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Layers

The next of our Photoshop for beginners tutorials introduces Layers, which is a most important feature in Photoshop for all users. Different parts of an image can be put on separate layers and stacked on top of each other.

This is very much how traditional animation and cartoon films are made.
There would be a background, hills in the distance, trees and many characters. Each element would be on a separate sheet of acetate so that they could all be moved and be treated independently of each other.

  • Go to Window in the top menu bar and drop down to
    Layers (Window > Layers).

  • To download the practice images for these Photo shop tutorials, Click Here.

    photoshop layers palette

  • Open image number 01.jpg in the samples package. The new Layers palette now shows the sketch pad image as a small thumbnail image and is called Background.

  • Go to Layer in the top menu bar; drop down to New and in the next menu that appears, go to Layer (Layer > New > Layer).

    In the dialogue box that appears, leave the name as Layer 1 and click OK. You now have a clear layer which you can work on without interfering with the original.

    The new layer is also highlighted which means it is active and any action you do will come out on that layer alone.
    The little eye in the left column means that layer is visible. Clicking on that eye hides the layer.

  • Select the Brush Tool in the toolbox, choose a brush size via the options bar, and rattle off a quick Picasso over the sketch pad image.

  • If you want to remove everything on Layer 1, the whole layer can be deleted.
    Drag the layer on to the Trash icon at the bottom of the palette and it will be deleted. A new layer can be created for a fresh start.

  • Individual parts of your new creation can be removed with the Eraser tool.

  • There is virtually no limit to how many layers and image can have. Placing different parts of an image on separate layers gives great control over the appearance of the image.



Tip
An easier way to move the image around the screen is to hold down the Space bar. The cursor now changes to a hand symbol which will grab the image to enable you to move it around.



Back to the top of the Layers tutorial

Brush Tool
 Color Picker
 Layers
Clone Stamp Tool
 Marquee Tools
 Lasso Tools, Quick Mask Mode
 Magic Wand Tool

Home Page


footer for layers page