Layers: show, hide and reorder

Every measurement in a document is a layer, as in a drawing app. The layers are drawn in order, the front one on top, so a small plot can sit on top of the field around it. Each one can be hidden without being deleted.

On iPad, Mac and Apple Vision Pro

The panel lists the layers under Layers, front first: the top row is drawn on top of the others.

• Hide or show a layer with the eye at the start of its row. On the Mac, Measure › Hide Layer (⌃⌘H) hides the selected layer, and Show Layer brings it back.
• Reorder by dragging a row onto another: the layer takes that row’s place.
• Arrange from the row’s menu (right-click, or touch and hold on iPad): Bring to Front, Bring Forward, Send Backward and Send to Back. On the Mac they are also in Measure › Arrange: Bring to Front ⇧⌘], Bring Forward ⌘], Send Backward ⌘[ and Send to Back ⇧⌘[.
• Zoom to Layer: double-click the row, or choose Zoom to Layer from its menu (Measure › Zoom to Layer on the Mac). The map fits that layer.

The row’s menu also has Rename…, Color and Delete.

On iPhone

Tap the selected shape’s name on the card for the shapes menu. It lists the layers front first, with a crossed-out eye on the hidden ones; tap one to select it and fit the map to it. Below the list, Hide Layer (or Show Layer) and, with more than one shape, Arrange. With nothing selected, the card shows a chip for each layer, front first, the hidden ones dimmed.

What hiding does

• A hidden layer is not drawn on the map, and a tap on the map never selects it.
• The Totals leave it out, and say how many hidden layers they skipped.
• The PNG Image, Share and the print sheet and PDF report leave it out. To print a hidden layer on its own, select it and choose Selected Shape in the print sheet.
• The file keeps it, and so do the exports: GeoJSON marks it hidden, KML writes it with <visibility>0</visibility>, and GPX and CSV carry every shape. A hidden layer in a KML or GeoJSON file comes back hidden when it is imported.
• Hiding the selected layer lets go of it, so the next tap on the map starts a new shape. A hidden layer selected from the list says Hidden layer with a Show button in the panel, and takes no points until it is shown: “… is hidden. Show it to add points.”

Every hide, show and move is one step of Undo.

A file holds one measurement for free; more layers in the same file come with Geo Measure Pro. A file that already holds several opens with all of them, and they can be hidden and reordered without Pro.