Upload files to Layer

Last updated: October 12, 2026

Upload your own artwork, references, audio, video and 3D files to Layer so you can edit them, use them as references in generations, and share them with your team.

Before you start

  • Check that Layer supports the file: Supported file types and what you can do with them lists every format and its size limit.
  • Uploads land in the workspace you have open. If a project is open in the project switcher, they are added to that project too.

Steps

  1. Go to Asset Library in the sidebar.

  2. Select Upload at the top of the page and choose one or more files on your computer. The upload panel in the corner shows each file while it is on its way.

  3. Wait for the panel to say the files are uploaded. Each file appears in the library, ready to open, edit or bring into a session.

Other ways to add files

Drag and drop

Drag files from your desktop or file browser onto the Asset Library. To put a file straight onto a session's board, drop it on the board: it uploads to your library and is placed where you dropped it.

Paste

Copy an image (from a browser, Photoshop or a screenshot tool) and press ⌘V (Ctrl+V on Windows) on the Asset Library, or select Paste at the top of the page.

From a URL

Select the arrow beside Upload and choose Upload from URL to bring in a file that is already online.

While you work in a session

Select Add asset on the board's toolbar. The picker that opens lists your library and has Upload, Paste and Import from URL along its bottom edge, so you can add a new file and place it on the board in one go. The same picker opens wherever a tool asks for an image, such as a reference slot.

Record audio or video

Select Record audio or Record video at the top of the Asset Library to record with your microphone or camera. The recording is uploaded like any other file.

Result

Each uploaded file is in the Asset Library, named as it was on your computer, and in the open project if there is one.

Production tips

  • Upload in batches. Select or drop many files at once; the upload panel tracks them together and lets you retry any that fail without starting again.
  • Upload into the right project. Open the project first, then upload, so the files are filed with the work they belong to. See Organize work into projects.
  • Label as you go. Select the files you uploaded and add a label, so they are easy to filter for later. See Label your assets and filter by label.
  • Keep layered and source files intact. Upload PSDs with their layers, and meshes and Spine exports in the formats the file types page lists, so Layer can show and edit them as they are rather than as a flattened copy.
  • Bring folders in from Google Drive. If your references live in Drive, connect it instead of downloading and re-uploading. See Import files from Google Drive.

If something goes wrong

  • "That file isn't a supported type." Layer does not accept that format. Convert it to one listed on Supported file types (for example, export a HEIC photo as JPEG or PNG) and upload it again.
  • The upload panel says an upload failed. Select Retry on that file. If it keeps failing, check the file's size against its limit and your connection, then try again.
  • Paste does nothing. Only images can be pasted, and your browser may ask for permission to read the clipboard the first time; allow it. If it still does nothing, save the image and upload the file instead.
  • The file is not in the library. Check the project switcher at the top of the sidebar: with a project open, the library shows only that project's files. Select All projects to see the whole workspace.

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