How to use the 3D layer stack

Getting into the stack and back out again

Press 3 while a mind map is open and the flat map becomes the stack, with a rail down the side holding the layers, the camera, the actions and the build tools. Press 2 and you drop back into the flat editor, scoped to the layer the selected card belongs to. Esc closes the stack when you want to leave it entirely.

The stack reads the same document as the flat view, so nothing is duplicated and nothing is converted. Add a node in 2D and it appears in the stack; rename one in the stack and the flat view shows the new label. What changes between the two views is the camera, not the data.

The first time you open the stack, the browser fetches the 3D code, which takes a moment on a slow connection. After that it is cached and the stack opens straight away, even with no network. The 3D mind map guide covers what the depth axis means, and the shortcut sheet lists the keys that work in the scene.

• 3 opens the stack and 2 returns to the flat view
• Esc closes the 3D view completely
• Both views read the same nodes, links and layer assignments
• The first open downloads the 3D code, later opens use the cache

Note: If WebGL is unavailable the stack refuses to open, a message explains why, and the app stays in the flat editor with the map intact.

Moving the camera with the four presets

The Camera section of the rail holds four buttons: Stack, Front, Side and Free. Stack looks down at the pile of planes from a slight angle, Front looks straight at the first plane, Side turns the stack edge-on, and Free loosens the camera so you can orbit. Each preset also limits how far you can tilt.

Reach for Side whenever the question is about the distance between layers, because it is the only preset that shows the planes in profile. Reach for Front when you want to read one plane as an ordinary flat map. Stack is the general-purpose view for a first look, and Free is where you go when none of the fixed angles answer the question.

You can drag the scene to orbit and scroll to move closer, whichever preset is active. The Fit button puts the camera back to the stack preset, which is the quickest way to recover when a large map has sent you out of orientation.

• Stack, Front, Side and Free are the four presets
• Side is the view for judging separation between layers
• Front is the view for reading one plane
• Fit resets the camera to the stack preset

Using the explode slider to pull layers apart

The Explode layers slider runs from 0 to 2 and moves the planes along the depth axis. At 0 the stack is compressed into a single slab, at 1 the layers sit at their normal spacing, and at 2 the gaps are wide. The change happens as you move, so you can sweep the slider while you talk.

Explode is a reviewing control. Squeeze the planes together and watch which links disappear into the mess, then pull them apart and see which relationships survive. A tube crossing a wide gap is a relationship that jumps between layers, and that is usually the thing worth discussing.

Do not treat the exploded picture as documentation on its own, because the distance on screen is a device of the view rather than a measurement of anything real. Pair it with trace mode, which is about the connections themselves, and the data and product layers guide shows the pattern in a real example.

• The slider runs from 0 to 2
• 0 compresses the stack, 1 is normal spacing, 2 opens the gaps
• It updates as you move, so you can sweep it while you talk
• A tube crossing a wide gap jumps between layers

Tracing a link across two layers

Select a node and press T, or use the Trace button in the Actions section of the rail. Trace mode dims everything except the neighborhood around the selected node and keeps the links in that neighborhood lit, so the connections that cross between layers are the only bright things left on screen.

Tracing a node is the quickest audit of a layered map. Follow each node that owns cross-layer links, check that the node it reaches really sits on the plane you intended, and look for a link that skips a layer entirely, which usually means a node is missing from the middle plane.

Trace mode follows two hops from the selected node, so a chain of connections can stay visible. If a connection matters but sits further away, select a node in the middle of the chain and trace from there. The cross links guide covers how the links themselves are created.

• Select a card, then press T or press Trace
• Everything outside the neighborhood is dimmed
• The links inside the neighborhood stay lit
• A link that skips a plane usually means a missing node

Note: Trace mode works from a selected node. With nothing selected it has no neighborhood to show, so pick the card you want to follow before you press T.

Diving into a card to edit it in 2D

The Build section of the rail holds Child, Rename, Delete and Read. Read is the dive action: it flies the camera into the selected card so the label fills the screen and you can read it properly. It changes nothing about the map, it only moves the camera.

Editing in the stack is possible too. Tab adds a child to the selected card, F2 or Enter renames it in place, and Delete removes it. Cards can be dragged around their own plane, and the layout recomputes when you drop one, so a small tidy-up is easy to do without leaving the scene.

For real text work, double-click a card instead. That opens the layer it belongs to in the flat editor, where typing is quick and the keyboard behaves the way it does in the rest of the app. Layers are built in the flat view first, and the stack is where you check the result.

• Read dives the camera into the selected card
• Tab adds a child, F2 or Enter renames, Delete removes
• Double-clicking a card opens that layer in the flat editor
• Cards can be dragged within their own plane

Exporting the 3D view as a PNG

The PNG button in the Actions section captures the frame you are looking at, camera position and explode value included, and downloads it as canvasola-3d-layer-stack.png. It is the only export that shows every layer at once, because the flat exports capture one layer at a time.

Before you export, set the camera deliberately. Use the preset that answers the question you are asking, set the explode value so the planes are separated but not stretched, and leave trace mode off unless the picture is specifically about one neighborhood. A careless camera gives a picture that is hard to read later.

If the picture is going into a document rather than a chat, remember what the export does not include: it is an image of the 3D view, so the text on the cards is pixels rather than letters, and nothing in the file can be edited afterwards.

• PNG captures the frame exactly as you see it
• The file downloads as canvasola-3d-layer-stack.png
• It is the only export that shows all the layers together
• Set the camera and the explode value before you press it

Note: The 3D view exports as a picture only. For a vector version of a map, use the SVG export of the flat view, which captures the layer you are looking at rather than the whole stack.

The keyboard shortcuts that matter in 3D

Three keys carry most of the work. 3 opens the stack and 2 takes you back to the flat view, T turns trace mode on and off, and G shows or hides the faint reference grid on each plane, which is the thing that gives the depth something to sit against.

Inside the scene, Tab adds a child to the selected card, F2 or Enter renames it, and Delete removes it. Those are the same keys the flat mind map uses, so muscle memory carries straight over, and Esc closes the stack.

The complete list sits in the keyboard cheat sheet inside the app, and the camera presets, the trace mode and the dive action are all worth learning before you start moving things around in the scene.

• 3 and 2 switch between the stack and the flat view
• T toggles trace mode
• G toggles the reference grids on the planes
• Tab, F2, Enter and Delete edit the selected card

A checklist you can reuse

• The camera preset matches the question you are asking
• The explode value was set deliberately before any export
• Trace mode was used on every node that owns cross-layer links
• The PNG shows every layer at once, which the flat exports cannot do
• The 3D code was loaded once on a connection so the stack opens offline
• You know that pressing 2 leaves the stack and keeps the layer structure

Common mistakes to avoid

• Exporting whatever the camera happened to show. The PNG captures the current frame, so a stray orbit can produce a picture nobody can read. Choose a preset, set the explode value, and export again if the angle is wrong.
• Tracing with nothing selected. Trace mode builds a neighborhood around the selected card, so with nothing selected there is nothing to show. Select the card you want to follow first, then press T.
• Using the stack as a writing surface. Typing and restructuring are faster in the flat editor. Write in 2D, and treat the stack as the place where you check and present the structure.
• Forgetting that the grid makes depth readable. Without the faint grid on each plane, a stack of cards looks like cards floating in a void. Toggle G on before you judge a view or show it to someone.
• Promising the stack on a machine without WebGL. The view needs hardware-accelerated WebGL and will not open without it. Test the device in advance, or export a PNG on a machine that can render the scene.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get back to the flat mind map from the 3D stack?

Press 2. That leaves the stack and reopens the flat editor scoped to the layer the selected card belongs to. Press 2 again from that scoped view and the stack comes back, while Esc closes the 3D view completely without changing which layer you were working on.

What does trace mode actually show?

It dims the whole scene except the neighborhood around the selected node, two hops out, and keeps the links in that neighborhood lit. The result is a picture of the connections that cross between layers around one point, which is exactly the thing a flat view cannot show you.

Can the 3D view be exported as a vector file?

Not as a vector. The stack exports as PNG and captures the frame as it appears on screen, with the camera position and the explode value baked in. For vector output, use the SVG export of the flat map, which captures the layer you are looking at, and remember that the 3D view has no separate vector format.

Does the explode slider change the map?

No. It only changes how far apart the planes are drawn, and the layer assignments and links in your map are untouched by it. The control is a lens on the structure rather than an edit to it, so you can sweep it freely without any risk to the content.

This guide is part of the 3d layer stack collection. For the wider product tour, read the complete Canvasola guide, and keep the keyboard shortcut cheat sheet open while you work.