Locking layers in Descript

You can lock layers to protect it from accidental changes to its position and scale, and to prevent the layer from getting in the way while selecting other layers in the Canvas. This is particularly helpful if you are working with Green Screen or Chroma Keyed layers and need to interact with other layers in your scene. 

How to lock a layer

  1. Right-click on the layer in the Canvas.
  2. Select Lock layer. You will no longer be able to select, move, or scale this layer in the Canvas.

When you now view the Layer panel, your locked layer with have the lock icon next to its name in the Layer section.

 

Interacting with a locked layer 

Please note that a locked layer can still be selected and altered from the Layer panel.

Locking extended layers

Layer locking occurs on a per-scene basis. If you have a layer extending across multiple scenes, you'll need to select the entire layer from your Timeline:

  1. Select your entire extended layer by double-clicking it in the Timeline. You may need to enable show all layers first.
  2. Lock the layer — you can use Option + L (Mac) or Alt + L (Windows).

Unlocking layers

You won't be able to select a locked layer from the Canvas, so you'll need to unlock it from the Properties panel.

  1. Select the scene of your locked layer — click anywhere outside your scene in the Canvas, or select the scene thumbnail from the scene rail.
  2. Click the lock icon to unlock your layer.