# How to Use Layers in Photasium

> Use layers in the browser without uploading or creating an account. Stack photos, type, and groups in Photasium, then hide, lock, and reorder.

Layers

A photo, a caption, and a painted mark can sit on separate layers in one document, so you can hide one, move another, and leave the original pixels alone. In Photasium that happens in the tab: the file never goes to a server.

## Stacking the document

A document is a stack of layers. Opening a photo gives you a raster layer. Text is its own layer. A group holds several of those together so you can hide or drag them as a set.

Select (V) moves the active layer on the canvas. The Layers panel lists every row: the eye hides a layer, the lock stops edits, and drag reorders the stack.

## Keep the parts separate

A post might need a caption on the photo and a version without it. Put the type on its own layer and hide it when you want the plain shot.

Paint a mark on a new raster layer if you want to turn that cover-up off later without touching the photo underneath.

Drop a second photo on the canvas to sit a product over a background. Opacity in the layer menu fades the top layer if it sits too hard on the one below.

A screenshot redaction can live on its own layer, so you can hide the cover-up and still have the original pixels. Duplicate if you want a spare before you paint.

A print can keep the heading, the photo, and a colour wash on separate rows. Hide the wash if the page looks muddy, then show it again for the titled file.

## Using layers in Photasium

1. **Open a photo.** Open the [editor](https://photasium.com/editor), then File → Open, or drop an image on an empty canvas. The photo is already a layer in the panel.

2. **Add a layer or a group.** New layer in the panel footer adds an empty raster. New group wraps the active layer if that layer is not already in a group. Drop another image on the canvas to add it as a layer. [Text](https://photasium.com/guides/how-to-add-text-to-a-photo.md) (X) adds a type layer.

3. **Arrange the stack.** Drag a row to reorder. Drop a layer onto a group to put it inside. The eye hides a layer. The lock stops edits. A new layer joins the active group if a group, or a layer inside one, is selected.

4. **Move and transform.** Select (V) drags the active layer. Right-click a row for name and opacity (0 to 100). Transform, or press T, scales and rotates. Distort pulls a corner. Flip and Rotate, including a custom angle, are in that same menu.

5. **Duplicate or delete.** Duplicate in the footer, or press ⌘D. Delete removes the layer. Deleting a group removes the layers inside it. A locked layer will not delete, and neither will a group that contains one.

Rasterize from the layer menu turns type into pixels if you need to [paint or erase](https://photasium.com/guides/how-to-paint-and-erase-on-a-photo.md) the letters, or [adjust](https://photasium.com/guides/how-to-adjust-brightness-contrast-and-saturation.md) them. [Image → Flip and Rotate](https://photasium.com/guides/how-to-resize-a-photo.md) turn the whole document. The layer menu Flip and Rotate turn only that layer.

## The stack stays in the editor

[Export](https://photasium.com/guides/how-to-export-png-jpeg-or-webp.md) downloads a flattened PNG, JPEG, or WebP, and the document in the editor still has every layer. Nothing was uploaded. Hide a row if you want a version without it, then show it again later.

Come back later and the document is still listed under the editor, until this browser’s storage is cleared. Layers sit with the other [photo editing tools](https://photasium.com/#layers): [crop](https://photasium.com/guides/how-to-crop-a-photo.md) the frame, [Text](https://photasium.com/guides/how-to-add-text-to-a-photo.md) a caption, [paint](https://photasium.com/guides/how-to-paint-and-erase-on-a-photo.md) a mark, export a listing.

[Open photo editor](https://photasium.com/editor)