Layers (digital image editing)

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Layers put on top of each other

Layers displayed individually, from the "bottom layer" to the "top layer"

A digital image is often made out of multiple layers, with each layer carrying a different functionality.

Layers are used in digital image editing to separate different elements of an image. A layer can be compared to a transparency on which imaging effects or images are applied and placed over or under an image. Today they are an integral feature of image editor.

Layers were first commercially available in Fauve Matisse (later Macromedia xRes),^{[1][better source needed]} and then available in Adobe Photoshop 3.0, in 1994, but today a wide range of other programs, such as Photo-Paint, Paint Shop Pro, GIMP, Paint.NET, StylePix, and even batch processing tools also include this feature. In vector image editors that support animation, layers are used to further enable manipulation along a common timeline for the animation; in SVG images, the equivalent to layers are "groups".