Layers

Layers are invisible planes of the canvas on which objects are organized. As you may remember from before, objects are stacked according to the time when they were created. Newer objects always are on top of previously created objects.

All these objects are by default in the basic layer of a new Fireworks document: Layer 1. You are free to rename that layer and create new layers. Layers themselves can be stacked and objects in the higher layer will be seen in front of objects on lower layers.

Why use layers?

Layers are an important tool in grouping objects by category. For example, if you create a design for a Web page that has navigational elements that change, as well as static (i.e., non-changing) elements, you would put them on different layers.

Let's look at the layers panel, which will help you to understand the working of layers better:

The layers paneI is one of the panel groups usually in the common docking area. When you click the title bar of the panel you can open/close it. In the displayed panel above you can see that there are two layers. The first one is called "Web Layer". It is part of every Fireworks document and will contain slices, hotspots, and other Web-related information. The symbol in the very right of the layer name area indicates that the Web layer is shared with all frames.

The second layer, "Layer 1" by default, contains one object. If you remember the red circle from the previous lesson you will see it here as an object in the layer panel. There is only one object here and it is a vector object or path. The blue border and the blue indicator next to the layer name show that the object is selected. You can give names to objects, unnamed objects show the default for the type such as "Path".

Layers can be collapsed (3) or expanded so the individual objects in the layer are visible. The open eye (4) indicates that the layer and the object are visible on the canvas. By clicking the eye the object vanishes and is invisible. Invisible objects cannot be selected. This is a good way to hide objects in order to work on objects that partly overlap or lie behind it.

The pencil symbol indicates that Layer 1 is editable (5). You can lock layers to exclude them from editing. When you lock a layer a lock symbol appears instead of the pencil.

The objects in the layer panels can be renamed. Clicking on the object name allows you to rename objects. The vertical order of items in the layer panel reflects the stacking order. You can change the order by dragging and dropping items in different positions. Objects can be moved between layers.

When you select an object in the layers panel you can also set its opacity (1) and the blending mode (2). 100% opacity means that the object is solid, 0% means the object is completely transparent. For the purpose of this tutorial be will only use Normal blending mode.

The Web layer is always the top layer. It cannot be removed or renamed. It is a system layer that will be in every Fireworks document.

In the bottom of the layers panel is a row of icons (6), which allow you to create/duplicate layers , to apply masks , create a new bitmap , or delete the selected object or layer .