Pixelmator Creates A New Layer For Everything

Talk about Pixelmator Pro, share tips & tricks, tutorials, and other resources.
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2019-10-29 19:19:38

I'm trying to label a map I created, and I want all the text boxes to be on a single layer. Is this possible? The preferences are surprisingly sparse and I can't find any setting to change this behavior. Lastly, is it possible to merge layers? All I seem to be able to do is group them, which doesn't help me find the particular text box I'm looking for. A workaround would be for the correct layer to become active if I click on an object but I can't seem to get that to happen either.
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2019-10-29 20:06:44

Hi Tom.
Here's my take on your comments/questions. Hopefully some of this will help.
In Pixelmator Pro bitmap layers, shapes and text objects occupy the same level in the layers hierarchy so each text box will have it's own entry in the layer panel, not because each needs to sit on its own layer but because each *is* its own layer. Grouping them as you have done would be the logical step to keep them together and hide the detail when you don't need to see it.
To select a text layer click on it in the layers panel. You can do this even if they're grouped: you just need to expand the group first. You can also select them by clicking on them in the canvas using the Arrange tool, provided that you have Auto Select turned on. To toggle Auto Select, right-click in the canvas and click Auto Select (there is also a check box to do this from the Arrange tool).
You can Merge two or more layers by selecting them in the layers panel, right clicking and selecting Merge. The resulting object will always be a bitmap layer so you lose any ability to edit text or vector shapes after you have done this.
I tend to merge and convert to bitmap less with Pixelmator Pro than I would with other graphics apps as Pixelmator Pro's effects are largely non-destructive: I can take a piece of text, apply a gaussian blur to it, use it as the bottom layer of a clipping mask and still edit the text.
I hope the above is of use. All the best.
- Stef.
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2019-10-30 18:13:23

Thank you so much. That answers my question completely.