What is Layer

Last updated: October 11, 2026

Layer is where game and creative teams make images, video, 3D and audio with AI models, on their own art and in their own pipeline. This page explains the pieces you will meet in your first hour and how they fit together, with a link to the article that covers each one.

How it works

Everything happens in a workspace: your team's shared space, with its members, its files and one balance of Creative Units. Inside it, work happens in sessions, and what you make collects in the library.

Sessions and the board

A session is one piece of work, such as a character, a store screenshot set or a trailer. Its board holds every file you bring in or generate there, laid out so you can compare takes side by side. Start one with New session in the sidebar and come back to it from All sessions.

The agent

The chat in a session. Describe what you need and the agent picks the tools and models, asks for any files or choices it is missing, and checks the cost with you before larger jobs. It works on the files you attach or select on the board. See the Agent collection.

Tools and models

A tool does one job, such as Create image, Upscale image or Remove image background, from the side panel next to the board. Each run uses a base model: the tool starts on your workspace's default, and you can switch to any model that supports the job. See Create images and Choose a model.

Reference sets

A reference set bundles images that describe a character, a style or a look, and can be trained on your own artwork. Attach one to a run, or mention it in chat, to keep results on-model across a project. See Create a reference set.

Workflows

A workflow is a saved multi-step pipeline, for example generate, then remove the background, then upscale. You fill in its inputs and it runs every step. Find them under Workflows in the sidebar. See Find and run a workflow.

Asset Library and projects

Every file in the workspace lands in the Asset Library, searchable and filterable. Projects group the files, reference sets and workflows that belong to one game or campaign, and scope the app to them while you work. See Find your work in the library and Organize work into projects.

Creative Units

Generating costs Creative Units (CUs). The cost depends on the model and the output, shows before you run, and comes out of the workspace's shared balance. See Billing & Creative Units.

What it means for you

  • You can work the way that suits the task: talk to the agent for open-ended or multi-step jobs, open a tool for a precise one-off, or run a workflow for a repeatable pipeline. All three put their results on the same board.
  • Nothing is locked to a session. A file on any board is also in the Asset Library, and can be attached to a run, added to a reference set or used as a workflow input.
  • The whole team shares one balance and one library. Admins control who can do what, which models are available and how much each group can spend; see the Admin & security collection.
  • Layer also works inside other apps, such as Photoshop, Blender, Figma and Slack; see the Integrations collection.

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