Imagine being able to paint each element of your composition on a different canvas, and then combine only the elements you want in the way you want them. Corel® Painter™ gives you exactly this kind of freedom when you use layers in your painting. You can paint the whole composition on one layer, the way you would paint on a canvas, or you can use layers for individual elements of the painting. Layers can be viewed in the Layers palette.

The Layers palette.

Think of layers as sheets of clear material, such as acetate. Painting on a layer obscures the image below it. Areas of a layer that don't contain images remain transparent.

All layers combined.

The individual steps of creating the final image. Each new layer is added on top of the previous layers, but remains independent of them.

Layers viewed individually.

When each element is created on a different layer, elements can be separated, edited, deleted, or moved after they have been created without affecting the rest of the composition.

When you open a new document and create an image, your work appears on the canvas. The canvas is in fact a background layer known as the Canvas layer. You can add additional layers to a document, which allows you to manipulate the visual elements in the image independently of the canvas. Because each layer is a distinct object, you can move it around and edit it without interfering with the image data on the canvas or other layers. Likewise, you can work on the canvas without interfering with any of the other layers.

Layers provide one of the great advantages of creating images in a digital workspace—the freedom to experiment with different compositions and effects without risking an unwanted permanent edit. The Corel Painter RIF file format preserves layers when you save a document, so you can easily make changes at a later time. There's no need to re-create the entire composition—just modify one or more layers. The result is a dynamic and flexible design environment.