Working with Layers
A layer is the rendered form of a dataset that you can style or perform operations on. Layers are listed in the Layers panel on the right side of the screen.
Adding layers
Section titled “Adding layers”Click a data from the catalog or upload a file to add it as a layer. New layers appear at the top of the stack.
Layer order
Section titled “Layer order”Layers render bottom to top — the bottom of the list draws first, layers above draw on top. Drag layers in the panel to reorder them or use the keyboard shortcuts [ ] with a layer selected.
Renaming layers
Section titled “Renaming layers”Double-click a layer name to rename it. Press Enter or click away to confirm.
Toggling visibility
Section titled “Toggling visibility”Click the eye icon on any layer or press H to hide or show it. Hidden layers stay in your project with their data and settings intact — they just don’t render on the canvas.
Duplicating a layer
Section titled “Duplicating a layer”Press Cmd+D or use the ... menu to duplicate a layer. The copy has the same style and data as the original and is added directly above it.
Removing layers
Section titled “Removing layers”Use Cmd+delete or the ... menu to delete a layer. This can be undone with Cmd+Z.
Undo / Redo
Section titled “Undo / Redo”All layer changes — adding, removing, reordering, renaming, and style changes — are undoable. Use Cmd+Z to undo and Cmd+Shift+Z to redo, or the Undo/Redo buttons in the top toolbar.
The history stack goes back 50 steps.
Interaction modes
Section titled “Interaction modes”The map canvas has two modes, Pan and Select, which can be set using the floating toolbar on the canvas.
- Pan mode (
V) — drag to pan or rotate the map. This is the default. - Select mode (
S) — click, shift-click, or drag to select layers and features.
Press V or S to switch modes. In select mode, hold Space to temporarily pan without switching modes.
Selecting layers
Section titled “Selecting layers”Layers can be selected directly from the layers panel by clicking them or on the canvas while in select mode.
- Click a layer to select it. Shift+click to range-select, Cmd+click to toggle individual layers in or out.
- Selected layers are highlighted on the canvas with visual feedback tuned to geometry type: bounding box strokes for all types, fill tint and outline thickening for polygons, stroke tint for lines, and halos for points.
- Click and drag to create a marquee that will select all layers it intersects.
- Escape clears the selection (feature selection clears first, then layer selection).
- An X button in the action bar dismisses the selection at any time.
- Double-clicking a layer on the map allows you to select features within it.
The action bar
Section titled “The action bar”When one or more layers are selected, a floating action bar appears above the canvas toolbar.
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Dissolve | Merges all features in the layer into a single geometry. |
| Explode | Splits multi-part features into individual single-part features. |
| Clip | Clips the layer to another layer’s extent or to a bounding box. |
| Subtract | Subtracts another layer’s geometry from the selected layer. |
| Mosaic | Flattens overlapping polygons by converting overlapping areas into separate non-overlapping polygons. |
| Merge | Combines multiple selected layers into one. |
The Clip operation
Section titled “The Clip operation”Clip trims a layer to a boundary. Click Clip to open a popover with two options:
- Clip to layer — choose another layer from the list. Graticule clips the active layer to that layer’s outer boundary.
- Clip to bounding box — drag handles appear on the canvas. Resize and position the box, then confirm. Graticule clips to the box edges.
The original layer is replaced with the clipped result. Press Cmd+Z to undo.