tara_patel•1mo agoProlific Poster

Shoutout to the artist who posted that huge 10k layer piece from Seoul last week

Last month at the PixelCon event in Austin, I saw a panel where pros argued that massive layer counts show real skill, while others said it's just bloat. Three years ago, my own work in Illustrator rarely went over 200 layers, but now I'm rethinking my whole workflow. Do you think a high layer count actually makes a piece more impressive, or is it just extra steps?

3 comments

3 Comments

alex_wilson791mo ago

That Seoul piece was cool, but honestly who's counting? I've seen amazing work done on like 50 layers and messy stuff with thousands. It's just a number in a panel.

reesel501mo ago

Focus on what the layer does, not the number. I once spent a week merging down a 5000-layer file and the final piece was worse for it. A high count can mean you're being precise, but it can also mean you're afraid to commit to a decision. The real skill is knowing which layers to keep separate for editing and which to flatten to keep things clean.

hannahsingh1mo ago

Wow, this is actually a huge relief to read. I used to get so stressed about my layer count and tried to keep it super low, like it was a badge of honor. @reesel50 you're totally right that it's about what the layer DOES. I was merging stuff too early just to hit a number and then couldn't fix things later. Now I see keeping some parts separate is just smart editing, not being scared. It's about clean workflow, not a low score.