This is the Layers tab. Here, you can see the list of layers that make up the image you are working on.

The central part shows a scrollable list of layers; you can click a layer in the list to select it, or right-click it to bring up its layer properties window. Layer properties are discussed in detail in the Introduction to Layers section. You can perform operations such as rearranging layers (which one is on top of which, also called z-order), hiding layers, locking them (a locked layer cannot be moved), etc. It also supports drag-and-drop editing for rearranging layers.

The layer menu can also be brought up by right-clicking the actual layer with the hand tool within the main window.

The top of the panel has controls for changing some layer properties for the currently selected layer. The three buttons are for show/hide, locked and alpha protected. The slider controls layer transparency. The flat button at the far right shows and changes the selected layer’s Blend-mode.

You can quickly hide and show layers by click the eye symbols on the far right of the Layers list.

The bottom part has additional buttons for layer operations such as adding a new layer, deleting the selected layer, setting the z-order and displaying layer properties.

This is the Layer Properties window. It is displayed when you click the properties button on the Layers window and allows you to modify layer properties on the fly. See Introduction to Layers for more information.

When a layer has non-image data attached to it (known collectively as metadata or layer attachments), the layer will be shown with a paper-clip. Hovering the mouse pointer over the paper-clip will show the details of the metadata, including the four-letter codes used for identifying different kind of metadata (e.g. TEXT, PATH, etc.). There’s a button with a paper-click symbol at the bottom; click that to manage attachments.