Adding color to black graphic image.

[Joe Crandall]

I have a black multi shape image with a white background.  I started adding color with the fill bucket icon to the individual black shapes. The black shape would be replaced with the same shape in  color.  I could go from black shape to shape changing to what ever color I choose.  Then the, Assistant part of the program combined the foreground and background layers. At this point I could no longer add color to the black shapes. When I clicked on a black shape with the Fill Bucket icon the whole frame turns the color. How can I deal with this challenge.  Thank you for your time. Joe

[R C-R]

48 minutes ago, Joe Crandall said:

When I clicked on a black shape with the Fill Bucket icon the whole frame turns the color.

In the Layers panel hover the mouse pointer over the left side of the layer where there is a small icon thumbnail. Wait until a tooltip pops up. What kind of layer does it say this is?

[thomaso]

https://affinity.help/photo2/English.lproj/index.html?page=pages/Layers/aboutLayers.html&title=About layers

[Joe Crandall]

On 4/1/2025 at 3:40 PM, R C-R said:

In the Layers panel hover the mouse pointer over the left side of the layer where there is a small icon thumbnail. Wait until a tooltip pops up. What kind of layer does it say this is?

This has become the background layer. I believe the, Assistant combined the foreground with the background layer to one layer indicated as the background layer.

[R C-R]

1 hour ago, Joe Crandall said:

This has become the background layer.

What is being asked for is the kind of layer -- the layer type that pops up if you hover the pointer over the icon in the Layers panel. See the previous post by @thomaso above for a list of what those icons represent.