LayerzLAYERZ

Layerz Canvas/User Guide

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Export (images and video)

Free and Pro

  • Design is free; video is Pro. Designing, recording, animating and image export (PNG, JPEG, SVG, PDF) are all free, with no watermark.
  • Free video and animation exports (MP4, MOV (HEVC), GIF, APNG, PNG sequence) carry a small watermark in the bottom-right corner: the app icon mark and "Made with Layerz Canvas". MOV (HEVC + alpha), ProRes and Lottie are Pro-only.
  • Layerz Canvas Pro (app menu ▸ Layerz Canvas Pro…) exports every format without a watermark. Choose a monthly or yearly subscription (the yearly plan starts with a 7-day free trial the first time; cancel during the trial and nothing is charged) or a one-time Lifetime purchase. Use Restore Purchases for a purchase made on another Mac.
  • The video save panel shows, under its options, whether the chosen format adds a watermark or needs Pro, with a button that opens the Pro sheet. Saving with a Pro-only format selected shows the purchase sheet and does not export.

Images, PDF and SVG

  • File ▸ Export… (⌘E)
  • Formats: PNG / JPEG / PDF / SVG
  • Options:
    • Scale — 1× / 2× / 3× (raster PNG/JPEG only; PDF and SVG are vector)
    • Transparent — transparent background (PNG, PDF, SVG)
    • Export: Artboard / Selection — the whole artboard, or only the selected layers (cropped to their bounds). Available when something is selected.
  • The panel shows a preview thumbnail that updates as you change the format, scope or transparency.
  • Choose a location and the active artboard is written in that format. The panel opens with the format, scale, transparency and scope you used last (no re-picking when exporting several artboards the same way). The same values show in Settings ▸ Export, where you can change them too. The folder is the default folder from Settings if one is set, otherwise where you last saved.
  • With animation, the export shows the artboard exactly as it looks at the current playhead — move the playhead to the frame you want before exporting a still.

SVG (vector XML)

  • Shapes (rectangles, ellipses, paths, polygons), text, images, groups, transforms (move, rotate, scale), opacity, solid and linear/radial gradient fills, and strokes (width, caps, joins, dashes) are written as vectors.
  • Limits: angular gradients have no SVG equivalent and fall back to the first stop's colour. Video layers and some effects are omitted. Text is approximated with its basic layout.

Video

  • File ▸ Export Video… (⌥⌘E) — available when the artboard has a timeline.
  • Formats:
    • MP4 (H.264) / MOV (HEVC) — regular video.
    • MOV (HEVC + Alpha) / MOV (ProRes 4444) — video with a transparent background for overlays and compositing.
    • Animated GIF / Animated PNG — looping animated images for the web and messengers. Very large frames (a full-screen recording, say) are scaled down automatically to protect memory (GIF: at most 1024 px, 50 fps).
    • PNG Sequence — the timeline as numbered PNG stills for compositing and post-production. Pick a folder and a base name; every frame is written as name_0001.png, name_0002.png, … (frame rate and scale apply; Transparent keeps alpha). The digit count follows the total frame count (at least four).
    • Lottie (JSON) — vector animation compatible with After Effects / bodymovin; light to share and plays on the web. Documents that contain video cannot be exported as Lottie (a vector format cannot carry video frames; a message explains).
      • Supported: shapes and groups, transform animation (position, scale, rotation, opacity, including group children and smooth motion paths), solid / gradient (linear, radial) fills and strokes, fill and stroke colour/opacity animation, stroke (colour, width) animation, trim paths, repeaters, size and path (shape) animation, image layers (top level), text layers (best effort), blend modes.
      • Track mattes (masking by the layer in front, alpha or luma) are exported too.
      • If anything cannot be expressed as vectors, a notice lists what is dropped or simplified before exporting (text is placed approximately and needs the player's font; effects are omitted; angular gradients become solid). Export Anyway continues, or cancel.
  • Options:
    • Preset — applies a common combination at once: Web (MP4) / High Quality (2×) / Transparent (HEVC + Alpha) / Animated GIF / Lottie (Vector). A preset fills in format, FPS, scale and quality; changing any of them afterwards shows the preset as Custom. (iOS fills format, scale and quality from "Choose a preset…"; it has no FPS option.)
    • Frame Rate — 24 / 30 / 60 fps
    • Scale — 1× / 2×
    • Quality — Standard / High / Max (the H.264 / HEVC bitrate; disabled for ProRes, GIF and APNG).
    • Transparent — renders on a transparent background for alpha-capable formats (HEVC + Alpha, ProRes, GIF, APNG), ignoring the artboard's background colour.
  • The panel opens with the format, frame rate, scale, quality and transparency you used last. The same values show in Settings ▸ Export, where you can change them too (and per export, of course).
  • Progress is shown and can be cancelled; when done the result is revealed in the Finder.
  • Design, motion, video layers and auto-zoom are all composited into one movie.
  • Audio: the sound recorded in video clips (system, microphone) is mixed into the output exactly as trimmed and placed (overlapping clips are mixed; hidden layers are muted).

Combine timeline keyframes with screen recordings to make promo videos.