layer stack order

[Richard200]

As a 3D modeller I work with Sketchup and V-ray. V-ray can export EXR-files with the RGB image and several render elemenmts all in in 1 file. When I open the file in Affinity, I notice that the layer stack is up side down. Is there a simple way to reverse the layer stack? So the top layer goes to the bottom and vise versa. I can do this manually, but when I render an animation of 1200 images, it needs to be automated.

[MikeTO]

Hi Richard and welcome to the forum. I've never used an EXR file but there's no way to reverse the layer stack order automatically in Affinity. Perhaps when scripting is added we will be able to write a script to do this.

If you can't reverse the order easily in your other tools before exporting to EXR, the fastest way to do it would be to assign a simpler shortcut to the Layer > Arrange > Move to Back command - perhaps temporarily make it a comma with no modifier key. Then with Auto-scroll disabled in the Layers menu, click the top layer, press comma, click the new top layer, click comma, etc. I tried this out and it was pretty easy to quickly reverse the layers, at least for the dozen I tried it with. With hundreds of layers it would be tedious but easier than anything else I can think of.

Cheers

  

[walt.farrell]

There's an interesting trick you could try in either Designer or Publisher:

1. Create a Layer below the layers you need to reverse the order of, using the Add Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel or Layer > New Layer from the menu.
2. Select all the layers you need to reverse.
3. Layer > Arrange > Move Inside from the menu, or simply drag them into the Layer you created.
4. Layer  Arrange > Move Outside from the menu. This will reverse their order.
5. Delete the Layer you created in step 1.

Edit: This will also work in Photo, but as it doesn't have Layer layers, you will need to create a different vector object in step 1. It will also work if you create a rectangle or other vector shape.

[v_kyr]

If all the above doesn't fullfil the needs, try out to load your EXR-files into the GIMP, that offers via it's image Menu a "Layers → Stack → Reverse Layer Order" command. - Note also that there are also a bunch of third party EXR plugins/scripts for Gimp available, as for example "Multilayer EXR importer plugin for GIMP" etc.

[carl123]

14 hours ago, Richard200 said:

When I open the file in Affinity, I notice that the layer stack is up side down. Is there a simple way to reverse the layer stack?

Assuming the layer stack always contains the same (small?) number of layers you can use a macro to do that

14 hours ago, Richard200 said:

I can do this manually, but when I render an animation of 1200 images, it needs to be automated

Are those images separate files? If so File > New Batch Job utilising the above macro will work

 

Maybe you can upload a sample file you need to reverse so we can better understand your requirements