it does have layers. and it only has a couple filters, it's not like photoshop in that regard. it comes with a set of brushes, there's pencil, pen, airbrush, watercolor, blur, and symmetry and then there's some you can download. you can also create your own brushes and adjust the settings on the existing brushes. for instance, you can choose how easily the watercolor brush blends. there aren't nearly as many downloadable brushes out there for FireAlpaca as for photoshop, but i found a couple good ones.