# Using

However, there is still a problem: The gradient still covers the whole canvas although we wanted it to be restricted on the rectangle. To do so, activate the gradient layer in the Layer tab. Now go to the Params Dialog (by default a tab in the Params-Children-Keyframes window), and search the attribute called 'Blend Method'. Double-click the entry and select 'Onto' from the appearing drop-down menu.

The gradient should now be restricted to the rectangle. Congratulations! You just made your first interacting layers with Synfig.

If only for the additional organization, encapsulating layers into inline canvases dramatically improves the ease of use of Synfig Studio. But lots of programs can do this. The concept of scope as just demonstrated sets Synfig apart from other programs with layer hierarchies.

The following remarks seem to be outdated already! A blur defaults to 'Straight' here (using SVN 110). --Claus 06:45, 11 Jan 2006 (PST)

It defaulted to composite for me, as described (using SVN 147) Matumio 07:56, 12 Mar 2006 (PST)

However, a layer can only modify the data that it gets from directly below it. In other words, if you were to throw a Blur Layer at the top of the objects inside the inline canvas we just created, it would just blur them -- anything under it would not be blurred!

Lets try it. Add a few circles under the inline canvas we just created. Expand the inline canvas to show its contents, and select the top layer inside of it (should be the "Outline" layer). This is where we want to insert the blur. Right click on the selected layer and a popup menu will appear. The first item in that popup is "New Layer". Inside of the "New Layer" menu, you'll see several categories of layers you could create, but what we want is a blur, so goto the Blur category and select the "Blur" layer. (so that would be "New Layer->Blurs->Blur")

Well, it blurred... but something is not quite right--the inside edge of the outline is now all soft, but it still kinda looks like there is a hard edge on the outside. It is doing this because the blend method of the blur defaulted to "Composite" (you can change the default blend method for new layers from the New Layer Defaults section of the Toolbox). What we want is a blend method of "Straight". Just select the blur layer, and change the Blend Method to "Straight" in the Params Dialog.

(NOTE: I will probably change the way that default blend methods are handled in the future--as the way it is currently handled seems to only create hassles like this)

Ok, now we have all of the contents of the inline canvas blurred, but everything under it is sharp!