Wayne, Thanks for starting this thread, and for the comments by others. I'm trying to learn about layers and this thread helps. I sometimes scan/import some b&w pen drawings into Xara where I colour them. Using layers for different segments of the drawing - leaves, trunk/limbs, grass, etc., I use the freehand tool, trace over sections of my original and add the colours and transparencies I want. Seems to be working well.
Neil