Tiles

Make a tile once, place it all over a map, and draw on any copy: every copy changes with it.

Tiles are groups#

A tile is an atlas group: a layer group, marked [AG] in the Layers panel, the size of the document. Whatever you put in it (layers, effects, text) is the tile.

Make one with Layer ▸ New Atlas Group, or + in the Atlas panel (View ▸ Atlas). The first one turns the document into a map of cells, each the size of the document.

Placing tiles#

• Click a tile in the Atlas panel to pick it. That chooses the Atlas Placement tool (A).
• Click or drag on the canvas to fill cells with it, in any direction. Right-click clears a cell, and Alt+click picks up the tile under the pointer.
• Drag tiles around the Atlas panel to rearrange them, and right-click one to rename or delete it.

Drawing on tiles#

Draw on any cell and you're drawing on its tile: every cell that shows it changes as you draw. A stroke carries on into the neighbouring cells' tiles, unless the Atlas panel's lock button (Lock to current tile) is on.

Tiles inside tiles#

A tile can hold another: right-click an atlas group and choose Add Existing Atlas Tile, or drag a tile from the Atlas panel onto a group's row. A meadow tile can be grass with flowers on top, and drawing on the grass changes the meadow too.

To export tiles, see Exporting.