How to Replace a Layer in an SVGA File

A step-by-step guide to opening an SVGA file in SVGA DIY, importing a material, and replacing a layer with it — all in the browser, no account required.

Replacing a layer is one of the most common edits in SVGA DIY: you keep an existing SVGA file's structure and timing, but swap in different artwork for one sprite. This walkthrough uses angel.svga as both the file being edited and the source of the replacement material — you can pull a replacement sprite from any SVGA file, including the one you already have open.

Step 1: Open the SVGA file

Open the editor and use the Open SVGA button in the topbar to load angel.svga. The Layers panel fills in with every sprite the file contains. Scrub the preview slider to a frame where the artwork is fully visible — the very first frame of this file happens to be almost transparent.

The SVGA DIY editor with angel.svga open, showing its layers — angel.svga open in the editor, with its layers listed on the right

Step 2: Select the layer you want to replace

Click a layer in the Layers panel to select it as the replacement target — here, one of the sprites that makes up the character's right wing (named yu10 in this file). The Layers panel can list several sprites with the same name, so watch where the click actually lands: selecting a layer only highlights it, it does not open any edit screen yet.

Clicking the target yu10 row, selected and highlighted

Step 3: Import a replacement material

Open Import Materials and import angel.svga again — this time as a material source. The editor extracts every sprite from the file into the Materials panel as individually reusable thumbnails, including sprites that aren't part of the current layer stack.

angel.svga imported as a material, showing its sprites as thumbnails — angel.svga re-imported as a material; its sprites now appear as thumbnails

Step 4: Select the replacement material

Pick a material thumbnail to use as the replacement — here, the sprite named Xin (the character's heart icon).

A replacement material selected in the Materials panel — The replacement material, selected

Step 5: Replace the layer

With the target layer selected and the replacement material selected, click the small Replace selected layer icon on the material row. SVGA DIY fits the new artwork to the target layer's existing size and position automatically — this step is asynchronous, so the preview updates a moment after the click, not instantly.

Clicking Replace selected layer; the preview updates with the new material in place of the old layer

Step 6: Export the file

Once you're happy with the result, export the file from the topbar. SVGA DIY re-encodes the whole document, so the exported file plays back exactly like the preview.

Exporting the modified SVGA file from the editor topbar — Exporting the modified SVGA file

That's the whole workflow — no account, no upload, and the original file never leaves your browser tab.