Lesson E: Layers on the Move

Now we’ll take a look at the image called “raptor.psd.” In it, an osprey flies against a blue sky near sunset. It would make a lovely addition to our Italian countryside image. Once this osprey image is added, we’ll go about removing the blue sky to leave only the bird.

Drag, Keep Dragging, and Drop

It’s slightly tricky to use a “drag-and-drop” method of copying a layer to another document, but its speed makes it worth the trouble.

• Choose the Move tool (V) from the Tools panel (it’s at the top).
• Position the cursor somewhere within the image, then, in one go, drag the image to the tab with the name of our destination image (town_too_blue.psd), do not release the mouse when that image appears, continue to drag down onto the destination image, and then release. To repeat: drag the image up to the other tab, pause (without releasing) until the other image appears, drag down into the other image’s document window, and release.
• Double-click the layer’s name to rename it “osprey.”

Or you can use old-fashioned copy and paste if the layer you’re copying isn’t a Background:

• In the Layers panel of raptor.psd, click the padlock on the Background to convert it to a pixel layer. Double-click the layer’s name to rename it “osprey.”
• With that layer highlighted, choose Edit > Copy or use the shortcut ⌘-C/Ctrl-C.
• Go to the destination image, town_too_blue.psd. Highlight the top layer so the pasted one appears above it. Then choose Edit > Paste or use ⌘-V/Ctrl-V to paste.

To remove the sky and leave only the osprey, we’ll have to create a mask. Read on!