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,
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_3
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL = 1000314000,
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_3
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL = 1000314001,
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_4
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_RENDERING_LOCAL_READ = 1000232000,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_swapchain
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_PRESENT_SRC_KHR = 1000001002,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_video_decode_queue
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_VIDEO_DECODE_DST_KHR = 1000024000,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_video_decode_queue
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_VIDEO_DECODE_SRC_KHR = 1000024001,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_video_decode_queue
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_VIDEO_DECODE_DPB_KHR = 1000024002,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_shared_presentable_image
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_SHARED_PRESENT_KHR = 1000111000,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_fragment_density_map
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_FRAGMENT_DENSITY_MAP_OPTIMAL_EXT = 1000218000,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_fragment_shading_rate
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_FRAGMENT_SHADING_RATE_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL_KHR = 1000164003,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_video_encode_queue
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_VIDEO_ENCODE_DST_KHR = 1000299000,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_video_encode_queue
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_VIDEO_ENCODE_SRC_KHR = 1000299001,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_video_encode_queue
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_VIDEO_ENCODE_DPB_KHR = 1000299002,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_attachment_feedback_loop_layout
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_ATTACHMENT_FEEDBACK_LOOP_OPTIMAL_EXT = 1000339000,
  // Provided by VK_ARM_tensors
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_TENSOR_ALIASING_ARM = 1000460000,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_video_encode_quantization_map
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_VIDEO_ENCODE_QUANTIZATION_MAP_KHR = 1000553000,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_zero_initialize_device_memory
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_ZERO_INITIALIZED_EXT = 1000620000,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance2
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_READ_ONLY_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL_KHR = VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_READ_ONLY_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance2
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_ATTACHMENT_STENCIL_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL_KHR = VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_ATTACHMENT_STENCIL_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL,
  // Provided by VK_NV_shading_rate_image
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_SHADING_RATE_OPTIMAL_NV = VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_FRAGMENT_SHADING_RATE_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL_KHR,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_dynamic_rendering_local_read
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_RENDERING_LOCAL_READ_KHR = VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_RENDERING_LOCAL_READ,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_separate_depth_stencil_layouts
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL_KHR = VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_separate_depth_stencil_layouts
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL_KHR = VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_separate_depth_stencil_layouts
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL_KHR = VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_separate_depth_stencil_layouts
    VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_STENCIL_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL_KHR = VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_STENCIL_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL,
  // 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:

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/vulkan/specs/latest/html/vkspec.html#clears and https://registry.khronos.org/vulkan/specs/latest/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/vulkan/specs/latest/html/vkspec.html#descriptorsets-updates).

If the unifiedImageLayouts feature is enabled, the VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_GENERAL image layout may be used in place of the other layouts where allowed with no loss of performance.

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:
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. For example, when a subresource is used as both an attachment and a sampled image (i.e., not an input attachment), enabling feedback loop adds extra guarantees which VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_GENERAL alone does not.

See Also

VK_VERSION_1_0, VkAttachmentDescription, VkAttachmentDescription2, VkAttachmentDescriptionStencilLayout, VkAttachmentReference, VkAttachmentReference2, VkAttachmentReferenceStencilLayout, VkBlitImageInfo2, VkCopyBufferToImageInfo2, VkCopyImageInfo2, VkCopyImageToBufferInfo2, VkCopyImageToImageInfo, VkCopyImageToMemoryInfo, VkCopyMemoryToImageIndirectInfoKHR, VkCopyMemoryToImageInfo, VkDescriptorImageInfo, VkHostImageLayoutTransitionInfo, VkImageCreateInfo, VkImageDescriptorInfoEXT, VkImageMemoryBarrier, VkImageMemoryBarrier2, VkPhysicalDeviceHostImageCopyProperties, VkPhysicalDeviceVulkan14Properties, VkRenderingAttachmentInfo, VkRenderingFragmentDensityMapAttachmentInfoEXT, VkRenderingFragmentShadingRateAttachmentInfoKHR, VkResolveImageInfo2, vkBindOpticalFlowSessionImageNV, vkCmdBindInvocationMaskHUAWEI, vkCmdBindShadingRateImageNV, vkCmdBlitImage, vkCmdClearColorImage, vkCmdClearDepthStencilImage, vkCmdCopyBufferToImage, vkCmdCopyImage, vkCmdCopyImageToBuffer, vkCmdCopyMemoryToImageIndirectNV, 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 2014-2026 The Khronos Group Inc.

SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-4.0