This section contains descriptions of the commands found in PixelNEO's Layer menu. For more information, select a command from the picture below:



What are Layers?

A layer is basically one picture stacked on top of another. However, instead of being painted on paper, imagine each picture is painted onto a sheet of glass. The glass sheets, or layers, allow you to see through their transparent portions to the layers below.



Use the Show Layers command in the Options menu to display the Layer Viewer.



The Layer Viewer displays a thumbnail list showing the current picture's layers. A new picture will contain only one layer - the background or bottom-most layer. The active layer, highlighted in blue, indicates which layer will be affected when you alter the picture with the drawing tools, effects, etc. To select a different layer, simply click on its thumbnail.


The Layer Viewer provides controls to show and hide layers, create new layers, delete layers, rearrange layers, and adjust each layer's Blend Mode and Opacity. Many of these commands are also duplicated in the Layers menu.


To hide a layer, click the icon next to that layer. When a layer is hidden the icon will change to .


The Blend Mode option allows you to change the method PixelNEO uses to draw the layer onto the picture. For most applications, you will leave this setting on Normal, but you can create some interesting special effects by experimenting with the other modes.


Use the Opacity slider to adjust the transparency of the layer. 255 = solid/opaque, 0 = completely invisible/transparent. By changing a layer's opacity you can make it appear partially transparent.


Only PixelNEO Layered Graphic NPG and Photoshop PSD file formats support layers. To save a layered picture to another format, the layers must be merged or flattened into a single plane. You can do this by selecting the Flatten/Merge Layers command.


Layers are only available when editing 24-bit or 32-bit pictures.