To duplicate a layer, select the respective layer, right click on the mouse and select 'Duplicate current layer'
Blend Mode and Opacity
You can choose to apply a Blend mode to layers, which makes all objects in a layer blend together as if they were one object - i.e., the two objects within the same layer will not blend with each other when layer blend modes are used. The available modes are the Normal, Multiply, Screen, Darken, and Lighten. To change the blend mode, click on the blend mode dropdown in the Layers dialog and select a new mode.
Opacity for an entire layer operates in a similar manner - objects within the layer have their opacity set as if they were a single object, so that one will not show through the others. Only objects from layers beneath will show through the affected layers. To change the opacity of a layer, move the opacity slider in the Layers dialog to the right or left.
Deleting layer
To delete a layer, select the layer from the list and Click the "delete the current layer" button in the Layers dialog box.
Once you start creating more elaborate designs in Inkscape, you'll probably find yourself struggling to click certain things without selecting something else. This is where Layers come in. As the name indicates, they are like stacked slices of the image which can be stacked, arranged, added and removed.
Layers can be very useful for several purposes:
Arranging sets of objects by z-order (or stacking)
Grouping objects which should be made visible/invisible or locked/unlocked together
Setting background layers which are visible but not selectable
To start working with layer, click Layer → Layers. This menu box does is help us add, visualize, and manage any layers in our document.
The following window appears having a layer and the layer tools
The standard Inkscape document only has one layer to start with. Since the first layer is shown on the screen the attributes of layer 1 appears on the layer dialogue box.
There are six buttons in the layer dialogue box that helps in managing the layers.
Adding layer:
Click on the Add layer (+) button to get a Add Layer dialog box to pop up.
In the pop up window, assign a name to your new layer and then tell Inkscape where it should position it.
The position is relative to your currently selected layer.
For example, when the layer name is given as 'Layer 2' and position as above current, a new layer gets added and its details are shown in the layer window
Also now the relative button appear for usage for layer 2 (in the above image, lower layer one level and lower layer to bottom is highlighted). When you click on layer 1 in the same box, the relative buttons for layer1 gets highlighted (in the below image, raise layer one level and raise layer to top is highlighted)
To rename a layer, double-click on the layer name in the Layers dialog or right-click the layer and select ‘Rename Layer’.
Designing on the layer:
To actually use and draw on layers, select a layer from the Layers window to activate it. Then start designing on the canvas.
For example,
Layer 1 is selected and square is drawn
Layer 2 is selected and circle is drawn
Everything you draw will stay on that selected layer unless you either select an object from another layer, or you activate a different layer from the menu.
Hiding and locking layer
A couple of icons can be seen next to each layer.
The eye icon can be clicked to either hide or display that layer. When the layer is hidden the icon appears as shown below
That next icon is locking or unlocking that layer. It means, that layers will no longer selected or edited. When it is locked, the appears as shown below.
Positioning the layer
The layers can be positioned by using the buttons highlighted below
To raise a layer one level press Shift+Ctrl+PgUp or click the "raise the current layer" arrow in the Layers dialog.
To lower a layer one level press Ctrl or click the "lower the current layer" arrow in the Layers
To raise a layer to the top press Shift+Ctrl+Home or click the "raise the current layer to the top" arrow in the Layers dialog.
To lower a layer to the bottom press Shift+Ctrl+End or click the "lower the curent layer to the bottom" arrow in the Layers dialog.
Duplicating layer
To duplicate a layer, select the respective layer, right click on the mouse and select 'Duplicate current layer'
Blend Mode and Opacity
You can choose to apply a Blend mode to layers, which makes all objects in a layer blend together as if they were one object - i.e., the two objects within the same layer will not blend with each other when layer blend modes are used. The available modes are the Normal, Multiply, Screen, Darken, and Lighten. To change the blend mode, click on the blend mode dropdown in the Layers dialog and select a new mode.
Opacity for an entire layer operates in a similar manner - objects within the layer have their opacity set as if they were a single object, so that one will not show through the others. Only objects from layers beneath will show through the affected layers. To change the opacity of a layer, move the opacity slider in the Layers dialog to the right or left.
Deleting layer
To delete a layer, select the layer from the list and Click the "delete the current layer" button in the Layers dialog box.
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