Layers

Open the Layers panel to manage the layer stack. The top row in the panel is the topmost layer on the canvas.

Managing layers

• Add, duplicate, delete, and reorder (drag a row, or use the move-up and move-down buttons).
• Rename a layer by double-tapping or long-pressing its name.
• Show or hide a layer with the eye icon.
• Set opacity with the slider and pick a blend mode.
• Tap a layer's row to make it active — that layer briefly fades out and back on the canvas (a "blink"), so you can see which pixels it owns. It is a view aid only and changes nothing.

A project always keeps at least one normal (drawable) layer, so the last one cannot be deleted.

Adding, duplicating, and deleting a layer can be undone.

On an animation, the layer menu also has Static (same on every frame): the layer then shows the same pixels on every frame. A pin marks a static layer. See Static layers. Pro.

Select mode (act on many layers)

Turn on Select mode in the Layers panel to work on several layers at once. Tap rows to add them to the selection (or select a range), then apply one action to all of them: delete, show or hide, lock, set opacity or a blend mode, or reorder them together as a block. Each bulk action is one undo step.

Groups (folders)

Organise the stack into groups (folders):

• New group, group the active layer, or group the selected layers (in Select mode) into a fresh folder in one action.
• Ungroup to dissolve a folder back into loose layers.
• Drag a layer into or out of a group to re-parent it.
• A group's visibility and edit lock apply to everything inside it, and a group can be collapsed to tidy the list.

This is an organisational first version — groups do not yet have their own opacity or blend mode.

Combining layers

• Merge down — merge a layer into the one directly below it. The upper layer's opacity and blend bake into the lower layer, which keeps its name and place. One undo restores both. Disabled (with a reason) when there is nothing below, when either layer is a reference, or when the lower layer is locked, alpha-locked, or hidden.
• Flatten — combine all visible layers into one. The result lands in the bottommost visible layer; hidden and reference layers are left untouched. One undo restores every layer. (Editor ⋮ menu ▸ Layer ▸ Flatten.)
• Merge a group — flatten a group and everything inside it into a single layer, as one undo step.

All three keep Indexed projects on-palette — if combining would create an off-palette colour, Dixel asks whether to quantise, switch to RGBA, or cancel; it never changes colours silently.

Blend modes

Dixel offers six blend modes: Normal, Multiply, Screen, Overlay, Add, and Subtract. What you see on the canvas matches what you export.

Locks

• Edit lock — protects a layer from any pixel change.
• Alpha lock — lets you paint only where the layer already has pixels, so you can recolor a shape without spilling over its edges.

Reference layers

A reference layer holds an image you trace or match against. It shows while you work but is excluded from every export, and it does not count toward the layer cap. Add one from the Layers panel; Dixel scales the picked image to fit the canvas.

A reference layer is always clipped to the canvas, and it looks the same in animation playback as while you draw. With a selection active, the reference buttons stay visible, and the inspector buttons act on the reference row they are shown for.

The eyedropper can pick colours from a reference layer (see Drawing tools).

Move, scale, and rotate a reference

• Move tool — select the reference layer and the Move tool, then drag. While you drag, the part outside the canvas shows faded. One undo puts it back.
• Transform box — tap Transform on the reference bar, in the layer inspector, or in the row menu. Drag the corners to scale, the edges to stretch, the round handle to rotate (it snaps to 15° steps; turn Snap angle off in Options), and the centre dot to move the pivot. Type exact values in Options. Flip, ±90°, and Reset work inside the box. Done is one undo step. This works in Indexed projects too.

A locked or read-only reference tells you why it does not move.

You can also open a floating reference window that sits above the canvas and can be moved and resized independently.

Both kinds embed the image inside the project file, so references survive a reinstall, a backup, and a restore.

Limits

Tier	Normal layers	Reference layers	Floating references
Free	3	up to 4	up to 4
Pro	32	up to 4	up to 4

Reaching a cap shows a message; on the free tier the layer cap offers the Pro upgrade.