page_title: Layers (digital image editing)
section_title: Layer (basic)
hierarchical_section_title: Layers (digital image editing) / Layer (basic)
caption_attribution_description: An example file to illustrate layers - bird at left
context_page_description: Layers are used in digital image editing to separate different elements of an image. A layer can be compared to a transparency on which imaging effects or images are applied and placed over or under an image. Today they are an integral feature of image editors.
  Layers were first commercially available in Fauve Matisse,
  and then available in Adobe Photoshop 3.0, in 1994, but today a wide range of other programs, such as Photo-Paint, Paint Shop Pro, GIMP, Paint.NET, StylePix, and even batch processing tools also include this feature. In vector image editors that support animation, layers are used to further enable manipulation along a common timeline for the animation; in SVG images, the equivalent to layers are "groups".
context_section_description: The standard kind of layer is called simply "Layer" in most programs. It contains just a picture which can be superimposed on another one. The picture can cover the same area as the resulting picture, just a part of it, or, in some cases, a bigger part than the final picture.
  A Layer can have a certain transparency/opacity and a number of other properties. In a high end program like Adobe Photoshop, a basic layer may have more than a hundred different possible settings. Even though some of them overlap and give the same result, they give a skilled user a lot of flexibility. A free program like the GIMP may not have as many settings but well used they can often provide a satisfactory result.
  Two Layers can blend using one of several modes which result in different light and colour combinations.
caption: The top layer (the bird) is moved to the left.
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