5. Working with Layers

Introduction

To be successful with Adobe Photoshop, you need to be in control. You need to control color, to control elements of the design, and you even need to control the order of design elements. If control is what you crave, then Layers, more than any other feature, helps you achieve that control. Layers give you the ability to separate individual elements of your design, and then control how those elements appear. You can think of Layers as a group of transparent sheets stacked on top of each other. Through the creative use of these electronic sheets, you can blend the elements of two or more layers, and create layers to adjust and control contrast, brightness, and color balance. You can even group layers together to help organize and manage your design.

Layers are a digital designer’s canvas, and they are just as real as a stretched canvas is to a natural media designer. The strokes you apply to a real canvas, using a brush, are equivalent to strokes in a Photoshop layer when you use any of the painting tools. The natural artist may use oils or watercolor in the design while the Photoshop artist uses electronic ink. The Layers panel allows you to view the image almost as if you were actually painting or designing with natural media. However, our canvas—the Layers panel—goes far beyond anything possible in the “real” world.

In Photoshop, using multiple layers is the way to control the information within a document. There are times when you will create several layers; each layer will contain a separate aspect of the total design. Having multiple layers allows you to adjust and move each element independently. Eventually, multiple layers may no longer be necessary. However, you might not want to link them together, or even place them within the same folder. Instead, you might want to combine them into a single unit. Once again, Photoshop comes to the rescue by giving you several options for combining layers without flattening the entire document.

Understanding the Layers Panel

With the Layers panel, you can control elements of a Photoshop design by assigning separate layers to each individual object. In addition, Layer effects control the application of everything from drop shadows to gradient overlays, and adjustment layers let you control color overlays and image corrections. To access the Layers panel, select the Layers panel or, if the Layers panel is not visible, click the Window menu, and then click Layers.

Blending Modes.Select this option to change how two or more layers interact or “blend” together.

Opacity.Select a value from 0% to 100% to change the opacity of the active layer.

Fill.Select a value from 0% to 100% to change the opacity of the active layer without changing the opacity of any applied layer styles.

Lock options.Click the Lock Transparent Pixels, Lock Image Pixels, Lock Position, or Lock All button.

Link Layers.Hold down the Shift key and click to select two or more layers, and then click this button to link the layers.

Add Layer Style.Click this button, and then select from the available layer styles.

Add Layer Mask.Click this button to apply a layer mask to the active layer. Click this a second time to add a vector mask to the active layer.

Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer.Click this button, and then select from the available fill or adjustment layers.

Create New Group.Click this button to create a new group. A group is a folder where you can drag, store, and organize layers.

Create New Layer.Click this button to create a new layer in the active document.

Delete Layer.Click this button to delete the active layer.

Layers Options.Click this button to access a menu of layer-specific commands.

Defining Layer Designations and Attributes

Not only does Photoshop give you the ability to generate layers, it allows you to generate layers with different designations. The designation of a layer determines the type of information the layer contains. For example, a type layer holds editable text, and a mask layer holds image masks. The ability to control the designation of a layer helps to organize the different elements that typically make up a Photoshop image.

Background.The Background is a unique type of layer element (technically, it’s not called the Background layer, just the Background). Backgrounds are always positioned at the bottom of the layer stack and they cannot be moved. In addition, the Background does not support transparency.

Layer.Clicking the Create New Layer button creates Photoshop layers. New layers are always inserted directly above the active layer. All of Photoshop’s drawing and shape tools, as well as opacity and fill and blending mode options, are available to use on layers created with this method, except for type. These “traditional” layers can be moved up and down in the layer stack by dragging them where you want them.

Type.To create a Type layer, select one of Photoshop’s Type tools, click in the active document and begin typing. Photoshop automatically creates the Type layer directly above the active layer in the Layers panel.

Mask.Masks are applied to a layer by clicking the Add Layer Mask button on the Layers panel. Masks serve a function; they create transparent areas in the visible image. Use masks to remove elements of an image without physically erasing them.

Shape.Shape layers control vector data by the use of a vector mask. You can create a shape layer in one of several ways: select the Pen tool from the toolbox, click the Shape Layer button (located on the Options bar) and begin drawing, or select any of Photoshop’s shape tools using the Shape layer option.

Adjustment.Adjustment layers let you control everything from contrast to color. To create an Adjustment layer, click the Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer button, and then select from the available options. The adjustment layer is placed directly above the active layer and controls the information in all the underlying layers. You can also choose from one of the 15 icons in the Adjustments panel (New!).

Creating a New Layer

Layers give you control over the design elements of your document, so Adobe Photoshop makes sure you have plenty of layers available to you (up to 8,000). While that may be more layers than you would ever use in a single document, that flexibility guarantees that you have the creative options to carry your designs to any level you desire. To create a new layer, you must first have an open document. A new image in Photoshop has a single layer. If you have more than one document open, make sure the active image is the one to which you want to add a layer. You can quickly add a layer using a menu or button, or add a layer and select options using a dialog box. You can select options to name the layer, designate it as a clipping group, or even change its color Blending mode, and Opacity.

Add Layers to an Active Document

The new layer is inserted directly above the active layer.

Add Layers and Select Options

Selecting Layers

Photoshop lets you select multiple layers either in the Layers panel, or directly in the document window, using the Move tool. Say, for example, you want to quickly move two or more layers but you don’t want to spend the time linking, and then unlinking them. You just want to quickly select the layers, and then perform the move. Or, perhaps you want to delete several layers but don’t want to delete them one at a time. The ability to select multiple layers allows you to exert even more control over Photoshop, and that control provides more fuel for your creative energy. A single selected layer is called the active layer

Select Layers

Creating a Layer Group

Layer groups help to bring organization to large, multi-layered documents. Photoshop layer groups give you control over all the layers within the group at one time. For example, multiple layers within a group can all be hidden or locked with one click of a button. In addition, if you click on the Group name, you can transform or move all the layer objects within the group as one unit. To further help organize your Layers panel, Photoshop lets you create nested groups. Nested groups are groups that are located within other groups. When you nest groups, you control all of the groups by clicking on the main group’s name, or you can control the individual groups by selecting the nested group name.

Create a Layer Group or Nested Layer Group

Creating a Selection from a Layer

Photoshop’s traditional layers basically function like sheets of transparent acetate or clear plastic. Once created, they support all of Photoshop’s painting tools, as well as shape and gradient tools. While traditional layers may start out transparent, they don’t remain that way for long. In fact, a layer can, over time, become a complicated mix of non-transparent (the image), and transparent areas. It’s also possible you might want to make a selection out of that complicated image. Photoshop knows this and gives you an easy way to convert a layer into a selection.

Create a Selection from a Layer

Creating a Layer from a Selection

On the previous page, you learned how to create a selection based on the image information within a layer. In addition to creating a selection from a layer, Photoshop gives you the ability to instantly create a layer from a selection. Creating layers from selections opens up all kinds of opportunities for generating special effects. For example, you could select an object from one layer, and then make a layer with that selection, or you could make a selection of just that portion of an image and then apply a layer style to the new layer copy. The possibilities are endless, and part of the fun of using Photoshop lies in exploring those possibilities.

Create a Layer from a Selection

Converting a Background into a Layer

The Background layer serves a unique function in Photoshop. Since some layout programs do not support Photoshop’s multiple layer and transparency capabilities, a final image must sometimes be converted into a background layer by a process called flattening. When an image is flattened, all of the document’s layers are compressed into a single layer in the Layers panel, named Background. That means no more layers, no more transparency, and no more control. Background layers are a necessary evil because Photoshop does not stand alone, and it’s sometimes necessary to move images from Photoshop into other applications. However, there are times you may start with an image that only contains a Background layer (for example, when working with original images from a digital camera, scanned images, or images from a photo CD or DVD) and you want to apply transparency, blending modes, or other adjustments to it that cannot be applied to a Background layer. In that case, you will need to convert the Background into a traditional Photoshop layer.

Convert a Background

Convert a Multi-Layered Document into a Background

Controlling Image Information Using the Layers Panel

When you work on multi-layered documents, it’s important to understand the options Photoshop gives you to control image information. For example, working on a document that contains 20 layers is a difficult proposition. Fortunately, Photoshop gives you complete control over the document; everything from layer names to locking pixel information is available in Photoshop’s bag of image-control tricks. For example, when linking two layers together, you can move or resize the layers at the same time, thus saving valuable time. Let’s explore some of the ways you can control image information with the Layers panel.

Control Image Information

Moving Layers Between Documents

Photoshop documents typically contain multiple layers. One web survey concluded that Photoshop designers tend to create documents with an average of 14 layers. Controlling layers is an important aspect of design, because the more control you maintain, the more organized you are, and the better your design will be. But what about controlling layers across multiple documents? For example, you’re working on a design, and you need access to some additional image information. The only problem is that the additional information is located in another Photoshop document. Photoshop gives you the ability to move layers between open documents.

Move Layers Between Documents

Using Merge Layer Options

The Merge Down option lets you merge one selected layer into the layer directly below it in the layer stacking order. Merged layers take on the characteristics of the layer into which they are being merged. For example, if you merge one layer into another that uses the Darken blending mode, the two merged layers will both use Darken. Or, if you merge a layer into the Background layer, the merged layer becomes a part of the Background. The Merge Visible option enables you to merge all of the layers that have the Show option enabled with just one click.

Merge Down

Merge Visible

Linking and Unlinking Layers

If you’re currently looking at the Layers panel, and wondering where the linking button is, don’t worry. It’s not missing; it’s just been moved. Linking multiple layers is a snap. Simply select one or more layers and then click the Link Layers button at the bottom of the Layers panel. You can link two or more layers or groups. Unlike selected multiple layers, linked layers retain their relationship (stay together) until you unlink them, which allows you to move or resize the layers as a unit.

Link Layers

Unlink Layers

Working with Layer Blending Modes

Layer Blending Modes are one of the most creative areas within the Layers panel. With blending modes, you can instruct Photoshop to mix the image information between two or more layers. For example, using the Multiply blending mode instructs Photoshop to multiply the color of one layer with that of another layer, resulting in a darker color. Blending modes give you control over Photoshop images above and beyond what you would expect to find in the “analog” world.

Mix Layer Information with Blending Modes

Duplicating a Layer

There are times when you will need a copy of a Photoshop layer. Duplicating a layer is a simple process that creates a pixel-to-pixel copy of the selected layer. Once the copied layer is created, it becomes a separate image within the document. You can then begin to make changes to the new layer. Duplicating a layer gives you the ability to control each layer separately and to apply nondestructive effects to your image by making them on a copy of the image instead of the original.

Duplicate a Layer

Deleting Layers

While Photoshop lets you add layers to a document (up to 8,000), it also lets you delete layers. Remember that once you’ve deleted a layer and saved the document, there is no way to recover the deleted layer. However, while the document is open, there is always the chance of recovering the deleted layer through the History panel.

Delete Layers

Delete Linked Layers

Changing Layer Properties

The Layer Properties dialog box gives you control over two very important characteristics of a layer: the layer’s name and its identifying color. For example, if you’re working on a document with 20 layers and you’re not naming the layers, after a while you’ll lose track of each layer’s contents. When you name your layers, you have a visual identifier of the information contained within that specific layer (assuming you name the layer correctly). In addition, you can use the Colorize option to apply a color to a specific group of layers—coloring all the type layers red, for example. Layer properties may not seem that important, but they go a long way towards helping you organize a complex, multi-layered document.

Change Layer Properties

Working with the Layer Comps Panel

Layer Comps are an image or snapshot of the current state of the Layers panel. When you create a Layer Comp, you’re recording layer visibility, a layer’s position within the document, and any layer styles applied to the image. Making changes to the layers in your document and then updating the Layer Comps panel creates a new Layer Comp. Any time you want to view a particular Layer Comp, just select it from the Layer Comps panel. Layer Comps create different versions of your document and saves them all in one file, giving you different creative options for the same document. In addition, they give you the option of printing the same document with different variations, by choosing different Layer Comps during printing.

Work with the Layer Comps Panel

Exporting Layers as Files

Photoshop gives you the option of exporting and saving layers as individual files using a variety of formats including PSD, BMP, JPEG, PDF, Targa, and TIFF. When exporting layers to files, one format is applied to all exported layers. The Export Layers to Files script command gives you the ability to create individual files from the individual layers and select options specific to the file format you want.

Export Layers to Files

Setting Layers Panel Options

Photoshop doesn’t have a lot of options for controlling the Layers panel itself; in fact, there is only one—changing the size of the layer thumbnail and how it fits within the thumbnail box. You can choose to view the layer thumbnail in a small, medium, or large size, or you can select to have no thumbnail shown at all. When you change the size of the thumbnail, you’re instructing Photoshop to spend either more, or less, processing time on the display of the image. The larger the thumbnail, the easier it is to see, but the longer it takes for Photoshop to draw the image in the Layers panel. If you’re experiencing performance issues with Photoshop, and you’re using the large thumbnail size option, you might consider choosing a smaller thumbnail size.

Set Layers Panel Options

Using Smart Guides

Photoshop gives you the ability to use Smart Guides to help align shapes, slices, and selections as you draw. They appear automatically as you draw a shape or create a selection or slice, and then disappear after the shape is drawn. They enable you to visually align one object to another with a minimum of effort. Smart Guides are automatically turned on by default.

Use Smart Guides