8. Layer Essentials

When you open a photo into Photoshop, the image is listed as the Background on the Layers panel. By adding layers of various kinds on top of the Background, you can build complexity and flexibility into your documents.A

For example, above the Background, you could add some editable text on one layer and perhaps a shape or imagery surrounded by transparency on another layer. Layers can be added or deleted as needed, and they can be edited individually.

A This document contains a type layer and five image layers, all of which are stacked above the Background.

Unlike the Background, which stays fully opaque and is stacked on the bottom of the Layers panel, a layer can contain partially or fully transparent areas and can be moved upward or downward in the stack. Within the transparent areas in a layer, you can see through to underlying layers. Photoshop uses a checkerboard pattern to represent transparent areas.

Because the Layers panel is so essential to image editing in Photoshop, we have devoted this whole chapter to helping you master its features. By the end of this chapter, you will know how to create, duplicate, select, restack, group, delete, hide, show, move, lock, filter, merge, and flatten layers, as well as change their opacity. Those techniques, along with the selection and masking techniques in the next chapter, will give you the necessary foundation for future tasks in this book.

Creating layers

When you open a digital photo (say, from Camera Raw) into Photoshop, the image appears on the Background. If you create a new, blank document and choose the option of Background Contents: White or Background Color in the File > New dialog, that image will also have a Background. If you were to choose Background Contents: Transparent instead, the document would contain a layer and no Background. In this book, we identify the Background in a Photoshop document with an initial cap “B,” to distinguish it from the background (versus foreground) area of an image.

In these steps, you will learn how to create a new, blank image layer. To that layer, you can add pixels by applying brush strokes, cloning imagery, pasting into a selection, or performing other edits. You may add as many layers to a file as you like, but remember that a large image containing many image layers will utilize a fair amount of storage space and system memory.

Note: In later chapters, you will learn how to create adjustment, type, Smart Object, and shape layers.

To add a new, blank layer to a document

1. Display the Layers panel.

2. Click a layer or the Background. The new layer is going to appear above this selected one.

3. Click the New Layer button at the bottom of the panel.A The new layer will have the default blending mode of Normal and the default setting for both Opacity and Fill of 100%.B

A We clicked the Background, then clicked the New Layer button.

B A new blank layer (Layer 1) appeared above the Background.

• To choose options for a layer as you create it, Alt-click/Option-click the New Layer button or press Ctrl-Shift-N/Cmd-Shift-N. In the New Layer dialog, you can enter a layer Name and choose a nonprinting Color for the area on the Layers panel behind the visibility icon (see “To color-code a layer” on page 145).

• To rename a layer right on the panel, see the sidebar on page 138.

Another way to create a layer is by copying or cutting imagery from an existing layer or the Background and transferring it to a new layer. This can be done easily via a simple command.

To turn a selection of pixels into a layer

1. On the Layers panel, click an image layer or the Background, then create a selection in the document (if you’re new to Photoshop, see the steps on page 152).A

A We selected an area of the Background in this document.

2. To transfer the selected pixels to a new layer, do either of the following:

To put a copy of the selected pixels onto a new layer while leaving the original layer unchanged, right-click in the document and choose Layer via Copy or press Ctrl-J/Cmd-J.B

B When we pressed Ctrl-J/Cmd-J, a copy of the selected pixels appeared on a new layer (Layer 1).

To put the selected pixels on a new layer and remove them from the original layer, right-click in the document and choose Layer via Cut or press Ctrl-Shift-J/Cmd-Shift-J. If you cut pixels from a layer, Photoshop will fill the exposed area on the original layer with transparency; if you cut pixels from the Background, the exposed area will be filled with the current Background color (see pages 185 and 239).

Follow these steps to duplicate a layer or layer group, or to turn a copy of the Background into a layer. (To learn about layer groups, see pages 140–141.)

To duplicate a layer or layer group

Do one of the following:

Click a layer or a layer group, or Ctrl-click/Cmd-click multiple layers, then press Ctrl-J/Cmd-J.

Drag a layer, layer group, or the Background over the New Layer button at the bottom of the Layers panel. The duplicate will appear above the one you dragged.

To name the new layer as you create it, right-click one layer, layer group, or the Background and choose Duplicate Layer(s) or Duplicate Group. In the dialog, change the name in the “As” field (ignore the Destination field), then click OK.

• To control whether Photoshop adds the word “copy” to duplicate layer names automatically, choose Panel Options from the Layers panel menu, then check or uncheck the Add “Copy” to Copied Layers and Groups feature.

• When you duplicate a layer, any masks and/or effects on that layer are also duplicated.

There are many things that can be done to a layer that can’t be done to the Background. For example, you can’t move the Background upward in the layer stack; change its blending mode, Opacity, or Fill setting; attach a mask to it; or embellish it with layer effects. You can, however, convert the Background to a layer, at which time it will adopt all the functions of a normal layer.

To convert the Background to a layer

On the Layers panel, do either of the following:

Hold down Alt/Option and double-click the Background to turn it into a layer without choosing options.

Double-click the Background A to open the New Layer dialog,B then do any of the following: Change the Name, choose a Color for the area behind the visibility icon, or change the blending Mode or Opacity percentage. Click OK.C

A We double-clicked the Background in this image.

B We typed a name for the layer in the New Layer dialog.

C The former Background is now a full-fledged layer.

You can also do the reverse of the preceding instructions, which is to convert any layer to the Background. This will come in handy, say, if you use the Crop tool with the Delete Cropped Pixels option off (which converts the Background to a layer), then decide you want to make the bottommost layer into the Background again.

To convert a layer to the Background

1. Click the layer to be converted.

2. Choose Layer > New > Background from Layer. The new Background will appear in its standard stacking position as the bottom listing.

Selecting layers

There are good habits and bad habits. Here’s a good one: Before applying a filter, brush stroke, or other image edit to your document, select the layer that you want Photoshop to alter. Easy to do, easy to forget! When a layer or layer group is selected, it has a blue highlight and the layer or group name is listed in the title bar of the document window.

To select layers via the Layers panel

Do one of the following:

To select a layer or layer group, click either the layer thumbnail or the blank area to the right of the layer or group name.A

A To select a layer, just click it.

To select multiple layers, click a layer, then Shift-click the last in a series of consecutively listed layers, or Ctrl-click/Cmd-click individual layers (not their thumbnails). If you need to deselect an individual layer, Ctrl-click/Cmd-click it.

To select all the layers in your document (but not the Background), choose Select > All Layers or press Ctrl-Alt-A/Cmd-Option-A.

To select a layer or layer group by clicking in the document

1. Choose the Move tool or hold down V.

2. Do either of the following:

To select the topmost layer that contains nontransparent pixels below the pointer, right-click in the document window and choose a layer or layer group name from the context menu.B (Adjustment layers may also be listed on the menu; see Chapter 12.)

B From the context menu, choose the name of the layer you want to select.

Check Auto-Select on the Options bar, choose Group or Layer, then click a visible pixel area in the document. For some reason, the Background can’t be selected with this method.

• If you’re using the Move tool and Show Transform Controls is checked on the Options bar, a bounding box surrounds the nontransparent portion of the currently selected layer. if you find the box to be distracting, uncheck the option. To transform a layer via its bounding box (e.g., scale or skew it), see pages 332–333.

Restacking layers

When you restack a layer (move it upward or downward), the layer contents shift forward or backward.

To restack layers

Drag a layer or group name upward or downward on the Layers panel, and release the mouse when a double horizontal line appears in the desired stacking position.A–B

A We’re moving the “bottles” layer upward in the stack.

B Now the “bottles” layer is above the “cows” layer.

• To move the Background upward on the list, you must convert it to a layer first (see page 138). Layers can’t be stacked below the Background.

• You can also restack a selected layer via commands on the Layer > Arrange submenu (or via the shortcuts that are listed on that submenu).

Creating layer groups

Putting layers in groups is more than just a convenient way to streamline and organize the listings on your Layers panel. You can also move, transform, duplicate, restack, hide, show, lock, or change the blending mode, Opacity, or Fill setting of all the layers in a group simultaneously. When you add a layer mask to a layer group, the mask applies to all the layers in the group (see page 172). You can also nest groups inside other groups.

To create a layer group

Method 1 (from existing layers)

1. Click a layer, then Shift-click or Ctrl-click/Cmd-click one or more additional layers.C The layers can be nonconsecutive or hidden, and they can be of different types.

C We selected three layers.

2. Do either of the following:

Press Ctrl-G/Cmd-G.

From the Layers panel menu, choose New Group from Layers. In the dialog, type a Name for the group, then click OK.D

D We used the New Group from Layers command to put those layers in a group.

3. Optional: To add more layers to the group, follow step 2 on the next page.

• The default blending mode for a group is Pass Through; we recommend keeping that setting.

Method 2 (create a group, then add layers)

1. Do either of the following:

To create a group without choosing settings for it, click the layer above which you want the group to appear, then click the New Group button at the bottom of the panel.

To name the group as you create it, Alt-click/Option-click the New Group button or choose New Group from the panel menu. In the dialog, enter a Name, then click OK.

2. Do either of the following:

Drag layers into the new group listing, releasing the mouse when the dark drop zone border appears around it.

Click the arrowhead to expand the group list, then drag layers into the group, releasing the mouse when the double lines appear in the desired stacking position.A

A We’re moving a layer upward into an existing group.

• To expand or collapse a group, including all subgroup, effect, and Smart Filter listings, Alt-click/Option-click the arrowhead.

Using Context Menus on the Layers Panel

Deleting layers and groups

To delete a layer

1. If there is an active selection in your document, deselect (press Ctrl-D/Cmd-D).

2. Click the layer to be deleted, then press Backspace/Delete.

• Change your mind? Choose Edit > Undo or click the prior state on the History panel.

• To delete a layer another way, click the layer, click the Delete Layer button, then click Yes in the alert dialog; or to bypass the alert, Alt-click/Option-click the Delete Layer button.

You can delete a layer group and its layers or merely disband the group while preserving the layers.

To delete or ungroup a layer group

On the Layers panel, do one of the following:

To delete a group and its contents, click the group, then press Backspace/Delete.

Right-click a group and choose Delete Group from the context menu (or click a group, then click the Delete Layer button ). In the alert dialog, click Group Only or Group and Contents.

To ungroup a layer group without deleting its layers, click the group, then press Ctrl-Shift-G/Cmd-Shift-G. The group icon disappears from the panel and the layer listings are no longer indented.

Hiding and showing layers

You can hide any layer you’re not currently working on, either because it’s getting in the way of your editing or to eliminate it as a visual distraction. Hidden layers don’t print. The instructions below apply both to layers and the Background.

To hide or show layers

On the Layers panel, do one of the following:

To hide or show one layer or layer group, click in the visibility column. A–B The icon disappears.

A We’re clicking in the visibility column to hide the “Toy” layer.

B The “Toy” layer is hidden.

To hide or show multiple layers, drag upward or downward in the visibility column.

To hide all layers and layer groups except one, Alt-click/Option-click the visibility column for the layer or layer group that you want to keep visible. Repeat to redisplay all the layers (except for layers that were hidden before you used the command).

Repositioning layer content

Follow these steps to reposition a selected layer or group of layers in the document.

To reposition layers manually

Do either of the following:

On the Layers panel, click a layer or layer group, or Shift-click or Ctrl-click/Cmd-click multiple layers, hold down V to spring-load the Move tool, then drag in the document.A–B

A We’re dragging the “Toy” layer with the Move tool.

B Now the “Toy” layer is on the right side of the image.

Hold down V to spring-load the Move tool. On the Options bar, check Auto-Select, choose Group or Layer from the adjacent menu, then drag a nontransparent area in the document.

• If you move part of the layer or layers outside the canvas area, not to worry — those pixels will save with the document and can be moved back into view at any time. See “Working with pixels outside the canvas area” on page 241.

• To nudge a selected layer by one pixel at a time, choose the Move tool, then press an arrow key. Or press Shift-arrow to move a layer by 10 screen pixels at a time. (Don’t press Alt-arrow/Option-arrow — unless you want to duplicate the layer.)

• For a more precise way to reposition layers, use the align buttons on the Options bar. See page 261.

Changing the layer opacity

The Opacity setting on the Layers panel controls whether a layer is semitransparent or opaque.

To change the opacity of a layer or layer group

1. Select one or more layers or a layer group.

2. Change the Opacity percentage on the Layers panel (we like to use the scrubby slider).A–B

A In this image, all the layers have an opacity of 100%.

B We reduced the Opacity of the tomatoes layer to 49%.

• To learn about the Fill slider, see page 381.

• In the Transparency Settings area of Edit/Photoshop > Preferences > Transparency & Gamut, you can change the size or color of the gray and white checkerboard pattern that Photoshop uses to represent transparent pixels (or to hide the pattern, choose None from the Grid Size menu).

• To change the Opacity setting of the currently selected layer via the keyboard (standard or extended), choose a nonediting tool (such as the Move or Eyedropper tool or a selection tool), then press a digit between 0 and 9 (e.g., 2 = 20%) or quickly type a percentage (such as “38” for 38%). Press 0 to set the opacity to 100% or 00 to set it to 0%.

Using the lock options

The Lock Transparent Pixels button on the Layers panel prevents or allows the editing of transparent pixels by any command or tool. In these steps, you will use this feature with the Brush tool, just to learn how it works in practice.

To limit edits by locking transparent pixels

1. Click an image layer (not an editable type layer) that contains some transparent pixels.

2. Choose the Brush tool (B or Shift-B). To change the brush diameter, press [ or ].

3. Show the Swatches panel, then click a color.

4. On the Layers panel, click the Lock Transparent Pixels button, then draw a few brush strokes in the document.C Only nontransparent pixels will be recolored.

C With the Lock Transparent Pixels option on, our brush strokes can recolor only nontransparent pixels.

5. Deactivate the Lock Transparent Pixels button by clicking it again or by pressing /.

6. Apply a few more brush strokes to the layer. Note that both transparent and opaque parts of the layer can be recolored.D

D With Lock Transparent Pixels off, our brush strokes can recolor transparent and opaque pixels.

To prevent layer characteristics from being edited, there are three other lock options on the Layers panel, in addition to the Lock Transparent Pixels button.

To lock one or more layers or a layer group

1. Select one or more layers or a layer group.

2. Click any of the following:

The Lock Image Pixels button prevents image layer pixels from being edited, such as by filters or brush strokes. Note: You can still move or restack the layer or change its layer style settings (blending mode, opacity, and effects).

The Lock Position button locks only the location of the layer. The layer content (e.g., pixels, type characters) can be edited as usual.

The Lock All button prevents the layer from being moved and edited (both of the above).A Unlike the other lock options, this button is also available for layer groups.

A When the Lock All button option is activated for a layer, the padlock icon is black.

When a lock button is activated for a layer, a padlock icon displays next to the layer name.

Choosing Layers panel options

To choose thumbnail options for the Layers panel

Right-click any layer thumbnail and choose any of the following:

Small Thumbnails, Medium Thumbnails, or Large Thumbnails. Note: Turning off thumbnails by choosing No Thumbnails can help boost Photoshop’s performance, but frankly, it’s pretty darn hard to work productively without them.

Clip Thumbnails to Layer Bounds to preview, in the panel thumbnails, only the layer content,B or Clip Thumbnails to Document Bounds to preview the layer content relative to the document.

B For Layers panel display options, we chose Large Thumbnails and Clip Thumbnails to Layer Bounds.

You can assign a color to the area behind the visibility icons to categorize your layers or make them easier to identify (or just to make the panel look pretty).

To color-code a layer

Click a layer (or Ctrl-click/Cmd-click multiple layers), then right-click the layer thumbnail or listing and choose a color label from the context menu.C

C Click a layer, then from the context menu, choose a color.

Filtering listings on the Layers panel

When you first start working in Photoshop, your Layers panel may look relatively spare, but before you know it, you will be adding image, adjustment, and type layers, Smart Filters, and layer styles, and the number of listings will grow considerably. Finding the layers you need will require you to either scroll in the panel (pain in the butt) or enlarge the panel to display all the listings (takes up too much screen space).A Using the filtering features, you can reduce the listings that display on the panel at a given time to just the categories of layers you need to work on.

A This is the Layers panel for the image shown above, with all the listings showing (unfiltered).

To filter the listings on the Layers panel

At the top of the Layers panel, do either of the following:

Set the Filter Type menu to the default option of Kind, then click the Filter for Pixel Layers, Filter for Adjustment Layers (A–B, next page), Filter for Type Layers, Filter for Shape Layers, or Filter for Smart Objects button. Only layers in that chosen category will display. If desired, you can click additional filter buttons to display more layer categories.

A We clicked the Filter for Pixel Layers button: Only image layers are displaying.

B We also clicked the Filter for Adjustment Layers button: Now both image and adjustment layers are displaying.

From the Filter Type menu, choose Name, Effect, Mode, Attribute, or Color, then choose a criterion from the adjacent menu (C–F, next page) or, in the case of the Name option, start typing a word that appears in one or more layer names. For example, to display only layers that contain a layer mask, choose Attribute from the Filter Type menu and Layer Mask from the second menu; or to display only layers that don’t contain layer effects, choose No Layer Effects from the second menu. See also the sidebar on the next page.

C We chose Attribute from the Filter Type menu and Visible from the second menu: Only layers that have a visibility icon display.

D We assigned colors to most of the layers.

E We chose Color from the Filter Type menu and Yellow from the second menu.

F We chose Effect from the Filter Type menu and Drop Shadow from the adjacent menu.

To turn off layer filtering

In the upper-right corner of the Layers panel, click the Layer FIltering On/Off button.

• If you turn layer filtering back on, the last filtering settings will be reinstated.

Merging layers

The merge commands — Merge Down, Merge Layers, and Merge Visible — merge two or more selected layers into the bottommost of the currently selected layers. You can apply any of these commands periodically during the editing process to reduce the file size of your document, or to reduce unnecessary clutter on the Layers panel.

Note: Compare the merge commands with the Flatten Image command (see page 150), which is normally applied to a copy of a file as a final step before output.

To merge select layers

1. Do one of the following:

Click the upper layer of two layers to be merged.A The bottom one must be an image layer or the Background; it can’t be fully locked (the Lock All button must be deactivated) and it can’t be a group.

A We clicked the “violin” layer.

Ctrl-click/Cmd-click multiple layers. The layers can be solo, within a group, or a combination thereof.

Click a group. (All the layers in the group will be merged — but just with one another.)

Note: You can merge an adjustment layer into an image layer, but you can’t merge adjustment layers into one another. If you merge a shape layer, an editable type layer, or a Smart Object, it will be rasterized into the underlying image layer.

2. Do either of the following:

Right-click the selected layer or group, or one of the selected layers, and choose Merge Down, Merge Layers, or Merge Group from the context menu.

Press Ctrl-E/Cmd-E (use this method for a type layer).B

B We chose the Merge Down command, which merged the “violin” layer into the “trumpet” layer.

Notes: If only one layer is selected and you merge it down into an underlying layer that contains a layer mask, an alert dialog will appear. Click Preserve to keep the mask editable, or click Apply to apply the mask effect but discard the mask. If you merge a group, the group icon will disappear from the panel.

• To merge an editable type layer into a shape layer, or vice versa, select them both, then choose the Merge Layers command.

The Merge Visible command merges all the currently visible layers into the bottommost visible layer while preserving any hidden layers. By hiding the layers you don’t want to merge before choosing this command, you can control which ones will be merged.

To merge all visible layers

1. Make sure only the layers you want to merge are visible (have eye icons), and hide any layers (including the Background, if desired) that you don’t want to merge.A

A In this document, we hid the Background because we didn’t want our layers to merge into it.

2. Right-click one of the visible layers (not a type layer) and choose Merge Visible (Ctrl-Shift-E/Cmd-Shift-E).B

B The Merge Visible command merged all the layers except the Background, which was preserved and stayed hidden.

Note: This sort of goes without saying, but if you merge down an editable type layer, shape, or adjustment layer, the specific features of that kind of layer (such as the font and other character settings for a type layer, or the settings for an adjustment layer) will no longer be editable.

Both of the commands in this task will copy and merge (“stamp”) two or more selected layers into a new layer in one step, while preserving the original, separate layers. This might come in handy, say, if you want to test some edits (such as filters or transformations) on multiple layers simultaneously; use one of these commands first, then apply your edits to the newly merged layer. The Note above also applies to these commands.

To copy and merge layers

Do either of the following:

Ctrl-click/Cmd-click the layers (not the Background) to be copied or merged into a new layer, then press Ctrl-Alt-E/Cmd-Option-E.

To copy and merge all the currently visible layers into a new layer, including the Background (if visible), click any visible layer, then press Ctrl-Alt-Shift-E/Cmd-Option-Shift-E.

• If layers and the Background are selected when you use the first shortcut listed above, content from the selected layers will be stamped into the Background, and no new layer will be created.

• For an alternative to the merge commands, see the sidebar on the preceding page.

• To create a document from a layer, from the Layers panel menu, choose Duplicate Layer. From the Document menu in the dialog, choose New, enter a document Name, then click OK. Save the new file.

Flattening layers

When you flatten all the layers in a document, you reduce its file storage size and free up space on your hard disk (see the sidebar at right). Flattening layers may also be a necessary step when preparing a file for output or export. At the present time, multiple layers are preserved only by the Photoshop PDF, Photoshop, Large Document Format, and TIFF formats (provided you keep the Layers option checked in the Save As dialog). If the application into which you’re planning to import your file doesn’t read or accept layers, you will have to create a flattened copy of it, as in these steps. Any transparency in the bottommost layer will be converted to fully opaque white.

To save a flattened copy of a document

1. Choose File > Save As (Ctrl-Shift-S/Cmd-Shift-S). The Save As dialog opens.

2. Do all of the following:

Change the file name.

Choose a location.

Uncheck Layers (the As a Copy option becomes checked automatically; keep it that way).

Choose a file format from the Format menu.

Click Save.

Note: The layered version will remain open; the flattened version will be saved to disk.

If you’re confident that your image is totally complete, finis, you can use the Flatten Image command instead of saving a flattened copy. This command merges all currently visible layers (including type, Smart Object, and adjustment layers) into the bottommost visible layer, rasterizes all type and shape layers, and applies all masks and layer styles. Note: This command discards all hidden layers!

To flatten all the layers in a document

1. Make sure all the layers and layer groups you want to flatten are visible (have eye icons).A It doesn’t matter which layer is selected.

A In this document, the “Bottles” layer is hidden.

2. Right-click any layer name (not a type layer) and choose Flatten Image.

3. If the file contains any hidden layers, an alert dialog will appear; click OK. Any formerly transparent areas in the bottommost layer are now opaque white.B

B The Flatten Image command flattened all the visible layers into the Background and discarded the hidden layer.