You can perform many tasks—such as drawing masks—in either the Composition panel or the Layer panel. However, other tasks—such as tracking motion and using the paint tools—must be performed in the Layer panel.

The Layer panel shows you a layer before any transforms are applied to the layer. For example, the Layer panel does not show the result of modifying a layer’s Rotation properties. To see a layer in context with other layers and with the results of transforms, use the Composition panel.

Layers that are not based on a source footage item are synthetic layers. Synthetic layers include text layers and shape layers. You cannot open a synthetic layer in the Layer panel. You can, however, precompose a synthetic layer and open the precomposition in the Layer panel.