Photoshop cs5 by steve Johnson part 18 pps

If you want to move a selection, you can drag the selec-tion marquee, even if the layer is hidden New !.. Hold down the Ctrl Win or A Mac key, and then click on the image thumbnail of th

Photoshop's traditional layers basically function like sheets of transpar-ent acetate or clear plastic Once created, they support all of

Photoshop's painting tools, as well as shape and gradient tools While traditional layers may start out transparent, they don't remain that way for long In fact, a layer can, over time, become a complicated mix of non-transparent (the image), and transparent areas It's also possible you might want to make a selection out of that complicated image

Photoshop knows this and gives you an easy way to create a selection from a layer If you want to move a selection, you can drag the selec-tion marquee, even if the layer is hidden (New !)

Creating a Selection

from a Layer

Create a Selection from a Layer

Select the Layers panel.

Hold down the Ctrl (Win) or A

(Mac) key, and then click on the

image thumbnail of the layer you

want create into a selection Be

sure you click on the image

thumbnail, not the layer name as

you would have in previous

versions

The visible portions of the image

on the layer are created into a

selection

IMPORTANT Since Photoshop

creates the selection based on the

image information, there must be

transparent and non-transparent

areas within the image or the

command selects the entire layer

as if you had clicked the Select

menu, and then clicked All

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Selection based on the visible portions of the layer.

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On the previous page, you learned how to create a selection based on the image information within a layer In addition to creating a selection from a layer, Photoshop gives you the ability to instantly create a layer from a selection Creating layers from selections opens up all kinds of opportunities for generating special effects For example, you could select an object from one layer, and then make a layer with that selec-tion, or you could make a selection of just that portion of an image and then apply a layer style to the new layer copy The possibilities are end-less, and part of the fun of using Photoshop lies in exploring those possibilities If you want to move a selection, you can drag the selec-tion marquee, even if the layer is hidden (New !)

Creating a Layer from

a Selection

Create a Layer from a Selection

Select the Layers panel.

Click on the layer containing the

information you want to convert

into a layer

Select an area of the image using

any of Photoshop's selection tools

Press Ctrl+J (Win) or press A+J

(Mac) to make a copy

Photoshop converts the selected

area into a new layer, and places

that layer directly above the active

layer

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Select the red ant Copy made from selection

Did You Know?

You can make a copy of all elements

within a layer Select the layer in the

Layers panel, and then click Ctrl+J

(Win), A+J (Mac) Since there are no

selections, Photoshop creates a copy

of the entire layer

You can make copies of layer objects

without a selection To make a copy of

a layer that contains an object, select

the layer in the Layers panel, select the

Move tool, hold down the Alt (Win) or

Option (Mac) key, and then click and

drag (in the document window)

The Background layer serves a unique function in Photoshop Since some layout programs do not support Photoshop's multiple layer and transparency capabilities, a final image must sometimes be converted

into a background layer by a process called flattening When an image

is flattened, all of the document’s layers are compressed into a single layer in the Layers panel, named Background That means no more lay-ers, no more transparency, and no more control Background layers are

a necessary evil because Photoshop does not stand alone, and it's sometimes necessary to move images from Photoshop into other appli-cations However, there are times you may start with an image that only contains a Background layer (for example, when working with original images from a digital camera, scanned images, or images from a photo

CD or DVD) and you want to apply transparency, blending modes, or other adjustments to it that cannot be applied to a Background layer In that case, you will need to convert the Background into a traditional Photoshop layer

Converting a

Background into

a Layer

Convert a Background

Select the Layers panel.

Double-click on the Background to

open the New Layer dialog box

◆ You can also click the Layer

menu, point to New, and then

click Layer From Background.

Rename the layer in the Name box

(leave the other options at their

default values)

Click OK.

The Background is converted into

a traditional layer

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New layer from

a background

Convert a Multi-Layered

Document into a Background

Select the Layers panel.

Click the Layers Options button,

and then click Flatten Image.

The multi-layered document is

compressed into a single-layer

Background

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Multiple layers compressed into a single-layer Background

6 separate layers plus the Background

Did You Know?

You can create a composite image of a

multi-layered document without

flat-tening the image Create and select a

new layer, and then hold down the Alt

(Win) or Option (Mac) key Now, go to

the Layers panel, click the Layers

Options button, and then click Merge

Visible Photoshop creates a composite

of all the visible layers in the new layer

You now have the control and flexibility

of a multi-layered document, along

with a separate composite layer

Control gives you the confidence to be

more creative

See Also

See “Using Merge Layer Options” on

page 116 for more information on how

to merge two or more layers without

flattening all the layers

When you work on multi-layered documents, it's important to under-stand the options Photoshop gives you to control image information For example, working on a document that contains 20 layers is a difficult proposition Fortunately, Photoshop gives you complete control over the document; everything from layer names to locking pixel information is available in Photoshop's bag of image-control tricks For example, when linking two layers together, you can move or resize the layers at the same time, thus saving valuable time Let's explore some of the ways you can control image information with the Layers panel

Controlling Image

Information Using the

Layers Panel

Control Image Information

Select the Layers panel, and then

use one of the following options:

◆ Layer Name To name a layer,

double-click on the current

layer name, type a new name,

and then press Enter (Win) or

Return (Mac)

◆ Show/Hide To temporarily hide

or show a layer (make its

contents invisible or visible in

the document window), click

the Eyeball button, located in

the Show/Hide box.

◆ Linking To link two or more

layers, hold the Shift key and

click the layers you want to

link, and then click the Link

Layers button (located at the

bottom left of the Layers panel)

The link icon indicates the

layers are linked Linking lets

you move or resize the layers

as a unit

◆ Locking The four available

locking options are: Lock

Transparent Pixels, Lock Image

Pixels, Lock Position, and Lock

All

◆ Stacking Order To change the

position of a layer in the stack,

drag the layer up or down A

dark line appears as a visual

cue to indicate the new layer

location

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Lock options

Linking

Stacking order:

the position of the layers within the panel.

Layer name Show/Hide

Photoshop documents typically contain multiple layers One web survey concluded that Photoshop designers tend to create documents with an average of 14 layers Controlling layers is an important aspect of design, because the more control you maintain, the more organized you are, and the better your design will be But what about controlling lay-ers across multiple documents? For example, you're working on a design, and you need access to some additional image information The only problem is that the additional information is located in another Photoshop document Photoshop gives you the ability to move layers between open documents

Moving Layers

Between Documents

Move Layers Between

Documents

Open the documents in which you

want to move layers

To have more than one document

in view, click the Window menu,

point to Arrange, and then click

Cascade or Tile.

Click on the document containing

the layer you want to move

Drag the layer from the Layers

panel into the window of the

receiving document

Photoshop creates a new layer

with a copy of the image

information from the other

document

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Moon layer

New layer from donor document

Did You Know?

You can control the position of the

moved layer Hold down the Shift key

while dragging the layer into the other

document Photoshop aligns the new

layer to the center of the receiving

document

You can move selected portions of a

layer Select the area you want to

move, click the Move tool, and then

drag the selected area directly from

the document window into the window

of the receiving document