Changes

'''Layers''' are ConTeXt's mechanism for absolute positioning of elements and other advanced techniques like switching elements on and off. There’s still '''no manual about them'''.

There's still no manual about them. ==My first Layer==

This command makes the contents of the layer appear only once after the background is activated. If you want to repeat the contents of the layer on each page, use the option <code>repeat=yes</code> in the {{cmd|definelayer}} command. Then the contents of the layer will be shown on every page. You can add to these contents by a new {{cmd|setlayer}}[mybg] command. To clear the accumulated contents use {{cmd|resetlayer}}>[mybg]. To make the layer appear on each page, so that it can be populated with different content, set the option <code>state=repeat</code> in {{cmd|setupbackgrounds}}.

==Placement==

==Understanding "location" and "corner"== The layer is divided into a 2x2 matrix of squares, where 'x' is the center. This gets you a total of 3x3=9 different corners. o---o---o | | | o---x---o | | | o---o---o Now you choose one 'corner' (the reference point) for the placement of the content. The content is placed in relation to this point. The chosen 'corner' c is our new 'center point' (only for placement) now. With 'location' you define where (in relation to 'corner') the content is placed. Again you have nine different corners to choose from. == An example to make this clear == Specifications <code>corner={top,right},location={bottom,right}</code> will place content in the area L (outside the original layer). Think about the 'corner' c as a magnetic grid point, where the content snaps to. The 'location' defines, from which direction we approach the point c. * x = layer center point* c = corner 'top,right'* d = location 'bottom right'* L = location (area) o---o---o | | | ----o---c---o | | | L | ----x---o---d | | | --------- == An example: placing a logo to the top right corner of the page == <context source=yes text="gives:">\definelayer [Logo] [location={left,bottom}, x=\paperwidth,y=0mm, hoffset=-5mm,voffset=5mm, ] \setlayer[Logo] {\framed[width=3cm,height=1cm,background=color,backgroundcolor=lightgray]{Logo...}} \setupbackgrounds[page][background=Logo] \starttext %\showframe  Some text...\stoptext</context> Often it makes sense to use a preset (e.g. "lefttop") and move the contents with "hoffset" and "voffset" (positive values move into the page, negative values move into the outer borders). =State==

=Layers on top= Usually, layers are in the background of your page (or text area). But sometimes you need your layer content on top of the regular content. Then you must set the foreground as one of the backgrounds like this: <texcode>\setupbackgrounds[page][background={mybacklayer,foreground,myfrontlayer}]</texcode> The order of backgrounds from left to right is from bottom to top. =Line breaking and fixed size==

This is due to <{{cmd>|setlayer</cmd> }} using <{{cmd>|hbox</cmd> }} internally. You can work around the problem using <{{cmd>|setlayerframed</cmd>}}:

align=right] %You must set align to get multiple lines!

==Place labels on pictures==

==Use dynamic content==

To recalculate the content on each new page you have to enclose the <{{cmd>|setlayer</cmd> }} settings within <{{cmd>|startsetups</cmd> }} ... <{{cmd>|stopsetups</cmd> }} and

\setupbackgrounds[page][setups=layer,background=pagenumber] \starttext\dorecurse{4}{\page[empty]} % You get "Page 1, Page 2" etc.\stoptext</texcode> Another solution for dynamic content was given by Wolfgang on the mailing list on February 21, 2012. He writes: ''Here is a slightly different version which is better when you need more dynamic layers.''

=Layers and the delayed font mechanism = '''TL;DR: Setup your fonts before your layers.''' Until some years ago the Latin Modern font was always automaticallyloaded, regardless of the users choice of font. Font loading takes aconsiderable amount of time (check the stats at the end of a contextrun to get an idea). This led to the question: “Why start loading a big, complex font like Latin Modern before weknow which font the user actually wants to use and waste severalseconds on it, just to start loading the users choice afterwards?” The answer was: ”We delay loading the font until we know which font the user wantsto use. If the user doesn't tell us, then we fall back to LatinModern.” The body font is set up in the setup area (the part above<code>\starttext</code>). That, in turn, means that when having reached<code>\starttext</code>, the users choice of font is known and can be loaded. Itis more efficient if a font other then Latin Modern is used. One drawback is that typeset text in the setup area has no fontsetup and will fall back to Latin Modern Mono. Usually no text istypeset in the setup area. However, layers are an exception anda font needs to be set up beforehand. = See Also ==

[[Category:Graphics]] [[Category:Layers]] [[Category:Layout]] [[Category:Basics]]