Tài liệu Photoshop cs5 by Dayley part 43 ppsx

All about LayersIN THIS CHAPTER The Layer menus The Layers panel Adding layers Adding layer effects Masks When you open an image in Photoshop for the first time, that image is one layer,

All about Layers

IN THIS CHAPTER

The Layer menus The Layers panel Adding layers Adding layer effects Masks

When you open an image in Photoshop for the first time, that image is

one layer, just as if you’d laid a photo out on a table When you add things to that image such as text or another image, think of it as put-ting a transparency containing those items over the original image Rather than

destroying the integrity of the image, you are simply adding layers to it to change

the way it looks That’s exactly how the Layers panel works You can keep

stack-ing up the layers to change the way your image looks, and those layers don’t

have to contain objects; they can be composed of a filter or style Meanwhile,

your original image is still available to you in its original, unaltered state

That’s the basics, anyway Of course, because this is the digital world of

Photoshop, a great idea has gotten so much better over time Everything

from changing the settings of filters that were added months ago to

animat-ing is all part of the Layers panel in Photoshop CS5, and havanimat-ing a good, solid

understanding of how it all works is essential to your Photoshop success

A basic understanding of the Layers panel including the icons and menu

options is a good place to start Then I show the different kinds of layers you

can add I end the chapter by showing you everything you need to know

about layer masks After you’ve been introduced to the Layers panel, you’ll

be ready to get into the meat of what Photoshop is all about—image

correc-tion and special effects, where the Layers panel is used constantly

Working with Layers

Although I am going to show you the ins and outs of the Layers panel and how to add special effects and adjustment layers later in this chapter, I want to start by diving right in and showing you what it looks like when you have multiple layers in your document and how to work with those layers

Understanding multiple layers

Figure 10.1 shows a type layer on top of an image layer This is about as basic as two layers get As you can see in the photo, the type layer is opaque so the image can’t be seen through it

FIGURE 10.1

Two different layers in the Layers panel

Look at the Layer menu Each layer is represented by a thumbnail and a row in the Layers panel The layer at the bottom of the list—the image, in this case—is the layer that is on the bottom of the “trans-parencies.” All the layers placed above it cover it in some way, and the hierarchy goes from there

The image in Figure 10.1 is a background layer When you open a new image in Photoshop, it automatically becomes the background layer A background layer is locked, so you can’t make any

changes to the layer and it can’t be moved; it is always the bottom layer You can make the back-ground layer into a regular layer by double-clicking it and giving it a name You also can create a background layer from a regular layer by choosing Layer ➪ New ➪ Background from Layer

Tip

Although you can find options for working with layers in both the Layer menu and the Layers panel menu, I

like to take a shortcut by right-clicking individual layers This pops up a menu that has more specific options

for that particular layer For instance, a Type layer pops up a menu that includes all the Type options and none

of the Smart Object options n

The text is a type layer, as evidenced by the T in the layer thumbnail In order to make changes to

it, it must be selected by clicking the thumbnail and highlighting it in the Layers panel Then you can use the tools or Layer menu options to make changes

Note

Probably the most frustrating aspect of layers for the new user, and even admittedly for those of us who have

been around the block a time or two, is that you can’t make any changes to a layer unless it is selected in the

Layers panel I’ve done it many times—tried to move or make changes to a layer and nothing happens or the

wrong layer is affected Keep this rule in the back of your mind, and it soon becomes a habit to check the

Layers panel to make sure the correct layer is selected before trying any changes n

After you’ve turned your background layer into a standard layer, you can swap layers by dragging and dropping them above or below one another as shown in Figure 10.2 Of course in this exam-ple, with the text layer on the bottom, it is no longer visible in the image

FIGURE 10.2

You can move layers around by dragging and dropping them in the Layers panel

Speaking of visibility, the “eye”cons next to the layers indicate that they are visible Click the eye next to either layer and the visibility is turned off, as if the layer never existed It can’t be seen or changed until the visibility is turned back on

Adding new layers

Layers can be created in many different ways; adding additional images to your document, turning selections into layers, and adding text or shapes to your document are only a few of these ways As you add each new layer, it is placed at the top of the hierarchy You can, of course, move it from there

I show you how to add layers that change your image such as adjustments or layer styles later in this chapter Smart Objects are another area of layers that requires its own section In this section, I show you the basics of adding new elements to your document as separate layers These new ele-ments can be another image, text or shape layers, or a selection

Adding another document as a new layer

If you are combining two or more documents into one image either by merging them or by creat-ing a photo collage, addcreat-ing additional documents as new layers to your original document couldn’t

be easier There are four easy ways of doing so:

l Use File ➪ Place: With the original document open, choose File ➪ Place to open the Place

dialog box, where you can browse to the file you want to add as an additional layer and open it It is placed in your original document as a new layer, and you have the option of resizing or rotating it before accepting the placement

l Use Mini-Bridge: Use the Mini-Bridge panel to find the image that you want to bring in

as a new layer and drag it from Mini-Bridge into your document The new image is placed

as a new layer into your original document, and you have the option of resizing or rotat-ing it before acceptrotat-ing placement You can place images in the same way usrotat-ing the full Bridge application as well

l Copy and paste: You can copy and paste documents into one another as additional

lay-ers Open the document with which you want to make a second layer Use Ctrl/Ô+A to select all Use Ctrl/Ô+C to copy your selection Open the document that you want to paste the selection in Use Ctrl/Ô+V to paste the previous document into the new one

This method has a drawback from the previous two placement methods because your new layer is imported into your document at its original size In order to resize it, you need to Choose Edit ➪ FreeTransform

l Move layers between documents: This used to be the easiest method when the

docu-ment windows floated in Photoshop Now that they are tabs, it is a little bit trickier, because at least one of the documents needs to be in a floating window for this to work If you are working with tabs, choose Window ➪ Arrange ➪ Float in Window to float your selected document in a separate window Click the image layer of the document you want

to move, and drag it to the original document as shown in Figure 10.3 The layer is copied from the first document into the second This option is especially beneficial if you want to move more than one layer, because all the selected layers can be moved at the same time

These layers are placed as their original size

FIGURE 10.3

You can drag and drop a layer, or even multiple layers, between documents

Adding text or shapes as a new layer

Adding text or shapes as layers in your document is a no-brainer, because when you use the Text

or Shape tools, a new layer is automatically created with these elements on it These layers are identified by Photoshop as either a text or a shape layer, giving them a unique look, as well as their own menu options Text and shapes are covered in Chapter 17

Creating selections to make a new layer

Selections can be made in the document you are working on or in other documents to be copied and pasted into the original In Chapter 9, I show you how to export selections as new layers using the Refine Edge dialog box If you have a layer containing a selection in one document that you want to place into another document, you can move just that layer into your original document by dragging and dropping it You also can use the copy and paste commands to copy a selection and paste it as a new layer into the same document or a different one You don’t need a special paste command; using the paste command automatically creates a new layer

The Layer Menu and the Layers Panel Menu

As with any panel, tool, or dialog box in Photoshop, knowing the menu options available while working with layers is what gives you the power and versatility to make the Photoshop creations you’ve envisioned I’ve listed the menus here as a reference; they’ll be much easier for you to understand after you’ve read this chapter and worked at least a little bit with layers, but be sure to come back to them, because I guarantee you’ll find options you forgot about

When it comes to layers, two menus do all the work: the Layer menu, found in the menu bar above the document window, and a compact version in the Layers panel menu, found in the top-right corner of the Layers panel These menus have some identical options, but some options are found in one menu and not the other I start with the Layer menu, because it has the most options, and then move on to the options that are found only on the Layers panel menu

The Layer menu

The Layer menu, as shown in Figure 10.4, has these options for working with layers:

l New:

l Layer: Creates a new blank layer in the Layers panel.

l Background from layer: Turns the current layer into a locked background layer.

l Group: Creates a group in the Layers panel.

l Group from Layers: Creates a group in the Layers panel and adds all selected layers

to that group

l Layer via Copy: Creates a new layer containing the last item copied into the

clip-board

l Layer via Cut: Creates a new layer containing the last item cut.

l Duplicate Layer: Creates an exact copy of the layer that is selected

l Delete:

l Layer: Deletes the currently selected layer.

l Hidden Layers: Deletes any layers that have the visibility icon turned off.

l Layer Properties: Displays the name and associated color of the currently selected layer.

l Layer Style: Adds a new layer style to the currently selected layer Layer styles can be

anything from drop shadows to inner glows and are covered later in this chapter; I also discuss several of the Photoshop effects throughout the book

l Smart Filter: Allows you to make changes to any Smart Filters attached to the selected

layer Smart Filters are covered later in this chapter and used throughout the book