I have had so many people asking me about working with layers in Adobe PhotoShop recently that I decided to put together the feature article this month based around the topic. I kind of thought a mini tutorial on working with layers in PhotoShop might go down well. I have aimed the tutorial at people who have basic experience with PhotoShop, remember though that if you are a novice and get a little lost, the help function in PhotoShop is a great aid.

Lets talk about layers. What are PhotoShop layers? Well, simply put, layers are independent images which you can manipulate, well, independently from each other. The only difference is that each layer forms only part of the overall image. If that all sounds like Greek to you, then think about having a checkered background image (like the picture below) and wanting to place some text on it. When you click on the "Text Tool" a new layer is automatically created. See the "T" layer in the picture below. Notice there are two layers in the layer palette, the background and the text layer, yet both form part of the overall image.

The most important thing I can stress at this point is to always name your layers appropriately. PhotoShop names text layers automatically, so we can forget about them. However, for ease of manipulation you really should name all the other layers in every file you create because it makes working with layers so uncomplicated. I have created files with fifty layers . imagine the difficulties if none of the layers were named? I also have to delve into my archives a lot, as customers change their minds and their addresses etc., so having "named" layers makes the transition back to my mind-set at the time of creation a straightforward experience. Okay, I'll step down from the soap box now and move on with the tutorial.

I'm going to use the checkered background I've already created but we will have to add quite a few layers to make the overall image. Firstly, we will need to create a "shape" to put other images into. As it is always wise to create a new layer before starting further work on an image lets click "Layer" "New Layer" and name it "Shape". Your layer palette should look like the picture here.

Make sure you click on the "shape" layer in the layer palette then draw a rectangle of any size using the "Rectangular Marquee" tool. Use the "Bucket Fill" tool to 'fill in' the rectanglular selection. Click on the "Rectangular Marquee" tool again and move the rectangular selection down and to the right, then hit the "delete" key. You should now have something like the picture here.

Hold the CTRL key down and press 'D', this will remove the selection from the image. Now I want you to make a copy of the "shape" layer. To do this, click "Layer" then "Duplicate Layer" then "OK". Your new layer will be called "shape copy" automatically .

Now we're going to manipulate the "shape copy" layer, so make sure you have "shape copy" selected in the layers palette. We want a mirror image of the original shape, so select "Edit", then "Transform", then "Rotate 180°". Now select the "move key" and move the "shape copy" down and to the right. This should leave you with something like the picture below.

We need another new layer, so click "Layer" then "New Layer", key in "Square" then press "OK". Your new layer should appear in the Layer Palette. I want you to draw another rectangle using the "Rectangular Marquee " tool and use the "Bucket Fill" tool again, so you end up with an image like this one below.

What we're going to do now is fill these three shape layers with an image, using the "Paste Into" command. First of all though we have to select the three shapes. Hold the CTRL key down and click on the "shape" layer in the layer palette. You will see the first shape is selected in the image. Now to add the other two shapes. Click on the "Magic Wand" tool and highlight the "shape copy" layer in the layer palette. Hold the SHIFT key down and click the shape copy in the image with the "Magic Wand". If you have done this correctly both the original "shape" and the "shape copy" will be highlighted. Now select the "square" layer in the layer palette. Again, hold the SHIFT key down and using the "Magic Wand" click on the square in the image. Now all three shapes should be selected just like in the image below.

 

Okay, we've successfully selected our shapes. We now need to open another file to use as the "fill". I'm going to use an image full of flowers, but you open any image you have available. Once the new image is open, hold the CTRL key down and press the "a" key. This will select the entire image. Now hold the CTRL key down and press the "c" key. This will copy the entire image. Close the file you have just copied. Now we are back in our experimental image with the three shapes still selected click "Edit" then "Paste Into" and watch what happens. The second image is displayed in your three shapes and you have another new layer in the Layer Palette called "Layer 1". Of course we will double click this layer straight away and rename it "flowers" so we don't forget just what is there. You probably will have noticed that this layer is a little different to the others as there is not only the flower image but the shapes appear blacked out. This layer is what is known as a "Layer Mask". Simply put, only the shapes "masked" area will show through the rest remains hidden, unless we want it shown of course.

 

If the image you have used is a little large or a little small select "Edit" then "Transform" then "Scale" and adjust the size of the image to suit the "shapes" area. Alternatively, you may just want to experiment with moving the new image around inside the shape "mask". Select the "flowers" layer in the Layer Palette then select the "Move" key from the Tool Palette and you can freely move the new image around inside the "mask".

Lets enhance the shapes a little using "Layer Styles". Click on the "square" layer in the Layer Palette, then click on the "add a layer style" button at the bottom of the palette. Select "stroke" and this will open the "Layer Style" menu. The default "stroke" colour is red, if you want another colour double click on the red colour patch. This opens the colour selection palette, select a new colour and click OK. Click OK again and your "square" shape has a nice border around the edge. Now add a "drop shadow" to the "square" layer using the "add a layer style" button. Once you are happy with the look of your layer styles on the "square" layer add the same styles to your other two shape layers. Right-Click on the "square" layer in the layer palette and click "copy layer style". Then Right-Click on the "shape" layer in the layer palette and select "paste layer style". You will see the drop shadow and the stroke appear on the "shape" layer. Repeat this on the "shape copy" layer and you should end up with something like the picture below.

 

Okay lets add some text. Select the "Horizontal Type Tool" from the "Tools Palette" and click anywhere inside the image and start typing. If your font size is too small, select the text layer (remember we don't have to rename text layers as PhotoShop automatically names them) and then hold the CTRL key down and press "a". Once all the text is selected adjust the font size or the font face from the menu near the top of the screen. Why not try experimenting with layers styles on the text or rotating the text so it slants upwards slightly (use "Edit", "Transform", "Rotate").

 

I'm going to leave you to experiment with the layers you've created. Congratulations you have taken the first step in learning a little about working with layers in PhotoShop. My final image has nine layers ... do you see what I mean about naming them appropriately?

You can download the PSD file here.