flat → layers

Unflatten a flat image into editable layers

Flattening merged everything into one grid of pixels — no layers, no editable text, no way to move a single element. You cannot un-flatten by changing the file type; the structure is gone. What you can do is rebuild it: AI reads the picture, separates it into layers, fills the background behind each lifted piece, and hands you a real layered PSD.

Unflatten an image

What flattening actually destroyed

When a design is exported to JPG or PNG, every layer collapses into a single raster. The subject, the background, each object, and every line of text become the same undifferentiated pixels. That is why renaming the file to .psd changes nothing — a converter just wraps the flat pixels in a Photoshop container as one locked background layer. Flattening is lossy in a way format conversion cannot reverse.

Reconstruction, not conversion

Instead of converting the file, we re-read the image. AI segments it into its real parts and, because lifting an object leaves a hole, inpaints the background behind each one so every layer is complete and independently movable. The result is a genuine multi-layer PSD with named layers and groups. Honest scope: this rebuilds sensible, editable layers from the visible image — it cannot resurrect the exact layers the original designer had, because those were destroyed at flatten time.

The text comes back editable

Text in a flat image is just colored pixels. We detect it, read it, and write it back as a real Photoshop type layer you can re-type, translate or restyle — verified to round-trip as live editable text, not a rasterized picture of the words. Stylized logos are flagged rather than faked.

Frequently asked

Can you recover my original layers exactly?

No, and no honest tool can — flattening permanently discards them. You get a freshly reconstructed, cleanly-named layered PSD built from the visible image, which is usually what people needed.

Does JPG compression get fixed too?

No. Compression artifacts live in the pixels and cannot be undone; we rebuild the layer structure, not the lost data.

What formats can I unflatten?

Any flat raster — JPG, PNG, WebP. The free in-browser tools do the selection and export without uploading your image.

Keep reading

JPG to editable PSD with layers Why most "image to PSD" converters are fake

Turn a screenshot into an editable, layered PSD PNG to PSD with real layers, not a renamed file Extract every object from a photo onto its own layer They're right that a converter can't do this. We don't convert — we rebuild.The text got flattened into the image. Get it back as editable type.Canva won't export a layered PSD. Rebuild one from your image.Material separation for Live2D, with AI doing the boring half Your product photos, as layered files you own Split a background into parallax planes for your 2D game How PSD layer writing actually works Remove the object, fill the background, and keep the object Canva can't make layers from an image. Here's the workaround.Get image layers into PowerPoint: the clean way Make a depth-effect wallpaper from your own image Separate the subject from the background, and keep both Pull the text out of an image — as text you can actually edit Most "image to PSD" converters are fake. Here is the 30-second test.Color separation for screen printing, without the $500 software Turn a flat image into a PSD with real layers Split any image into separate, editable layers Split an image into layers — by object, or by color An AI layer separator that hands you a real file Turn any image into a layered .ora for GIMP and Krita One photo in. The layered file you actually need, out.