Working with Layers

How to Create and Move Layers

You should create a layer any time you want to isolate an element from the rest of the image. The element can be text, a second image, or an area of flat color. You can create a layer by using the New Layer command, by pasting an element, or by duplicating an existing layer. After you create the layer, it appears in the Layers palette, named in numerical sequence. To rename a layer, open the Properties dialog box from the Layers palette and type a new name there.

1. Open the File

   Choose File, Open and select the image file you want to modify.

2. Open the Layers Palette

   Choose Window, Layers to open the Layers palette.
   

3. Create a Text Layer

   To create a new layer, choose Layer, New, Layer. (Alternatively, select New Layer from the Layers palette menu.) In the dialog box that appears, name the layer and click OK. By default, the layers are given sequential numbers (Layer 1, Layer 2, and so on). For this example, create at least two layers. Make Layer 2 a text layer by selecting the Type tool and clicking the cursor on the image (a layer is automatically created). Add some text and format it in a large, bold typeface.
   

4. Control Layer Visibility

   To turn a layer's visibility on and off, look at the Layers palette. The far-left column contains boxes with eye icons. Click the box next to the layer you want to control the visibility of to display or hide the eye icon—also called the visibility icon.
   

5. Change the Order of the Layers

   You can change the order of the layers that form the image. In the Layers palette, click the title of the layer you want to move in the stack and drag it to its new position. Moving layers around and changing their order is a very powerful feature. For example, by changing the order of various layers, you can change the apparent order of the objects that reside on these different layers.
   

6. Change Layer Opacity

   To make a layer transparent, select the layer in the Layers palette to make it the active layer. Adjust the Opacity slider at the top of the Layers palette until the active layer has the desired degree of opacity.

How to Link Layers

As you accumulate multiple layers in a file, you will want to link certain layers together to preserve alignment or visibility. After you link layers, they all move as a single group as you reposition the multiple layers on the screen—even as they maintain their identities as separate layers.

1. Open the File

   Choose File, Open and select the file you want to edit. This example starts with an image that contains several layers in addition to the basic Background "layer."
   

2. Open the Layers Palette

   Choose Window, Layers to open the Layers palette.
   

3. Select the Primary Layer

   In the Layers palette, click the name of the layer to which you want to link other layers. The layer you select here becomes the primary layer, or the active layer.
   

4. Link Secondary Layers

   Click in the column to the immediate left of any layers you want to link to the primary layer. A chain icon appears in the column, indicating that the layer is linked to the currently selected layer.
   

5. Unlink Layers

   To unlink layers, click the visible chain icons to remove them. When the chain icon is gone, the layer no longer is linked to the currently selected layer.

How to Create Layer Sets

So far, we've seen that we can link layers to move them as one and can group layers to create a masking effect. This task explains how to create sets of layers that can be activated, hidden, or copied as a single unit. The layer sets feature, introduced in Photoshop 6, has been a godsend, especially for interface designers who can finally organize the dozens of layers necessary to build a Web site.

1. Open the File

   Choose File, Open and select the image file you want to modify.
   

2. Display the Layers Palette

   Choose Window, Layers to display the Layers palette. Using what you've learned in the preceding tasks, create the desired layers for the set.
   

3. Link the Layers of the Set

   Link the layers of the set together by selecting each layer and clicking in the column to the immediate left of the layer name to make the chain icon appear.
   

4. Create the Layer set
   

   Select Layer, New, Layer Set From Linked to create a new layer set from the linked layers. In the dialog box that appears, name the set and click OK. Layer sets appear in the Layers palette with a folder icon and an arrow that allows you to collapse or expand the list of the set's contents.
   

5. Add Layers to the Layer Set

   To add additional layers to the set, drag and drop them on the layer set. Alternatively, you can highlight the set and select Layer, New, Layer from the menu bar or select New Layer from the Layers palette menu.
   

6. Duplicate a Layer Set

   To duplicate an entire layer set, highlight the layer set and choose Duplicate Layer Set from the Layers palette menu. You can also select Layer, Duplicate Layer Set from the menu bar.