Organising artwork with the Layers panel in Vectornation

Every drawing grows. A logo becomes a logo, three variations and some notes. An illustration becomes hundreds of shapes. The Layers panel in Vectornation by Zaweba is where you keep that order, by grouping artwork into layers and seeing every object in a drawing as an expandable list.

Seeing what is in the drawing

The panel is expanded, showing objects as well as layers. Open a layer and you see the shapes, groups and text inside it, in stacking order. That makes it the best place to find something that is hard to click on the canvas, like a small shape hiding behind a big one, a white object on a white background, or a path with no fill and no stroke left over from editing.

Rows have right-click menus, so the actions you need on a layer or an object are close at hand without hunting through the main menus. Use them for the routine housekeeping that keeps a drawing tidy.

Working from the keyboard

The panel works from the keyboard as a tree. You can move up and down the rows, open and close layers and groups, and select objects without reaching for the mouse. For people who prefer the keyboard, or who rely on it, that makes a big difference in a crowded drawing, and it is often quicker than clicking down through nested groups.

Template layers

Template layers are meant for reference artwork, such as a scanned sketch, a photograph or a client's rough drawing, that you trace over by hand. Put the reference on a template layer and draw your clean vector version on a normal layer above it. The template is there to guide you and not to be part of the finished design, so it stays out of the way while you build the real artwork.

Release to layers

Release to layers takes the objects in a layer and gives each one a layer of its own. It is useful when you want to export pieces separately, prepare artwork for animation in another program where each part needs its own layer, or simply split a jumbled layer into something you can manage.

Habits that keep drawings manageable

Name layers for what they hold, such as Background, Artwork, Text, Guides or Dimensions, rather than leaving the default names. Keep things that are edited separately on separate layers. Put reference images on template layers. Keep text on its own layer so it can be checked and corrected quickly before print. Lock layers that are finished so they can't be moved by accident, and hide what you aren't working on to keep the canvas clear.

A drawing set up this way is easier to come back to after a month, and much easier to hand to someone else. It also makes later steps smoother. Slices, dimensions and print work all benefit from a drawing where you can switch whole categories of artwork on and off with one click.

The Layers panel is rarely the exciting part of a project, but it is the part that decides whether the drawing stays a pleasure to work in as it grows.