C Specification

The set of image layouts consists of:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
typedef enum VkImageLayout {
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_UNDEFINED = 0,
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_GENERAL = 1,
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL = 2,
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL = 3,
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_STENCIL_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL = 4,
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_SHADER_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL = 5,
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_TRANSFER_SRC_OPTIMAL = 6,
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_TRANSFER_DST_OPTIMAL = 7,
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_PREINITIALIZED = 8,
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_READ_ONLY_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL = 1000117000,
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_ATTACHMENT_STENCIL_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL = 1000117001,
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_2
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL = 1000241000,
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_2
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL = 1000241001,
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_2
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL = 1000241002,
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_2
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_STENCIL_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL = 1000241003,
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL = 1000314000,
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL = 1000314001,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_swapchain
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_PRESENT_SRC_KHR = 1000001002,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_shared_presentable_image
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_SHARED_PRESENT_KHR = 1000111000,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_fragment_shading_rate
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_FRAGMENT_SHADING_RATE_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL_KHR = 1000164003,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_synchronization2
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL_KHR = VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_synchronization2
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL_KHR = VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL,
} VkImageLayout;

Description

The type(s) of device access supported by each layout are:

  • VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_UNDEFINED specifies that the layout is unknown. Image memory cannot be transitioned into this layout. This layout can be used as the initialLayout member of VkImageCreateInfo. This layout can be used in place of the current image layout in a layout transition, but doing so will cause the contents of the image’s memory to be undefined.

  • VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_PREINITIALIZED specifies that an image’s memory is in a defined layout and can be populated by data, but that it has not yet been initialized by the driver. Image memory cannot be transitioned into this layout. This layout can be used as the initialLayout member of VkImageCreateInfo. This layout is intended to be used as the initial layout for an image whose contents are written by the host, and hence the data can be written to memory immediately, without first executing a layout transition. Currently, VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_PREINITIALIZED is only useful with linear images because there is not a standard layout defined for VK_IMAGE_TILING_OPTIMAL images.

  • VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_GENERAL supports all types of device access, unless specified otherwise.

  • VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL specifies a layout that must only be used with attachment accesses in the graphics pipeline.

  • VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL specifies a layout allowing read only access as an attachment, or in shaders as a sampled image, combined image/sampler, or input attachment.

  • VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL must only be used as a color or resolve attachment in a VkFramebuffer. This layout is valid only for image subresources of images created with the VK_IMAGE_USAGE_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_BIT usage bit enabled.

  • VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL specifies a layout for both the depth and stencil aspects of a depth/stencil format image allowing read and write access as a depth/stencil attachment. It is equivalent to VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL and VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL.

  • VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_STENCIL_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL specifies a layout for both the depth and stencil aspects of a depth/stencil format image allowing read only access as a depth/stencil attachment or in shaders as a sampled image, combined image/sampler, or input attachment. It is equivalent to VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL and VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_STENCIL_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL.

  • VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_READ_ONLY_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL specifies a layout for depth/stencil format images allowing read and write access to the stencil aspect as a stencil attachment, and read only access to the depth aspect as a depth attachment or in shaders as a sampled image, combined image/sampler, or input attachment. It is equivalent to VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL and VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL.

  • VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_ATTACHMENT_STENCIL_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL specifies a layout for depth/stencil format images allowing read and write access to the depth aspect as a depth attachment, and read only access to the stencil aspect as a stencil attachment or in shaders as a sampled image, combined image/sampler, or input attachment. It is equivalent to VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL and VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_STENCIL_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL.

  • VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL specifies a layout for the depth aspect of a depth/stencil format image allowing read and write access as a depth attachment.

  • VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL specifies a layout for the depth aspect of a depth/stencil format image allowing read-only access as a depth attachment or in shaders as a sampled image, combined image/sampler, or input attachment.

  • VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL specifies a layout for the stencil aspect of a depth/stencil format image allowing read and write access as a stencil attachment.

  • VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_STENCIL_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL specifies a layout for the stencil aspect of a depth/stencil format image allowing read-only access as a stencil attachment or in shaders as a sampled image, combined image/sampler, or input attachment.

  • VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_SHADER_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL specifies a layout allowing read-only access in a shader as a sampled image, combined image/sampler, or input attachment. This layout is valid only for image subresources of images created with the VK_IMAGE_USAGE_SAMPLED_BIT or VK_IMAGE_USAGE_INPUT_ATTACHMENT_BIT usage bits enabled.

  • VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_TRANSFER_SRC_OPTIMAL must only be used as a source image of a transfer command (see the definition of VK_PIPELINE_STAGE_TRANSFER_BIT). This layout is valid only for image subresources of images created with the VK_IMAGE_USAGE_TRANSFER_SRC_BIT usage bit enabled.

  • VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_TRANSFER_DST_OPTIMAL must only be used as a destination image of a transfer command. This layout is valid only for image subresources of images created with the VK_IMAGE_USAGE_TRANSFER_DST_BIT usage bit enabled.

  • VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_PRESENT_SRC_KHR must only be used for presenting a presentable image for display.

  • VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_SHARED_PRESENT_KHR is valid only for shared presentable images, and must be used for any usage the image supports.

  • VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_FRAGMENT_SHADING_RATE_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL_KHR must only be used as a fragment shading rate attachment or This layout is valid only for image subresources of images created with the VK_IMAGE_USAGE_FRAGMENT_SHADING_RATE_ATTACHMENT_BIT_KHR usage bit enabled.

The layout of each image subresource is not a state of the image subresource itself, but is rather a property of how the data in memory is organized, and thus for each mechanism of accessing an image in the API the application must specify a parameter or structure member that indicates which image layout the image subresource(s) are considered to be in when the image will be accessed. For transfer commands, this is a parameter to the command (see https://registry.khronos.org/vulkansc/specs/1.0-extensions/html/vkspec.html#clears and https://registry.khronos.org/vulkansc/specs/1.0-extensions/html/vkspec.html#copies). For use as a framebuffer attachment, this is a member in the substructures of the VkRenderPassCreateInfo (see Render Pass). For use in a descriptor set, this is a member in the VkDescriptorImageInfo structure (see https://registry.khronos.org/vulkansc/specs/1.0-extensions/html/vkspec.html#descriptorsets-updates).

Note

VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_GENERAL can be a useful catch-all image layout, but there are situations where a dedicated image layout must be used instead. Some examples include:

  • VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_PRESENT_SRC_KHR

  • VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_SHARED_PRESENT_KHR
Note

While VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_GENERAL suggests that all types of device access is possible, it does not mean that all patterns of memory accesses are safe in all situations. Common Render Pass Data Races outlines some situations where data races are unavoidable.

See Also

VK_VERSION_1_0, VkAttachmentDescription, VkAttachmentDescription2, VkAttachmentDescriptionStencilLayout, VkAttachmentReference, VkAttachmentReference2, VkAttachmentReferenceStencilLayout, VkBlitImageInfo2, VkCopyBufferToImageInfo2, VkCopyImageInfo2, VkCopyImageToBufferInfo2, VkDescriptorImageInfo, VkImageCreateInfo, VkImageMemoryBarrier, VkImageMemoryBarrier2, VkResolveImageInfo2, vkCmdBlitImage, vkCmdClearColorImage, vkCmdClearDepthStencilImage, vkCmdCopyBufferToImage, vkCmdCopyImage, vkCmdCopyImageToBuffer, vkCmdResolveImage

Document Notes

For more information, see the Vulkan Specification

This page is extracted from the Vulkan Specification. Fixes and changes should be made to the Specification, not directly.

Copyright

Copyright 2014-2025 The Khronos Group Inc.

SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-4.0