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Working with layers

Add, organise, style and remove layers — 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.

Screenshot placeholder — the Layers panel with two or three layers loaded.

Add a layer

Open the Add layer dialog from the Add files button in the top toolbar, or from the Layers tab when the map is empty. It offers five ways in — local files, Add from URL, Create blank layer, External sources and the Layer Catalog. Each is covered in Adding & importing layers; the Layer Catalog is summarised below.

Supported file formats are listed under the dialog and in full on the Supported formats page.

The layer row

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

  • A drag handle (Drag to reorder) — layers higher in the list draw on top.
  • A visibility toggle — Show layer / Hide layer.
  • A type icon showing the geometry and format, e.g. Polygon · GeoJSON.
  • The layer name — double-click to rename.
  • An opacity slider.
  • A settings button that opens the styling panel (Style, Labels, Popups, Filter tabs — see Styling layers).

When you’re signed in, a small cloud badge shows whether each layer is backed up (In the cloud) or Local only. Cloud sync and backup are a Pro feature.

Reorder, group and zoom

  • Reorder — drag the handle. Top of the list = top of the map.
  • Create group — open a layer’s context menu and choose Create group to collect related layers under one collapsible heading with shared visibility.
  • Zoom to layer — from the context menu, jump the map to a layer’s extent. The toolbar’s Zoom to all layers does the same for everything at once.
  • Add as basemap — for imagery, WMS or XYZ layers, promote them to the background.

Reuse a layer with the Layer Catalog

The Layer Catalog (in the Add layer dialog, or the Maps menu) lists every layer across your saved maps and your cloud account. Search by name, category or map, then for each layer:

  • Link — share one layer’s data live between maps. Edits apply in both places; the layer shows a Linked badge.
  • Copy / Add — bring in an independent copy that you can change without affecting the original.
  • Add (under In the cloud) — pull a layer back down from your account.

Remove a layer

Open a layer’s context menu. What you can do depends on whether you’re signed in:

  • Remove from this device — drops it locally (the only option when signed out).
  • Remove from cloud — deletes the cloud copy and frees quota, keeping the local one.
  • Delete everywhere — removes it from this device and the cloud.

Deleting a layer from a synced map leaves its cloud copy in place (layers are shareable between maps). You can clean those up from the Layer Catalog or the Storage tab.

Layer details & metadata

From a layer’s context menu, Details opens the metadata editor. The top shows a read-only summary (kind, feature count, source file); below you can record 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.

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. It updates live as you restyle.

Next steps