Separate a flat image into editable layers

Image layer separator, splitter, and “split image into layers”

People search this job under several names: image layer separator, AI image layer splitter, image decomposer, split image into layers, and unflatten an image. They are the same request. You have a finished picture and you want the pieces back as layers, not another generation of the whole frame.

Image Layered is that separator. It does not trace vectors and it does not rebuild a design file with live fonts. It returns raster layers with transparency, stacked where they were in the original. That is enough to move a product, hide a headline, or hand the stack to Photoshop, Photopea, Affinity, GIMP, or the browser editor.

What the split actually returns

Each detected piece is a transparent PNG kept at its original coordinates. The background is its own plate, with the covered area filled so the scene is not a hole when you hide the subject. Names are a guide, not a contract: a busy poster can merge a small logo into the headline layer, and a soft shadow can stay on the object.

Compare the stack to the source before you export. If a strand of hair or a price digit is missing, it is usually on the neighboring layer rather than deleted. There is no manual brush in this app, so a fused edge stays fused unless you replace that whole layer.

Edit text, remove text, recolor, and replace after the split

Splitting is the start. Edit text in an image types new words into the text layer’s box in a font, size, and color you choose. It rasterizes those words. It does not recover the original font file, and it does not translate for you. Remove text from an image hides that layer so the rebuilt background shows through.

Recolor costs 3 credits and keeps the shape while changing color or material. Replace costs 4 credits and asks the model to redraw the selected layer. The other layers stay put. Open the result in PhotoCraft when you want blend modes, masks, and a text tool in the browser, and save the project so the stack is still there later.

Flat per-split pricing, not per layer

A full-resolution 2K split costs 5 credits and includes the PSD and the PNG ZIP. The price does not grow with the number of layers. Arranging a project and downloading a finished export do not add another charge. A failed or timed-out split is refunded. Guests can run one 1K preview a day and cannot export that preview.

That flat charge is the practical difference from tools that bill every returned layer, including the background. You know the cost before the split finishes. A poster with a dozen pieces and a simple product shot cost the same 5 credits at 2K.

Logos, characters, and motion files

A flat logo can be separated into symbol, wordmark, and background when those shapes are distinct. The result is still pixels, not a vector master. A character illustration can come apart into hair, face, clothing, and scene, which is useful prep, not a rig. The dedicated notes for that workflow are on separate a character into layers.

Motion work happens in your own app. Export the PNG ZIP or PSD and build parallax in After Effects or a similar tool. Image Layered does not animate, and it does not create Live2D meshes, deformers, or parameters.

A worked pass on a flat social graphic

Start with the export, not a description of the export. Drop the PNG on the canvas and run one split. On a typical sale graphic you should see a background plate, a product or person, and at least one text layer. Solo the background. If the area behind the product is filled with a plausible continuation of the color or photo, the plate is usable. If it invented a second product, hide that result and do not deliver it.

Next, solo the text. If the discount and the date are separate, you can edit the poster text on one of them and leave the other. If they are one layer, decide whether to retype both or to hide the whole block with remove text and place a cleaner line. Recolor is the wrong tool for a wording change. It keeps the letter shapes and only shifts color, which is what you want for a brand-color tweak and not for a new offer.

When the stack is honest, save the project before you download. Saving is the difference between a file you can reopen and a ZIP you have to split again. Then export the PSD and, if the next person does not have Photoshop, send them to PhotoCraft or include the PNG ZIP. The 5-credit charge already happened at the split. Opening PhotoCraft and arranging layers does not add a second split fee.

Use the same pass on a logo only when the symbol and the wordmark do not touch. If they intersect, you will get one raster, and that is still useful as a transparent PNG. It is not a vector redraw, and it is not a reason to promise a client their original master file back. For a character sheet, follow character into layers and do not describe the output as rig parts. A sourced look at other separators is best AI image layer splitters (2026). The pen-tool version is how to separate an image into layers in Photoshop.

When not to use it

• Do not use it when you need live text, vectors, or the original font file. Edit text draws new words; it does not reopen a text box from the source file.
• Do not use it for a one-click Live2D or Spine rig. You get raster layers. Binding, meshes, and physics stay in the animation app.
• Skip it for a scan of a messy photo where every object overlaps. Small parts often share a layer, and there is no brush to cut them apart.
• Skip it if you only need a single cut-out and you do not care about the background plate. A background remover is the smaller tool for that one job.
• Do not expect two runs of the same file to match pixel for pixel. The split is a reconstruction, so check edges before you deliver.