Layers & Groups
Overview
The Layers panel: the Layers tab in the right sidebar, shows every element on your card in z-order. The top of the list is the front of the card; the bottom is the back. From the Layers panel you can control visibility, locking, ordering, and search for elements by name, all without needing to click directly on the canvas.
Forty elements on one card is normal. Losing track of them is optional. Layers and groups keep a busy card organized, and once you learn groups and master elements, you can build templates that are fast to maintain and consistent across an entire deck.
The Layers Panel
Each row in the Layers panel represents one element on the current card face. Every row shows:
- Icon and thumbnail: a small icon for the element type and a swatch of its color, text, or image. A star icon marks a master element.
- Element name: defaults to the type name. Double-click it to rename it.
- Visibility toggle: the eye icon. Click to show or hide the element on the canvas.
- Lock toggle: the padlock icon. Click to lock or unlock the element.
Click any layer row to select that element on the canvas. Use the Search layers box at the top of the panel to filter layers by name, handy when a card has many elements and you need to find a specific one quickly.
Layer Ordering
Elements render from the bottom of the list to the top. An element at the top of the Layers panel appears in front of all other elements; an element at the bottom appears behind everything else.
To change the stacking order of an element, select it and drag its row in the Layers panel, or use the keyboard shortcuts:
- ]: Bring to front (move to the top of the layer list).
- [: Send to back (move to the bottom of the layer list).
Double-clicking a row anywhere except its name zooms the canvas to that element.
Tip: If you can't click an element on the canvas because another element is on top of it, use the Layers panel to select it directly. This is especially useful when you have a large background image covering the whole card.
Visibility & Locking
Visibility (eye icon): Toggling an element hidden removes it from the canvas preview and from exports. Hidden elements are not rendered in any exported image or PDF; they are completely ignored at export time. Use this to temporarily hide elements while working on other parts of the design.
Locking (padlock icon): A locked element cannot be moved, resized, rotated, or modified until you unlock it. The element is still visible and still exports normally, locking only prevents accidental edits. Locked elements can still be selected from the Layers panel, and their properties can be viewed (but not changed) in the properties panel.
Tip: Lock your background element first. Background images cover the entire card surface, so they are easy to accidentally select when you click on the canvas. Locking the background keeps it out of the way while you work on the foreground elements.
Grouping Elements
Groups let you treat multiple elements as a single unit. A group can be moved, resized, and rotated as one, and all its children maintain their relative positions within the group.
To create a group:
- Select multiple elements: hold Shift and click each element, or drag a selection box around them.
- Press Ctrl+G to group them.
In the Layers panel, the group appears as a single row with a G badge. Its children are shown indented below it. Click the group row to select the whole group; click a child row to select an individual element within the group.
To ungroup, select the group and press Ctrl+Shift+G. The children are released back to the top level of the layer stack.
Tip: Use groups to bundle related elements: for example, group an icon, a label, and a value display together so they always move as one unit when you adjust the card layout.
Master Elements
A master element is an element that renders on every card in your project, regardless of any conditional visibility rules. You mark an element as a master by checking Show on every card in the Condition section of the inspector. Master elements are shown with a star in the Layers panel.
Use master elements for anything that should appear consistently across all cards:
- Card borders and decorative frames
- Game title or logo
- Copyright text
- Brand watermarks or set icons
When your cards come from a spreadsheet, other elements can be hidden by conditions based on column values. Master elements ignore those rules and always appear, making them the reliable foundation of your card template.
Tip: Set up your card border as a master element before you start designing. That way you can add conditional elements freely, knowing the border will never accidentally disappear on any card in the deck.
Tips
- Name your elements. Double-click the element name in the Layers panel to rename it. Descriptive names like "Card Border", "Attack Value", and "Flavor Text" make the Layers panel far easier to navigate than the defaults.
- Use groups to organize related elements. A well-grouped card is easy to rearrange, moving one group repositions an entire section of your design.
- Lock finished elements. Once you are happy with the background, border, or any other foundational element, lock it. This prevents accidental edits while you work on the details.
- Master elements are essential for consistency. Card borders, shared branding, and legal text should always be master elements so they appear on every card without exception.
- Copy what repeats. If you paste the same group of elements across decks, build it once as a group and copy it, or save the whole card as a template.