This is so annoying. It is so hard to move layers from Artboard to Artboard, with just only having an ability to move them manually by the canvas.

We don't need this contrarian design decision, just to be different than any other design tool out there.
Even Illustrator or Photoshop isn't like this. Aren't you paying attention??

Ebenen/Layer im Designer

Was ich in XD vermisse sind Ebenen, wie es sie in Illustrator gibt. So könnten Hintergrundelemente und Content von einander getrennt werden.

Layers / layers in the designer
What I miss in XD are layers like the ones in Illustrator. In this way, background elements and content could be separated.

Please keep the layers persistent and viewable across all artboards, with the ability to Select All layers when focused on one artboard, or Select All layers when no artboard is focused.

Could be really nice to lock or hide multiple elements together, on all artborads.

Distributing design element across multiple artboards should be handled through components and nested components.

Illustrator's layer panel and global layering system is an ancient relic for organising elements on a single artboard, dating back to before CS4 when Illustrator introduced multiple artboards.

The way XD displays only the elements on the artboard in its layer panel, took me some time to get used to, but now when I return to illustrator if find XDs system far superior. In my opinion it would even benefit Illustrator to approach XD system AND it's take on components. (Illustrators symbol-manager is perhaps even more stale than its layer system and too tied to Flash in its functionality. But that is fora nother discussion.)

any advancement in this panel of XD layers will be welcome

I agree with having both layers within the art board and across all art boards. Not having them connected really throws a wrench in my workflow.

For me I work with about 4 layers with 30+ art-boards creating interactive prototype workflows. Nothing drives me crazier than needing to change one element (such as the alignment of a element) and instead of being able to quickly select all of those elements since they are on the same layer in all my art boards (as I would in illustrator), needing to go into individual art-boards, unlocking that layer and moving it 2px over. It's such a waste of time.

I really disagree with that one. I find Illustrator way harder to manage with multiple artboards and because of the nature of XD you are bound to have a lot of artboards. Having only the layers of that are on the artboard makes things way more clear in my opinion.

+1 for layers as in Illustrator.

But since there are designers who like it the way it is currently. Why not have it both ways as suggested?
- Tab "Layers" would work as layers in Illustrator
- Tab "Elements" would work as current layers in XD

Can't disagree more about making it just like illustrator . I love Illustrator, but having the layers across all artboards makes them useless for me. After moving from Illustrator to Sketch, XD was great because it offered "some" of the same functionality. Making it just like Illustrator would kill it for me, If I want Illustrator I will just open Illustrator. Please don't change the layer functionality, but please fix the recent crashing problems you are having. :)

I really just want a way to group layers, and for those groups to apply across all artboards. I hardly use layers in Illustrator or InDesign, and never mess with the sub-layers. But I have a few use cases where the high level layer groups are vital-- like when I have a notes layer that I want to turn off globally. Tell me how to do that in XD and I'll rescind my request, but I haven't figured out a one-click way to turn off a whole set of content across the entire project.

Why do we have a back arrow to view layers within an artboard? Please use the standard chevron. We don't need the back and forth steps here. What a pain!

Dramatic consequences:
1. Can't move a layer from artboard A to artboard B. Why?
2. Can't select multi-select layers from different artboards.
3. Can't multi-select layers from viewport that belong to different artboards.

This single detail is so bad, it runs the entire experience. Remove the back arrow! We use chevrons in the industry.

100% disagree. Please, Adobe. Don't ruin this program with the Illustrator layer system.

I'd sum up my critique of XD's Layer panel as having none of the necessity of Photoshop (because XD's direct selection on the canvas works so well) and none of the utility of Illustrator (arbitrary 'layers' used for grouping/locking/hiding things hierarchically like background, vs content, vs huds/floating elements, vs a layer for notation). As it is, I've found the layer panel in XD not at all even remotely useful.

I definitely disagree with this feedback.

Actually like this as it is more like Sketch - everything is a layer. It needs careful management but prefer it to Illustrator, by far.

Am a real fan of the way going to an artboard shows the specific layers. Hopefully it scales OK.

Ron,

Please drop me an email at joshuapi@adobe.com so that I can set up the meeting.

Thank you
Jonathan

Hi Ron,

I appreciate the honest feedback. Our goal from the very start has been to help streamline workflows in XD, with respect to screen design. As we developed Layers in XD, we worked closely with the community which consists of several other passionate and enthusiastic designers like you and your team.

From your list above, I see you work with Illustrator and have suggestions on how XD could mimic or borrow the same experience. Every app including Illustrator and Photoshop have different goals and problems they are trying to solve and very often approach the same challenge very differently to suit the needs of their respective users. At XD we tried to build the best experience based on the feedback from our community.

We absolutely value feedback and always look for opportunities to improve. Hence I would like to extend an invitation to you and your team to jump onto a quick call with me. Let's discuss what challenges and suggestions you have. A quick 30 min call will go a long way in helping us build the right experience for the design community.

Thank you
Jonathan Pimento
Product Manager XD

I don't really understand how this is a layers panel (and my colleagues too are flummoxed). To us it appears as simply a list of the elements on one artboard. Can someone PLEASE help us understand how this panel is useful?

Requests:
1) Make it so one put elements from different artboards on the same layer.
2) Basically, just make it like Illustrator. Period! Let us drag elements from one layer to another.
3) Let us hide the entire list of elements in a layer (like illustrator).
4) I don't actually know where to end. Just make it like Illustrator in every way.
5) Provide a video demo of how this panel gets used in an actual project. What problem is it solving in its current state? How is this a Layers panel?
6) Rename the panel: "Elements" or "Objects"

the ability to create folders in order to group elements together without using the group method which makes selecting elements and aligning them very hard.
maybe the same way adobe AI handle layers please.