The Layers panel

Every design is a stack of objects, and the Layers panel is where you read and manage that stack. Use it to find things, hide them, lock them down, rename them, and nest them into groups — without hunting around the canvas.

Where the panel lives#

The Layers panel sits in the panel sidebar, just below the Canvases list. Its header reads Layers and carries a live count of the objects on the current canvas, so you always know how busy a design is.

Reading the list#

Each row is one object, and the list mirrors the canvas front-to-back: the top of the list is the front, the bottom sits behind everything else. Every row shows a type icon, the object's name, and — on hover or when selected — an eye for visibility and a lock.

Selection is two-way. Click a row and the object selects on the canvas; select an object on the canvas and its row is revealed here — the panel auto-scrolls to it and expands any groups it's tucked inside.

The scope breadcrumb#

A small uppercase breadcrumb above the list names the canvas the layers belong to — a page, a Block, or a Page template — so you always know which scope you're editing. If you've selected several canvases at once, it reads "N Canvases" instead.

Layer types#

The type icon tells you what each object is at a glance:

A clipping mask appears as its own mask row inside the group it belongs to.

Show and hide#

Click the eye on a row to toggle between Hide and Show. A hidden object stays in the design but doesn't render on the canvas or in any export — handy for parking a variant or clearing clutter while you work. The same toggle lives on the right-click menu.

Lock and unlock#

Click the lock to switch an object between Lock and Unlock. A locked object can't be selected or moved on the canvas — a plain click on its row is ignored — which keeps a finished background or a carefully placed guide from shifting by accident. Also available on right-click.

Rename#

Double-click a layer's name (or right-click and choose Rename) to give it something meaningful — "Logo", "Headline", "Die line". Named layers make a complex design far easier to navigate, and canvas names carry through to your exports.

Duplicate and delete#

Two buttons in the panel header act on the current selection: Duplicate (Cmd/Ctrl+D) makes a copy, and the trash icon deletes it.

Reorder by dragging#

Drag any row up or down to restack it. Drop it before or after another row to change its front-to-back position, or drop it inside a group to nest it — at any depth. Drag order and the Arrange commands do the same job; reach for whichever feels faster.

Grouping#

Select two or more objects and choose Group (Cmd/Ctrl+G) to bundle them so they move and scale as one. Select a group and choose Ungroup (Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+G) to break it apart. Both the panel-header icons and the right-click menu work, and groups expand and collapse in the tree so you can dig in or tidy up.

Clipping masks#

A clipping mask crops objects to the shape of another. Select two or more objects and choose Make clipping mask (Cmd/Ctrl+Alt+M): the topmost object becomes the mask and clips everything below it into a clip group. To undo it, select the clip group and choose Release clipping mask. This is the same mechanism behind image frames.

The right-click menu#

Right-click any row for the full set of per-object actions: Rename, copy, paste, duplicate and delete, an Arrange submenu for stacking order, an Align submenu (when several objects are selected), visibility and lock toggles, Convert to outlines for text, and flip and rotate.

Selecting several rows#

Click to select a single row. Shift-click another to select the whole range in between — even across nesting levels — and Cmd/Ctrl-click to toggle individual rows in or out of the selection. Multi-select is what unlocks grouping, alignment and clipping.

Next#

Now that your objects are organized, learn how to arrange their stacking order and how to work across multiple canvases in one design.