Concept of layers in Synfig

Hello students, welcome to Kwickprep. Why does your drawn sun sometimes hide behind the hill, when you wanted it in front? The answer is layers. Today we will learn what layers are in Synfig Studio, and how to control them.

First, the meaning of a layer. A layer is like a clear plastic sheet. Each sheet holds one object, like a circle, or one effect, like a blur. The sheets are stacked one above another. When you look through the stack from the top, you see the final picture.

Think of a chart for a school project, made with clear sheets. The bottom sheet has the blue sky. The middle sheet has a green hill. The top sheet has a boy flying a kite. Now you can move the boy anywhere, without erasing or redrawing the sky.

Synfig works the same way. Every shape you draw with a tool becomes a new layer. All the layers are listed in the layers panel. The layer at the top of the list is drawn in front of all others. You click a layer's name in the panel to select it.

Pause and predict. The layers panel lists sun, then hill, then sky, from top to bottom. The sun and the hill overlap. In the overlap, do you see the sun or the hill? You see the sun, because it is higher in the list, so it is drawn in front.

The bottom of the layers panel has useful buttons. Raise layer moves the selected layer one step up, so it comes in front. Lower layer moves it one step down, so it goes behind. Duplicate makes an exact copy of the layer. Delete removes the layer. And the checkbox next to each layer name shows or hides it.

Synfig has many kinds of layers, grouped into categories. Geometry layers are shapes, like circles, rectangles, polygons and stars. Gradient layers fill an area with colours that slowly blend. Blur layers soften the layers below them. Transform layers rotate, move or scale the layers below. Other layers include text and imported images.

Notice an important difference. Shape layers draw something new on the canvas. Effect layers, like blur or rotate, change what is already below them. A blur layer blurs only the layers beneath it in the list, not the ones above. So the order of layers matters a lot.

When you select a layer, its settings appear in the params panel. Z depth changes the drawing order without moving the layer in the list. Amount controls opacity, where one is fully visible and zero is invisible. Blend method decides how this layer mixes with the layers below. Colour and origin set its look and its position.

When a drawing has many parts, group them. First, select several layers, like a car body and two wheels. Then use the group layer button to put them into one group, like a folder. Now you can move or animate the whole car together. You can still open the group and edit one layer inside.

Let us see why layers are so helpful. You can edit one object without spoiling any other. You can change which object appears in front or behind. You can animate each part separately, like an arm apart from the body. And you can hide some layers while you work on others.

Let us revise what we learned today. A layer is a clear sheet that holds one object or effect. The layer at the top of the panel is drawn in front. Raise and lower buttons change the order. Effect layers, like blur, change only the layers below them. And you group layers to move many parts together.