Guide · Structure
The layer tree is the document.
Groups, drawings, subpaths, images, and text appear in one tree that mirrors what will be exported.
One tree for every kind of node.
Groups, drawings, embedded images, and text nodes share a single tree, and a path exposes its subpaths inside it. Selecting there is often more precise than clicking through overlapping artwork on the canvas.
The tree is not a separate view of the document; it is the document structure, which is why its order and nesting are what the exported file reproduces.
A future annotated screenshot will identify groups, drawings, subpaths, and their state controls.
Group and ungroup, including nested groups.
Grouping collects a selection under one parent so it can be moved, transformed, and ordered as a unit. Groups can be nested, which is how a complex illustration stays navigable.
The keyboard covers both directions: Ctrl or Cmd with G groups the selection, and adding Shift ungroups it.
- Nested groups are supported
- Ctrl/Cmd + G groups the selection
- Shift + Ctrl/Cmd + G ungroups it
Reorder the stack in single steps or all at once.
Bring forward and send backward move a node one position at a time, while bring to front and send to back move it the whole way. Small steps are worth using when several shapes overlap in a specific order.
Stacking order is document order. What sits later in the tree paints later, and the exported SVG preserves exactly that sequence.
- Bring forward and send backward
- Bring to front and send to back
- Layer order is preserved on export
Hiding and locking answer different questions.
Visibility and lock state can be set per node and per subpath. Hiding removes something from view; locking keeps it visible but protects it from being selected and changed by accident.
The distinction matters at the export boundary. Hidden nodes and subpaths are left out of SVG export and clipboard copies, while lock state is an editing convenience that never changes the SVG content.
- Show and hide per node and per subpath
- Lock and unlock to protect from accidental edits
- Hidden content is excluded from export; locked content is not
Names stay stable and readable.
Generated names follow the localized type plus the first free number for that type, so the tree stays legible without a renaming pass after every operation.
A name you typed, or an id imported from an SVG, is kept as it is and only feeds the counters. Generated names route around it instead of overwriting it.