Rangefinder Magazine
February 2005

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Photoshop CS: by Dave Cross
What a Beginner Should Know About Layers

This is one of a series of Adobe® Photoshop® tutorials sponsored by Adobe Systems and the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) to be reprinted in Rangefinder magazine taken from the Photoshop User magazine, the official publication of NAPP (www.photoshopuser.com).

Here are six things a beginner should know about Layers, one of the most flexible techniques in Photoshop.

Before

Before getting down to learning about layers, we highly recommend (although it isn’t required) that you name each layer. This will help you to organize and work with multiple layers. By default, Photoshop names the layers for you, but it can get frustrating working with layers called “layer 1,” “layer 2,” “layer 3,” etc.

To name a layer, just double-click on its name in the Layers palette. There’s plenty of room for descriptive names (63 characters), so take advantage, and name your layers wisely. You may not see immediate benefits from naming your layers, but believe me, you’ll understand the advantage of named layers the first time you open a multi-layered document you created six months ago!

Now, let’s get ready to work with layers.

1. Duplicate the Background layer
There are some real advantages to duplicating the Background layer and working on a copy. For example, you have a built-in backup plan right in your document, so if you ever need to start over, you’ve got the original image at the bottom of the Layers palette. In addition, you have some interesting creative possibilities by altering the copied version of the Background and then lowering the Opacity of that layer.

Try this example: Open an image and duplicate the Background layer by pressing Cmd-J (PC: Ctrl-J) or choose Duplicate Layer from the Layers palette pop-up menu. (Notice that we named this layer “copy.”) On the copy layer, apply a Gaussian Blur of 15 (Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur). Now use the Opacity slider (click on the right-facing arrow) on the Layers palette to lower the Opacity of the copy layer. You’ll get a very different effect than if you simply used a lower setting in the Gaussian Blur filter. There are many applications for this technique.

So, should you always duplicate the Background layer? Maybe not always (such as when repairing a scratched photo), but in most cases, you should—just in case.

2. Link layers to move them together
If you have a bunch of layers that you want to move around the image, link them together. With one of the layers active, click to the left of the other layers you want to link and a chain symbol will appear. Now, use the Move tool (V) to reposition all of the layers at once.

You can also link layers to apply Transformation such as Rotate or Scale. With your layers linked, press Cmd-T (Ctrl-T) and use the Transformation handles to alter all of the linked layers at once. Be aware that layers will stay linked until you unlink them, so you’ll have to reverse the operation by “clicking off” the chain symbols.

3. Use Layer Masks rather than deleting pixels
As soon as you Erase or Select and Delete pixels from a layer, they’re gone “forever”; instead, use a Layer Mask to temporarily hide portions of a layer.

On a layer other than the Background, click on the Add Layer Mask button (circle in a square) at the bottom of the Layers palette. A second thumbnail will appear beside the layer. Now, use the Brush (B) tool with black as your foreground color to “paint away” the areas you want to hide. Wherever you add black paint, those areas will be hidden. To show the hidden areas again, just change the foreground color to white, and paint in those areas.

Try it once, and you’ll see it’s really quite simple: Add a layer mask to a layer, paint with black to hide parts of the layer, or paint with white to make those areas visible. Layer Masks are one of the most powerful functions in the world of layers—the possibilities are endless!

4. Use Clipping Groups to put images into text
This very cool technique misleads many people because of its name: Layer Clipping Group. Or perhaps it’s because the command used to create a Clipping Group is “Group with Previous.” Whatever the reason, people don’t seem to use Clipping Groups as much as they could. Here’s a very effective use for this technique.

Add a type layer to a document, then drag-and-drop a photo into your document. You’ll end up with the photo layer covering up the type layer. With the photo layer active, press Cmd-G (Ctrl-G) or choose Group with Previous from the Layer menu. The photo will be “clipped” inside the letters on the type layer. You can still use the Move tool to reposition the photo, or use the Type tool to edit the type.

Again, there are many possibilities for this technique.

5. Use Layer Sets to organize
Let’s agree that we should keep all of our layers to give ourselves the most flexibility possible (see #6 below). It can get a little overwhelming; however, if you have many layers in your document. Layer Sets (folders that contain layers) can help solve this problem. To create a new Set, you have a couple of options:

• Click on Create a New Set (little folder) at the bottom of the Layers palette to add an empty folder and then drag layers into that Set; or

• Link a series of layers together (see #2 above) and then from the Layers palette pop-up menu, choose New Set from Linked.

After

Layer Sets offer many advantages, including hiding and showing many layers at once, moving layers without linking, masking multiple layers, and more. Now, if only we could put Layer Sets inside Layer Sets…

6. Save a layered version and a flattened copy
This one should be a law: Never flatten and Save your document.

If you do, you’ll lose the ability to (easily) change the document.

Instead, save a version of the document as a .psd file, with all layers intact. Then, if you need a flattened version in JPEG, TIFF, or some other format, use the Save As command. This command lets you rename the file, choose the appropriate file format, and flatten the layers. Use the flattened version in other software applications, but if you need to edit the file, open the layered version, make your changes, and once again use Save As to create a new flattened version.

This is not to suggest that these are the only important layer functions, as we haven’t even touched on Blend modes, Fill Opacity, and Layer Styles. But start with these important layer tips and techniques—they’re the foundation to working with layers.

Dave Cross is Senior Developer, Education and Curriculum for NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professional) and co-author of three books: Photoshop 7 & Illustrator 10: Create Great Advanced Graphics, Photoshop 7 Trade Secrets, and Adobe Illustrator Killer Tips. Dave is also one of the lead instructors for NAPP’s Adobe Photoshop Seminar Tour.