Layers keep the pieces of a Pixels composition independent. Use them to move a character without moving the background, try a different title, or adjust lighting without repainting the source.

Organize The Stack

The Layers panel shows the stacking order. Artwork higher in the stack can cover artwork below it. Create new raster, text, fill, or adjustment layers as needed, and give important layers names that describe their contents.

Opacity controls how strongly a layer contributes to the image. Blend modes change how it combines with the artwork beneath it. Background, group, adjustment, and locked layers have different editing limits, so available actions depend on the current selection.

Hide Content With A Mask

A mask controls visibility while leaving the underlying artwork available. This is useful for cutting a subject out, softening an edge, or limiting an effect.

Select the mask thumbnail before editing the mask. Select the content thumbnail when you want to paint the artwork itself. Keeping these targets distinct prevents a cleanup stroke from changing the wrong thing.

A raster mask can begin from a supported selection or a reveal-all state. Paint or erase the mask to change its coverage. A vector mask uses a path for its boundary; supported copied paths can become vector masks.

You can disable a mask to compare the full layer, or delete the mask without deleting its artwork. The mask's own context menu targets that mask; the layer's context menu contains layer actions.

Keep Sources Editable

A smart object retains source artwork while you transform its appearance in the composition. Use More > Layer > Smart Object > Edit Contents to work on its source. Finish Editing Contents applies the result to the parent artwork; Cancel Editing Contents returns to the accepted source.

Finish or cancel this focused editing session before changing animation frames. Closed smart objects cannot receive ordinary destructive painting as though they were raster layers.

Layer styles add editable effects such as strokes, shadows, glows, and overlays. Preview the style, then apply it or cancel. For repeated appearances, copy a style and paste it onto eligible layers.

Combine Only When You Mean To

Rasterizing converts supported text, shapes, fills, or smart-object output into pixels. Merging combines eligible artwork with the layer below. Flattening reduces the visible composition to one raster layer.

These operations simplify the image, but remove useful editing distinctions. Save a layered project before preparing a simplified copy for another application.

Common Questions

Should I erase or mask an edge?

Mask it when you may want the hidden area back. Erasing is appropriate when you intend to change the raster content itself.

Why is a layer command disabled?

Check its type, lock, visibility, and selection. For example, painting requires raster content, while a smart object's source has its own editing session.

Does each animation frame use these same layers?

Each frame has its own stack. Duplicating a frame copies its artwork so you can change the next pose independently. See Frame Animation.