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Working with layers

Add, organise, duplicate, lock and remove layers, and reuse them across maps with the Layer Catalog — every control in the Layers panel explained.

Layers are the heart of DropMaps. This guide walks through adding them, the controls on each layer row, and how to keep a busy map tidy.

The Layers panel with three layers loaded

Add a layer

Add layer at the bottom of the Layers panel opens the Add layer dialog (you can also just drag files onto the map). It offers local files, the Layer Catalog, Create blank layer and External sources (open data, map servers, satellite imagery and any URL) — each covered in Adding & importing layers. Supported file formats are listed under the dialog and in full on the Supported formats page.

The layer row

Each layer in the Layers panel has, from left to right:

  • A visibility toggle — Show layer / Hide layer.
  • A swatch showing the layer’s colour and geometry. Click it to open the layer’s settings.
  • The layer name — double-click to rename — and its feature count.
  • An opacity chip (e.g. 45%) when the layer is faded.
  • A ⋯ menu with everything else (below).
  • A drag handle for reordering — layers higher in the list draw on top.

When you’re signed in, a small cloud badge shows whether each layer is backed up or local only.

Above the list, Filter layers narrows a long list to the names that match, and the panel’s own ⋯ menu has Zoom to visible layers, Show all / Hide all layers, Create group…, Expand / Collapse all groups and Clear all layers….

The layer menu

Reorder layers, open a layer's ⋯ menu and fade it from its settings.

A layer’s ⋯ menu starts with a quick row — Zoom to, Table and Settings — then:

  • Rename and Add features (switches on the Add tool for this layer).
  • Duplicate… — see Duplicate a layer.
  • Filter… — open Live filters on this layer.
  • Save as editable layer… — for a live Overture open data layer, copy the features in view into a layer you can edit.
  • Recalculate extent — refresh the layer’s bounds after big edits.
  • Add labels… / Show labels — jump to the Labels tab.
  • Add as basemap — for imagery, WMS or XYZ layers, promote them to the background.
  • Arrange — Move up / Move down without dragging.
  • Group — put the layer in a new or existing group: a collapsible heading with shared visibility.
  • Export… — download the layer as GeoJSON, Shapefile, GeoPackage, KML, CSV and more (see Supported formats).
  • Download attachments / Remove photos — for layers with feature photos.
  • Upload to cloud and cloud tile options, where they apply, including Keep on this device (offline) for a cloud tile layer (see Working offline).
  • Remove layer — see Remove a layer.

Layer settings

Click a layer’s swatch (or ⋯ ▸ Settings) to open its settings. The tabs are:

  • General — the layer’s name in this map, whether it shows in the legend, and Edit details… for its metadata.
  • Editing — the layer’s locks and what collaborators may edit.
  • Style, Labels, Popups and Filter — see Styling layers. The Style tab also holds Layer opacity and the Visible zooms range.
  • Fields and Form — the layer’s attribute fields, edit tracking and its data-entry form. See Fields & forms.

3D Tiles and scene layers also have a Position section on the Style tab. See 3D maps & layers.

Settings can float over the map or dock beside it, using the button in their header.

Groups

A group is a collapsible heading in the Layers panel. Its ⋯ menu has Rename, Show all / Hide all layers, Zoom to group, New subgroup, Scale range… (one zoom range for the whole group) and Delete group.

When a group holds two or more imagery layers (satellite scenes from one day, say), Style layers together… links their styling so one change applies to all of them. Unlink layer styles separates them again.

Duplicate a layer

⋯ ▸ Duplicate… asks which kind of duplicate you want:

  • Same data, new style — a style view: its own style, labels, zoom range, popups and filter drawn over the same features. Edit features on either and both update. Handy for showing one dataset two ways — say, coloured by category and again as labels at close zoom.
  • Copy the data — an independent layer with its own copy of every feature. Edits to either never affect the other.

Lock a layer

On the Editing tab, Lock editing stops features from being added, edited or deleted and fields from changing. Lock style freezes the symbology, labels, popups, filter, opacity, name and details. Locks apply to everyone — you included — and to everyone the map is shared with; only the map’s owner or an editor can change them. Below the locks, Collaborator editing sets what people the map is shared with as Can edit features may add, change or delete. See Teams & collaboration.

Remove a layer

⋯ ▸ Remove layer. A layer that only lives on this device is simply removed after you confirm. If it’s backed up to the cloud you choose how far to go:

  • Remove from this map — takes it off this map and frees local storage, but keeps the cloud backup so you can re-add it from the Layer Catalog.
  • Remove from the cloud — deletes the backup to free quota; the layer stays on the map.
  • Delete everywhere — both. This can’t be undone.

Removing a layer also removes any style views of it.

The Layer Catalog

The Layer Catalog lists every layer across your maps and your cloud account so you can reuse it. Open it from Menu ▸ Layer Catalog, or from the Add layer dialog.

  • Search, Filters (type, map, folder and date) and sort (Layer order, Name, Last updated, Date created) find what you need.
  • Group by Map or Folder — ⋯ ▸ Move to folder… files a layer under a folder, which syncs with the layer. Rename a folder from its header.
  • Add brings a layer into the open map. For a data layer this links it — the two maps share one copy of the data, edits show in both, and the layer gets a Linked badge. Use ⋯ ▸ Duplicate layer & data instead for an independent copy.
  • Layers already in the open map have a Duplicate button to add another independent copy.
  • ⋯ also has Details…, Settings… (edit the layer’s default style, labels, popups, filter and fields), Rename and Delete.
  • Select lets you tick several layers to move to a folder or delete together — useful for clearing out cloud layers that are no longer used by any map.

Layer details & metadata

Edit details… on the General tab of a layer’s settings opens its Details, starting with a read-only summary (kind, feature count, source file and original coordinate system). Below you can record the layer’s Catalog name, a Description, Category, Keywords, Source and Source URL, Attribution, Licence, and Created / Last updated dates. Category and keywords also make the layer easier to find in the Layer Catalog. Edit default style & fields… at the bottom opens the layer’s defaults.

The Legend tab

The Legend tab lists every visible layer with its symbology — a single swatch for simple styles, or one row per class for category and graduated styles (including the Other features row), and per-icon entries for KML layers. Colour ramps (imagery bands, satellite indices, heatmaps and hexbins) show as a ramp with their values, and extruded layers get a Height entry. It updates live as you restyle.

To leave a layer out of the legend (a reference layer, say), turn off Show in legend on the General tab of its settings.

Next steps