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Technique 15: Working with and Organizing Layers
Save Time By
Color coding layers
Locking layers
Creating layer sets
Layers are one of Photoshop’s fundamental building blocks. You simply can’t work in Photoshop without using at least a layer or two (or sometimes 60). If you aren’t using the full power of layers, you should. If you use layers all the time, how do you keep them organized?If you’re asking, “What are layers?” here’s a brief rundown. (If layers are as familiar as the back of your hand, skip this paragraph and the next one, too.) Imagine that you have three pieces of clear window glass and three colored markers, say orange, black, and red. In your mind, take the orange marker and scribble on the first piece of glass. Next, take the black marker and scribble on the second piece of glass. Then, take the red marker and scribble on the third piece of glass. You now have three pieces of glass with a different colored scribble on each one. Take the three pieces of glass and place them one on top of the other with the orange scribble on the bottom, the black scribble in the middle, and the red scribbled glass on top. As you look through the glass you see three different scribbles. If you want to erase some of the red scribble, you can do so because the red scribbled glass is on top. But, notice that if you want to change the orange scribble, you have to reshuffle the deck of glass to get to it because it’s on the bottom. Also, any change that you make to a scribble on one piece of glass affects only that piece of glass. The other scribbles are separate and don’t change.Each layer is like one piece of clear glass. The different colored scribbles are your drawings, brush strokes, type, or whatever on each layer. You can activate layers individually and edit the contents of a layer without affecting any of the other layers. Layers are great for trying out something (you can always toss a layer in the trash) or separating different parts of an image. (For instance, you can group all your type layers into one layer set.) Layers are listed in the Layers palette in a stacking order — the layer at the top of the list is in front of the layer stack, and the layer at the bottom of the list is at the back. (For a more detailed explanation of layers and how they work, take a look at Photoshop cs For Dummies by Deke McClelland and yours truly, published by Wiley.)
Figure 15-1 shows a drawing of a hip cat surfing a wave. The Layers palette shows that the drawing is made up of three layers: Surf Cat, Surf Board, and Wave. Figure 15-2 shows each layer separately. When these three layers are viewed at the same time, you see the entire composite image. Notice how the layers are stacked in the Layers palette. The Wave layer is on the bottom, so it is in the back of the image. The Surf Board is next up in the stacking order, so it appears on top of the Wave layer. And, finally, the Surf Cat is at the top of the list, so it’s on top of the surfboard. If I moved the Surf Board layer to the top of the stacking order, the surfboard would hide the cat’s feet in the picture.
Figure 15-1: Notice how the separate layers are stacked in the Layers palette and the order in which they appear in the image.
Figure 15-2: The checkerboard areas of the separate layers indicate transparency.
Granted, the surf cat example has only three layers. But, what happens when you start working with more layers? Anytime that I have more than ten layers, I find that it gets confusing unless I group and color code the layers. This technique shows you the ins and outs of working with layers, changing stacking order, color coding layers, and grouping layers into layer sets.
