Layers

Layers help you keep different elements of your artwork separate. You can also select multiple layers and apply an action to more than one layer at a time.

When you draw in Adobe Fresco with pixel and vector brushes, you will notice that Adobe Fresco intelligently places the drawings on different layers. You can also create layers manually.

In Adobe Fresco, you get a wide range of actions to work with layers. For example, you can easily hide a layer to focus on all the elements of the drawing that lie outside of that layer. Or you can easily rearrange layers to move some elements of your artwork to the foreground or background.

You will find icons for frequently needed actions like Add Layer  and Hide Layer  right there on the Taskbar. For other actions, tap the More Options  icon to display the Layer Actions pop-up menu and select the action.

To move any layer, long-press on the layer and then drag it up or down to the desired location in the layer hierarchy.

Select multiple layers to quickly transform, apply opacity or blend mode adjustments, change visibility or create a group.

Use the Convert to Pixel action to convert a vector layer into a pixel layer if you want to edit your drawing on the vector layer with pixel brushes or live brushes.

After the conversion, the elements on the layer might pixelate if they are made larger.

Use the Merge Down  action to combine more than one layer into a single layer if you want to edit the elements of the different layers together. 

Remember that you won't be able to split the merged layers unless you immediately tap Undo  after the merge action.

When your artwork has many layers, creating smaller layer groups helps you keep your workspace unclutterd. You have many actions for layer groups in Fresco to do your work faster.

With layer masks, you can control the transparency of parts of layers. You have actions such as Invert Mask  and Link Mask  to get more precise control and outcome.

For more information about how to use masking for the outcome you want, see Layer masks.

You can choose Clear layer to empty the contents of a layer from Layer actions menu. Clear layer sets pixels to transparent for raster layers and erases paths on a vector layer. This action does not appear for layer groups. Clear layer is enabled in all cases where the layer is editable. For example, it is hidden when a layer is locked or not visible.

You can select multiple layers to simultaneously delete, copy, merge, or transform them.

To select multiple layers and access the multiple layer actions:

You can transform layers by selecting them together. Tap on the transform tool on the toolbar to move, flip, scale, rotate, resize, nudge, or move all of the selected layers at once.

After transforming a layer, you can exit from multiple layers mode by tapping on close (x) in the blue zone at the top of the panel.

The options in the Layer Properties pop-up help you get interesting visual outcome with your artwork elements.

We've got you started with layers in Adobe Fresco. The interface of Adobe Fresco is intuitive; we hope you will find it easy to unleash your creativity with layers, brushes, masking, and more.