Painting Several Layers Simultaneously

You can use the Paint tool to fill drawings in several layers simultaneously. When you set up the Paint tool to work on several layers, if you click on a colour zone in the current drawing to fill it, it will fill any colour zone located where you clicked in the drawings in the other layers as well.

There are three ways to paint several layers at the same time:

  • By selection: If you select several layers in the Timeline or Xsheet view, you will be able to paint on all the selected layers simultaneously.
  • Apply to All Visible Layers mode: By enabling this mode, you will be able to paint in all the layers that are visible in the Camera view simultaneously.
  • Apply to Synced Drawing Layers mode: By enabling this mode, you will be able to paint in the current layer as well as in any layer that is synced to that layer simultaneously. This can be very useful if the artwork in the synced layers must be filled with the same colours.
NOTE You can only paint several layers simultaneously in the Camera view.
  1. Do one of the following:
    • In the Timeline view, move the red Timeline playhead to the frame where all the drawings you want to paint are exposed.
    • In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select one of the drawings you want to paint.
  1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Paint tool.
  1. In the Tool Properties view, make sure the Apply to All Visible Layers or Apply to Synced Drawing Layers button is toggled off.

  1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select all the layers you want to paint simultaneously.

    TIPS
    • To select multiple layers, press and hold the Ctrl (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) key, then click on each layer you want to select.
    • In the Timeline or Xsheet view, you can select a contiguous series of layers by clicking on the first layer you want to select, then, while holding Shift, clicking on the last layer you want to select. Every layer in-between will also be selected.
    NOTE If Light Table is enabled, the selected layers will appear fully opaque. This indicates that the currently selected tool can work on all selected layers simultaneously.

    At this point, you can paint artwork in all of the selected layers.

  1. In the Camera view, click in an area where the colour zones for the drawings in the selected layers overlap each other to fill them simultaneously.
  1. Do one of the following:
    • In the Timeline view, move the red Timeline playhead to the frame where all the drawings you want to paint are exposed.
    • In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select one of the drawings you want to paint.
  1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Paint tool.

  1. In the Tool Properties view, click on the Apply to All Visible Layers button to toggle it on.

    NOTES
    • If this button is currently set to Apply to Synced Drawing Layers mode, click and hold on the button to open its pop-up menu and select Apply to All Visible Layers.
    • If Light Table is enabled, all the visible layers will appear fully opaque. This indicates that the currently selected tool can work on all visible layers simultaneously.
  1. In the Camera view, click in an area where the colour zones for the drawings in most or all of the visible layers overlap each other to fill them simultaneously.

  1. In the Timeline view, select a drawing in one of the synced layers that you want to paint.

    NOTE

    When you select a synced layer, that layer and the other layers that are synced with it display a Link icon.

  1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Paint tool.

  1. In the Tool Properties view, click and hold on the Apply to All Visible Layers button to open its pop-up menu, then select Apply to Synced Drawing Layers.

    NOTES
    • If this button is already set to Apply to Synced Drawing Layers mode, simply click on it to toggle it on.
    • If Light Table is enabled, the currently selected layer and all of its synced layers will appear fully opaque. This indicates that the currently selected tool can work on all of these layers simultaneously.

    At this point, you can paint artwork in the selected layer and all of its synced layers.

  1. In the Camera view, click in an area where the colour zones for the drawings in the synced layers overlap to fill them simultaneously.