Week 4 Part 9: Layers

Intro to layers

Layers are one of the most fundamentally important aspects of Photoshop. They become more and more important as your projects become more complex. You could picture layers as transparent "sheets" in which you can paint or place photos on or create artwork on. They can be stacked on top of one another many deep and can all hold their own image data (artwork). transparent areas of each layer will reveal the layer underneath, or next non-transparent area. There are images layers, text layers and layer masks. (layer masks will not be covered in this course)

This versatility allows you to organize your graphic elements without interfering with others. It's important to label your layers appropriately in order to keep your work organized.

The layers Palette



The Layers palette lists all layers, layer groups, and layer effects in an image. You can use the Layers palette to show and hide layers, create new layers, and work with groups of layers. You can access additional commands and options in the Layers palette menu.

To open the Layers palette, Choose Windows > Layers, from the main menu.

The eye icon on the left of the layer thumbnail will turn the display of that layer on or off.

The Background Layer

When you initially open up an image in Photoshop you will notice the default layer name for the image in the layers palette is "background". There are a few special characteristics of this "background" layer. Take note as these are specific characteristics always common to the background layer. They are as follows:

  1. A background layer cannot contain transparent areas. To test this, draw a rectangle selection area in the image and press delete. You'll notice that instead of removing what's currently there and leaving a transparent hole, it will automatically leave behind the color currently selected in your background color.

  2. A background layer cannot be deleted. You can try, but you won't be successful.

  3. A background layer cannot be moved. Go ahead and grab your move tool and try to move the layer. You will be greeted by a message saying your request could not be completed because the layer is locked! This is normal.

  4. The background layer is always at the bottom of the layer stack and there can only be one background layer.

So you ask yourself, well how can I get around these restrictions. It's quite easy actually. Just double click on the background layer in the layers palette. A dialogue box pops with a default name of "Layer 0". Click ok and you have now converted it to a normal layer or what I like to call a "user layer". It will now behave like a typical layer.

You could also achieve this by going up to the layer menu and choose Layers > New > Layer from Background...

To convert an existing "user layer" to the "background layer" choose Layers > New > Background from Layer...


Move Tool

The move tool is used for exactly that. Moving things. If you want to move a whole layer, just grab the move tool and click and drag to re-position that layer. Just make sure you've selected the correct layer first. The move tool is also used for moving selected areas. If you make a selection first and then switch to the move tool, place your cursor inside of that selection to see what happens. You'll notice your cursor changes to scissors. Now when you click and drag you will moving that selected area and be revealing the underlying layer through the hole. If you are working on the background layer, it will be the background color that is revealed or that will occupy that removed area.

You can also perform transformations to a selected area with the move tool if you have "Show Transformation Controls" checked in the options bar. By grabbing these handles you can scale or distort your selection.

Lastly, when working with layers, you may use your move tool to work through the different layers. Also notice the check box in the options bar "Auto-select layer/group". With this checked, your move tool will automatically select the layer containing the pixels you have clicked on. For instance, if you had a image that had 3 layers and you click in an area that the first and second layer were transparent, your third layer would automatically be selected.