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<sect2 id="using">
<title>Using</title> 
<para> However, there is still a problem: The gradient still covers the whole 
canvas although we wanted it to be restricted on the rectangle. To do so, 
activate the gradient layer in the Layer tab. Now go to the Params Dialog (by 
default a tab in the Params-Children-Keyframes window), and search the attribute
called 'Blend Method'. Double-click the entry and select 'Onto' from the
appearing drop-down menu.</para>

<para>The gradient should now be restricted to the rectangle. Congratulations!
You just made your first interacting layers with Synfig.</para>

<para>If only for the additional organization, encapsulating layers into inline
canvases dramatically improves the ease of use of Synfig Studio. But
lots of programs can do this. The concept of scope as just demonstrated
sets Synfig apart from other programs with layer hierarchies.</para>
<para>
<footnote><para>The following remarks seem to be outdated already! A blur 
defaults to 'Straight' here (using SVN 110). --Claus 06:45, 11 Jan 2006 (PST)
</para></footnote>

    <footnote><para>It defaulted to composite for me, as described (using 
    SVN 147) Matumio 07:56, 12 Mar 2006 (PST)</para></footnote>

    However, a layer can only modify the data that it gets from directly
    below it. In other words, if you were to throw a Blur Layer at
    the top of the objects inside the inline canvas we just created,
    it would just blur them -- anything under it would not be blurred!</para>

    <para>Lets try it. Add a few circles under the inline canvas we just
    created. Expand the inline canvas to show its contents, and select
    the top layer inside of it (should be the "Outline" layer). This
    is where we want to insert the blur. Right click on the selected
    layer and a popup menu will appear. The first item in that popup
    is "New Layer". Inside of the "New Layer" menu, you'll see several
    categories of layers you could create, but what we want is a blur,
    so goto the Blur category and select the "Blur" layer. (so that
    would be "New Layer->Blurs->Blur")</para>

    <para> Well, it blurred... but something is not quite right--the inside edge
    of the outline is now all soft, but it still kinda looks like there is
    a hard edge on the outside. It is doing this because the blend method
    of the blur defaulted to "Composite" (you can change the default
    blend method for new layers from the New Layer Defaults section of
    the Toolbox). What we want is a blend method of "Straight". Just
    select the blur layer, and change the Blend Method to "Straight"
    in the Params Dialog.</para>

    <para>(NOTE: I will probably change the way that default blend methods are
    handled in the future--as the way it is currently handled seems to
    only create hassles like this)</para>

    <para>Ok, now we have all of the contents of the inline canvas blurred,
    but everything under it is sharp!</para> 
</sect2>
