Select, reorder, and rename

Summary

Layers lists every item on the artboard, top to bottom, in the same order they stack visually — top of the list renders in front. Click a layer's name to select just that layer; use its checkbox to add it to a multi-selection instead. Reordering and renaming both live in the same panel.

Use it when

• You need to select a specific layer that's hard to click directly on the artboard (small, hidden behind something, or off-canvas).
• Two elements overlap and you need to change which one draws on top.
• A layer's default name (Image 1, Shape 2, Text 3, Paint 4) isn't descriptive enough to work with.
• You need to select more than one layer at once to move or arrange them together.

Before you begin

You need at least one layer on the artboard. Layers is visible in the left rail on desktop or the Layers sheet on mobile, per The editor at a glance.

Steps

Select

1. Select a layer's name in Layers to select only that layer, replacing any previous selection.
2. Select a layer's checkbox instead to add it to a multi-selection without deselecting others — check a second layer's box and both stay selected together.
3. Selecting a different layer's name (not checkbox) collapses back to selecting just that one layer, clearing any multi-selection.

Reorder

4. Select ↑ or ↓ on a layer's row to move it one step up or down in the stack.
5. Open the layer's ⋯ menu for Bring to front or Send to back to jump it directly to the top or bottom of the stack in one step, instead of stepping through every layer in between.

Rename

6. Open the layer's ⋯ menu and select Rename.
7. An inline text field opens with the current name selected — type the new name.
8. Press Enter to commit it, or Escape to cancel and keep the original name.

What changes

• A layer's position in the Layers list is its stacking position on the artboard — confirmed by placing an image (via Fill canvas, which covers the full artboard) above a shape in the list and observing the shape become hidden underneath it; sending the image to the back revealed the shape again.
• Selecting two or more layers by checkbox changes the inspector: it adds a · N selected suffix to Transform and introduces a new group, Arrange, not present for a single selection — covered in Align, distribute & pattern across cells.
• Renaming only changes the label shown in Layers; it does not affect the layer's content, position, or type.

Print note

Layer names and their order in the Layers list are editor organization only — names are never printed, and only the resulting visual stacking order (which layer is drawn in front of which) affects the exported artwork.

Warnings and limits

• There is no shift-click range-select on the artboard or in the Layers list — clicking a second layer's name while holding Shift behaved the same as an ordinary click in testing (it replaced the selection rather than extending it). The checkbox is the only confirmed way to build a multi-selection.
• Bring to front and Send to back are immediate — there is no confirmation step, though the action is an ordinary undoable step like any other reorder.
• A layer completely hidden behind another (as in the Fill-canvas-image example above) can still be selected and reordered even while invisible — use Layers, not the artboard, to reach it.

Desktop and mobile

Layers, including per-row checkboxes, reorder arrows, and the ⋯ menu, is reachable the same way on desktop (left rail) and mobile (the Layers sheet from the bottom bar), per The editor at a glance. Checkbox-based multi-select was confirmed present in the mobile sheet's markup; the touch interaction itself was not independently re-tested for this article.

Troubleshooting

Related topics

• Duplicate, hide, lock & delete
• Size, position, rotation & opacity
• Align, distribute & pattern across cells
• Artboard, stage, and tool rail

Verification note

Verified against Blotter Builder on 2026-07-20.

Source notes

Primary observations — all from the live application at https://blotterbuilder.tdl.fyi, 2026-07-20, with three layers on the artboard (a full-canvas placed image, a shape, and a text layer):

• Observed — each Layers row has a name button, ↑, ↓, Hide, Lock, Delete, a ⋯ menu, and a checkbox.
• Observed — the ⋯ menu contains Rename, Duplicate, Bring to front, Send to back.
• Observed — Rename opened an inline input pre-filled with the current name; committing a new value with Enter updated the layer's label immediately in Layers.
• Observed — ↑ moved a layer exactly one position in the list; Bring to front/Send to back moved a layer directly to the top or bottom in one action.
• Observed — reordering a full-canvas image above a shape in the list visually hid the shape underneath it; sending that image to the back revealed the shape again — confirming list order maps directly to stacking order.
• Observed — clicking a layer's name selected only that layer (_layerRowActive_ class present on just that row). Shift-clicking a second layer's name afterward replaced the selection rather than adding to it.
• Observed — clicking a layer's checkbox, then a second layer's checkbox, left both checked simultaneously, and the inspector's Transform heading changed to Transform · 2 selected with a new Arrange · 2 selected group appearing.
• Observed — clicking a layer's name while two checkboxes were checked collapsed the selection back to that one layer (its checkbox became the only one checked).
• Observed — at 390 × 844, the Layers sheet from the bottom bar contained the same per-row checkboxes as desktop.

Verification log