Explanation of Layers in Photoshop

Photoshop without layers

Explanation of layers in Photoshop

Before we look at what layers are and how to use them, let's first see what it would be like to work in Photoshop بدون Layers. This will make it easy to see why layers are important. We'll start by creating a new Photoshop document. To do this, go to the menu. a file " in a The menu bar along the top of the screen and select " new" :

This opens the new dialog box. There's no specific size we need for our document, but to keep us both on the same page, enter 1200 pixels للل عرض و 800 pixels للل Height . You can leave a value Precision set on 72 pixels / inch . Finally, make sure to set background contents” on the White So that the new document has a solid white background. Click OK when you're done closing the dialog. The new white filled document will appear on the screen:

Draw a square shape

Explanation of layers in Photoshop

Now that we have our new document ready to go, let's draw two simple shapes. First, we'll draw a square, and for that, we'll use one of Photoshop's basic marquee tools. Locate Rectangular Marquee Tool from above Tools panel On the left of the screen:

To draw a square using Rectangular Marquee Tool , click anywhere in the upper left of the document to set the starting point for the selection. Then, while still holding the mouse button, press and hold a key Shift Drag diagonally towards the bottom right. Normally, the Rectangular Marquee Tool draws free-form rectangular selections, but by pressing and holding the Shift key, we tell Photoshop to force the shape of the selection into a perfect square.

Once you've made the selection, release the mouse button, and then release the Shift key. It is very important that you release the mouse button first, ثم Shift , otherwise the perfect square will revert back to a freeform rectangle:

Now that we've drawn the selection outline, let's fill it with color. To do this, we'll use Photoshop's Fill command. Go up to a list Editing at the top of the screen and select fill :

This opens the Fill dialog box. Change an option Use at the top of the To dialog box Color :

Once you select the color, Photoshop will open color picker so we can choose the color we want to use. You can choose any color you like. I would choose a shade of red:

Click OK when you're done closing out of the Color Picker, then click OK to close out of the Fill dialog box. Photoshop fills the selection with the color I chose, which in my case was red:

We don't need our selection outline around the box anymore, so let's remove it by going to List selection at the top of the screen and choose Deselect :

Draw a circular shape

Explanation of layers in Photoshop

So far, so good. Now let's add the second shape to the document. We've already added a square, so let's mix things up a bit and add a round shape this time. Therefore, we will use a tool Another of the basic selection tools in Photoshop - Elliptical selection tool .

The Elliptical Marquee Tool nests behind the Rectangular Marquee Tool in the Tools panel. to select it, Right click (Win) / Control-click (Mac) on the Rectangular Marquee Tool, then choose the Elliptical Marquee Tool from the fly-out menu:

Let's draw the circular shape so that it overlaps the square. Click in the lower right corner of the box to set the starting point for the selection. Then, while still holding the mouse button, press and hold shift+alt (Win) / Shift+Option (Mac) on the keyboard and drag away from the starting point.

The Elliptical Marquee Tool usually draws elliptical selections, but by holding down the Shift key while dragging, we force the shape into a perfect circle. Holding Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) tells Photoshop to draw the shape out from the point we clicked at the beginning.

Drag the shape out so that it is about the same size as the square. When done, release the Shift key and the Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) key, and then release the mouse button. Again, make sure to release the keys first, ثم mouse button:

Once you've drawn your circular selection outline, go back to List Editing at the top of the screen and select fill Fills the selection with color. It must be an option the use The top dialog box Fill is already set to On Color Because that's what we set it to earlier. But if you simply click OK to close the dialog, Photoshop will fill the selection with the same color you chose last time, which isn't what we want.

We want a different color for the circular shape, so click on the word Color, then reselect Color from the list of options (I know it feels weird to select something that's already selected), at which point Photoshop will reopen it to color picker . Choose a different color this time. I will choose orange. Again, feel free to choose any color you like:

Click OK to close from the Color Picker, then click OK to close from the Fill dialog, at which point Photoshop fills the selection with color. To remove the selection outline from around the shape, go to List selection at the top of the screen and select Deselect , just like we did last time. We now have two shapes - a square and a circle - with the circle overlapping the square:

the problem…

Explanation of layers in Photoshop

We've drawn our shapes and everything looks cool. although…

Now that I've been looking for it for a while, I'm not sure I'm happy with something. See how the orange shape overlaps with the red color? I know I did it on purpose, but now I'm thinking it was a mistake. It might look better if the red shape was in front of the orange shape. I think I want to exchange it. That should be easy enough, right? All I have to do is grab the red and move it over the orange.

To do this, we...um...they. Wait a minute, how do we do that? I drew red, then drew orange, and now I just need to move the red in front of the orange. Seems easy enough, but... how?

The simple answer is, I can't. There is no way to move this red shape in front of the orange one because the orange one is not Oh really One red front at all. It's just an illusion. The orange shape simply cuts into the red shape, and that's it pixels which was initially colored red when I filled the square was changed to orange when I filled the circle.

In fact, the two figures do not sit still Oh really Also in front of the white background. Again, it is an illusion. The complete composition is nothing more than a photo flat one . Everything in the document — the square shape, the round shape, the white background — is glued together.

Let's take a look at Special Layers panel us to find out what's going on. The Layers panel is where we display the layers in our document. Note that even though we haven't looked at the layers yet, nor have we tried adding one ourselves, Photoshop has automatically created a default layer for us. The default class is called the background Because it serves as a background for our formation.

If we look to the left of the layer name, we see a thumbnail. that's it Preview image class. It shows us a small preview of what's on the layer. In this case, we see both shapes as well as the white background. Since we didn't add any more layers ourselves, Photoshop placed everything we've done so far on this default background layer:

And that's the problem. Everything we did was added to that one layer. With our entire composition on a single layer, we don't have many options if we want to change something. We can undo the way back through the steps to get to the point where we can make the change, or we can scrap the whole thing and start over. Neither of these options looks very attractive. There has to be a better way to work in Photoshop, one that will give us the freedom and flexibility to change our composition without having to undo a bunch of steps or start over.

Fortunately, there is! The solution is to use layers. Let's try the same thing, but this time with layers!

Take two, this time with layers

Explanation of layers in Photoshop

Now that we've seen what it's like to work in Photoshop without layers, let's see what layers can do for us. First, we'll remove the two shapes we added. Since everything is on one layer, we can do this easily by filling the layer with white.

Go up to a list Editing at the top of the screen and select fill once again . When the Fill dialog box appears, change an option Use From Color to White :

Click OK to close out of the dialog box. Photoshop fills the document with white, and we're back where we started:

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Layers panel

Explanation of layers in Photoshop

I mentioned a moment ago that the Layers panel is where we go to view the layers in our document. But in fact, the Layers panel She is much more than that. In fact, it's really the Command Central for layers. If something we need to do in Photoshop has to do with layers, the Layers panel is where we do it. We use the Layers panel to create new layers, delete existing layers, rename layers, move layers, turn layers on and off in the document, add layer masks and layer effects...the list goes on. This is all done from within the Layers panel.

As we've already seen, the Layers panel shows us that we currently have one layer in our document - background layer default. The preview thumbnail to the left of the layer name shows us that the background layer is filled with white:

When we initially added two shapes to the document, they were added to the background layer, which is why there was no way to move them independently of each other. Figures and white background are stuck together on a flat image. This way of working in Photoshop, where everything is added to a single layer, is technically known as "wrong" because when you need to go back and make changes, you run into a "problem" (another technical term). Let's see what happens if we create the same layout as before, but this time, we'll put everything on its own layer.

Our white background is already on the background layer, so let's add a new layer above it for our first shape. To add a new layer to the document, we simply click on an icon new layer At the bottom of the Layers panel (second icon from the right):

A new layer appears above the background layer. Photoshop automatically names the new layer Layer 1 . If we look at the preview thumbnail to the left of the layer name, we'll notice that it's filled In a checkerboard pattern . The checkerboard pattern is Photoshop's way of representing transparency. In other words, it tells us that the new layer is empty. It's there waiting for us to do something with it, but right now, there's nothing in it:

Note that Layer 1 is highlighted in blue. This means she active layer currently . Anything we add to the document at this point will be added to the active layer (Layer 1), not the Background layer below it. Let's add the first shape, just as we did before. Since our first shape was a square, we will again need a selection Rectangular tent tool from the Tools panel.

The Tools panel shows us the last tool we selected from the group. By “group,” I mean all the tools nested together in the same place. Since the last tool we selected from the group was the Elliptical Marquee Tool, its icon is the one currently visible in the Tools panel. To go back to the Rectangular Marquee Tool, we'll need the Right click (Win) / Control-click (Mac) Click on the Elliptical Marquee Tool, then choose Rectangular Marquee Tool from the fly-out menu:

With the Rectangular Marquee Tool handy, click and drag a square selection similar to the previous selection, and press and hold the Shift As you drag to force the shape into a perfect square. When done, release the Shift key, and then release the mouse button. Here, we see my selection chart:

Go up to a list Editing at the top of the screen and select fill . When the Fill dialog box opens, change an option Use To Color , then choose a color for the From box Color picker . I will choose the same red as I chose last time. Click OK to close out of the Color Picker, and then click OK to close out of the Fill dialog.

Photoshop fills the selection with the color you chose. To remove the selection outline from around the shape, go to List selection at the top of the screen and select Deselect (I'm running these steps quickly here simply because they are exactly the same as what we did earlier.) I now have my first shape filled in with red, just like I did before:

It doesn't seem like anything is different just by looking at the same configuration. We have a square shape sitting on a white background, just like we had last time. But the Layers panel now tells a different story. The preview thumbnails show us that the background layer is still filled with solid white, while the square is now in a completely separate layer (Layer 1) above it. This means that the white background and the square shape are no longer part of the same flat image. that it look As if they were in the document, but in fact they are two completely separate components:

Let's add the second figure. Again, we want to place it on its own layer, which means we first need to add another new layer to the document by clicking on the icon. new layer At the bottom of the Layers panel:

a new second layer appears, Tier 2 , above Layer 1. Normally, we like to rename our layers because names like "Layer 1" and "Layer 2" don't tell us anything about what's actually in each layer. But for our purposes here, automatic names are fine. Notice again that the checkerboard style in the preview thumbnail tells us that the new layer is currently empty:

Also notice that layer 2 is highlighted in blue, which means it is now the active layer. Anything we add next to the document will be added to layer 2. Get Elliptical selection tool From the Tools panel (nested behind the Rectangular Marquee tool) and drag a circular selection, just as we did before. Make sure that part of it overlaps the square. Then go back to the list Release "choose" fill" . reset the color ل Recruitment option to open color picker Choose the color of the shape. I would choose the same orange.

Click OK to close out of the Color Picker, and then click OK to close out of the Fill dialog. Photoshop fills the selection with color. go up to Determination menu and selection Deselect To remove outlines select from around the shape. Now, we're back to the way things looked earlier with both shapes added:

Looking in the Layers panel, we see that the square shape remains alone on Layer 1 while the new circular shape is placed on Layer 2. The white background remains on the Background layer, which means that all three elements that make up our document (the white background, the square shape, and the circular shape) are now In separate layers completely independent of each other:

Change the order of layers

Explanation of layers in Photoshop

Previously, when everything was on a single layer, we found that there was no way to move the square shape in front of the round shape because they weren't really two separate shapes. It was just areas of pixels of different colors mixed with areas of white pixels on the same flat image. But this time, with everything on its own layer, we actually have two separate shapes, along with a completely separate background. Let's see how we can use our layers to easily switch the order of the shapes.

At the moment, the round shape appears before the square shape in the composition because the round shape layer (Layer 2) Top Square shape layer (Layer 1) in the Layers panel. Imagine that you are looking at layers from top to bottom in the Layers panel you are looking at Via layers in the document. A layer appears on top of another layer in the Layers panel in front of it in the document. If the contents of two layers overlap each other, as our shapes do, then any layer will appear Down the other in the Layers panel behind The other layer in the composition.

This means that if we want to switch the order of the shapes so that the first square appears in front of the circular shape, all we have to do is move the square shape layer (Layer 1) above Round Shape Layer (Layer 2). To do this, just click on Layer 1,
Then hold the mouse button and drag it up and up Layer 2 until you see highlighter tape Landscape appears directly above Layer 2. The bar tells us where the layer will be moved to when we release the mouse button:

Go ahead and release your mouse button, and Photoshop will drop Layer 1 into place on top of Layer 2:

With the square-shape layer now above the round-shape layer, its order in composition has been reversed. The square shape now appears in front of the circular shape:

Without seams, it was not possible to slide one element in front of the other like this. But with everything in its own layer, it couldn't be easier. Layers keep everything separate, allowing us to make changes to individual elements without affecting the entire composition.

What if I later decide that, you know what? In fact, I liked it better than before. I want to move the circular shape so that it's back in front of the first square. Thanks to the layers, not a problem! Just as we can drag layers above other layers, we can also drag them below other layers.

I'll click on the square shape layer (Layer 1) and drag it back down below the round shape layer (Layer 2). Again, the highlight bar shows me where the layer will be moved to when I release the mouse button:

I'll release the mouse button so that Photoshop can drop layer 1 below layer 2:

And we return to seeing the circular shape in front of the first square in the composition:

Move layers

Explanation of layers in Photoshop

What if we really don't want the shapes to overlap each other? Perhaps they would look better if they were spaced apart. Again, since they are on separate layers, we can easily move them around.

To move the contents of the layer, select move tool In Photoshop from the top of the tools panel:

Next, make sure the correct layer is selected in the Layers panel. I'm going to move the round shape to the right of the square shape, so I'm going to click on the rounded shape layer (Layer 2) to select and animate it. Again, I know it's now the active layer because Photoshop highlights it blue when I click on it:

With Layer 2 selected, I'll click with the Move tool on the circular shape and drag it to the right of the square:

We can even animate both shapes at once. Therefore, we will need to select two layers for the shape at the same time. You have already selected Layer 2 in the Layers panel. To select Layer 1 as well, all I have to do is press and hold a key Shift and clicking Layer 1. The two layers are now highlighted in blue, which means they are selected:

With both layers selected, if we click and drag either of them with the Move tool, both shapes move together:

Delete layers

Explanation of layers in Photoshop

The last thing we'll look at in this tutorial is how to delete layers. If we decide we don't need a shape, we can remove it from the composition by simply deleting its layer. I'll click on the square layer (Layer 1) to select it. Then, to delete the layer, all we need to do is drag it onto the layer Trash Below the Layers panel (the icon on the far right):

With the square layer deleted, only the round shape remains in the document (along with the white background of course):

I'll do the same with the circular shape, and drag its layer down into the trash:

And now, with both shape layers deleted, we're back to nothing more than our solid white background: