Corel Painter Help | Grouping layers

Grouping layers

Grouping layers enables you to control layers as a unit. A group can contain any combination of layers: pixel-based layers, Watercolor layers, Liquid Ink layers, vector-based shapes, and dynamic layers.

You can move, rename, hide, show, lock, and set options for a group just as you do for a single layer. However, you cannot paint across layers in a group or change the composite method for a group; you must collapse the group into a single layer if you want to paint on it.

To work with individual layers in a group, you must open the group. To regain control of the group as a unit, you must close the group. Collapsing a group reduces its contents to a single layer.

If you select a layer within a group in the Layers panel and then proceed to create a new layer, the new layer is added to the group. If the group is selected, the layer is placed above the group.

To create a group

1 In the Layers panel, select the layers you want to group.

For more information, see Selecting layers.

2 Do one of the following:

• Choose the Layer Adjuster tool

in the toolbox, and click the Group Layers button

on the property bar.

• Choose Layers

Group Layers.

• Right-click the selected layers in the Layers panel, and choose Group Layers.

The layers are collected under a group item in the Layers panel.

If you select nonsequential layers (layers not next to each other in the list), Corel Painter creates the group at the position of the topmost layer. To select nonsequential layers, in the Layers panel, hold down Ctrl (Windows) or Command (macOS), and click each layer you want to select.

You can also group layers by using keyboard shortcuts. For more information, see Layers menu commands.

To open or close a group

• In the Layers panel, click the arrow to the left of the group.

When the arrow points down

and you can see the group items, the group is open. When the arrow points to the right

and the names of the group members are hidden, the group is closed.

To add or remove a layer in a group

1 In the Layers panel, open the destination group.

2 Perform an action from the following table.

To	Do the following
Add a layer to a group	Drag a layer to the group.
Remove a layer from a group	Drag the layer out of the group.

You can create a nested group by dragging a closed group to the open destination group.

To ungroup layers

1 In the Layers panel, select the group.

If the group is open, close the group.

2 Do one of the following:

• Choose the Layer Adjuster tool

in the toolbox, and click the Ungroup Layers button

on the property bar.

• Choose Layers

Ungroup Layers.

• Right-click the selected layers in the Layers panel, and choose Ungroup Layers.

You can also ungroup layers by using keyboard shortcuts. For more information, see Layers menu commands.

To collapse a group

1 In the Layers panel, select the group.

2 Do one of the following:

• Click the Layer Commands button

, and choose Collapse Layers.

• Choose the Layer Adjuster tool

in the toolbox, click the Merge flyout button on the property bar, and choose Collapse Layers

If the group contains shapes, Liquid Ink layers, or dynamic layers, a warning dialog box is displayed. Click OK to convert the items to pixel-based layers before collapsing the entire group.

When you collapse layers, the name of the bottom layer is used as the name of the new merged layer.

If you want to collapse a group containing a Watercolor layer, you must first convert the Watercolor layer to a default layer. For more information, see Blending layers by using composite methods.

You can also collapse layers by right-clicking the selected layers in the Layers panel, and choosing Collapse Layers.

You can also collapse layers by clicking the Layer options button in the Layers panel, and choosing Collapse Layers.

If you have enabled the Activate this setting in Special Layers preferences and do not ask again check box in the warning dialog box, you can reinstate the warning when collapsing special, plugin, and shape layers by choosing Corel Painter 2023 menu Preferences Special Layers (macOS) or Edit Preferences Special Layers (Windows), and enabling the Prompt before converting Special, Plugin, or Shape layers to default layers check box.