Organize and manage layers in Pixelmator Pro on Mac
When working with more complex compositions that have many layers, you can use various layer management tools to make it easier to track all the layers in your composition. For example, you can group certain layers, hide them if you don’t currently need to see or edit them, or lock them if you’d like to keep them visible but prevent them from being edited. You can also name layers, merge layers, and more.
Rename a layer
In Pixelmator Pro on Mac, double-click a layers name in the Layers sidebar, enter a new name, then press return.
If you don’t see the Layers sidebar, choose View > Show Layers.
Delete a layer
In Pixelmator Pro on Mac, go to the Layers sidebar.
If you don’t see the Layers sidebar, choose View > Show Layers.
Do any of the following:
In the Layers sidebar, Control-click the layer, then choose Delete.
Select the layer, then press Delete.
Select the layer, then choose Edit > Delete.
Arrange layers in the layer stack
You can change the order in which elements appear in the canvas. Layers that are higher in the Layers sidebar are further forward in the canvas, and layers that are lower in the sidebar are further back. Effects and color adjustments layers apply to all layers underneath them in the sidebar.
In Pixelmator Pro on Mac, go to the Layers sidebar.
If you don’t see the Layers sidebar, choose View > Show Layers.
Drag a layer in the Layers sidebar up or down in the layer stack, then release it.
Group or ungroup layers
You can group layers to synchronize adjustments, move or resize layers together, and organize related content.
In Pixelmator Pro on Mac, select the layers you want to group in the Layers sidebar.
If you don’t see the Layers sidebar, choose View > Show Layers.
Control-click any of the selected layers, then choose Group.
To ungroup a group of layers, Control-click a group in the Layers sidebar, then choose Ungroup.
Expand or collapse a layer group
When you create a group in the Layers sidebar, it’s collapsed by default. You can expand a group and access its layers, or collapse an expanded group.
In Pixelmator Pro on Mac, go to the Layers sidebar.
If you don’t see the Layers sidebar, choose View > Show Layers.
Click
next to the layer group to expand it or collapse it.
Move a layer to a group
In Pixelmator Pro on Mac, go to the Layers sidebar.
If you don’t see the Layers sidebar, choose View > Show Layers.
Drag a layer to an existing group.
Note: You can also nest a group within another group by dragging one group to another in the Layers sidebar.
Merge multiple layers into a single layer
Merging (also called flattening) layers is a destructive action that combines a number of different layers. Any adjustments, effects, styles, and other formatting applied to those layers are no longer editable. Merging layers can be useful when you have a document with many different layers that you won’t necessarily need to edit in the future and you want to make the document more manageable or smaller in size.
In Pixelmator Pro on Mac, go to the Layers sidebar.
If you don’t see the Layers sidebar, choose View > Show Layers.
Select the layers you want to merge.
Choose Arrange > Merge.
Flatten all layers in a composition
You can also merge all layers into a single flattened layer. When you do so, adjustments, effects, styles, and other formatting applied to those layers are no longer editable.
In Pixelmator Pro on Mac, choose Arrange > Merge All.
Lock or unlock a layer or group
You can lock a layer or group to prevent accidental edits.
In Pixelmator Pro on Mac, go to the Layers sidebar.
If you don’t see the Layers sidebar, choose View > Show Layers.
Do any of the following:
Control-click the layer, then choose Lock or Unlock.
Move the pointer over the layer or group, then click
or
.
Organize layers or groups using color tags
You can add color tags to layers and groups for easy identification and filtering.
In Pixelmator Pro on Mac, go to the Layers sidebar.
Control-click a layer, then choose a color tag from the menu (you may have to scroll down).
Filter layers based on the layer type, color tag, or name
You can use the layer filtering option to quickly view all group layers, masks, image layers, color adjustment and effects layers, shapes, or text in a document. You can also filter layers by name or assigned color tag.
In Pixelmator Pro on Mac, do one of the following:
At the bottom of the Layers sidebar, start typing a layer name into the search field.
Click
at the bottom of the Layers sidebar and choose one or more filtering options. (To remove all filtering options, click Clear All.)
Hide or show a layer or layer group
In Pixelmator Pro on Mac, go to the Layers sidebar.
If you don’t see the Layers sidebar, choose View > Show Layers.
Select or deselect the visibility checkbox in a layer or layer group.