Layers, Got to Love Them – Basix
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Layers, Got to Love Them – Basix

on Jan 12th 2011 with 21 comments
Tutorial Details
  • Program: Adobe Photoshop
  • Difficulty: Beginner
  • Estimated Completion Time: 12 Minutes

Final Product What You'll Be Creating

Download Source Files
This entry is part 6 of 29 in the Photoshop Basix Session
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Are you new to Photoshop? Have you been trying to teach yourself the basics of Photoshop but have found the amount of educational material available on the net a bit overwhelming? As the world’s #1 Photoshop site, we’ve published a lot of tutorials. So many, in fact, that we understand how overwhelming our site may be to those of you who may be brand new to Photoshop. This tutorial is part of a 25-part video series demonstrating everything you will need to know to start working in Photoshop.

Photoshop Basix, by Adobe Certified Expert and Instructor, Martin Perhiniak includes 25 short video tutorials, around 5 – 10 minutes in length that will teach you all the fundamentals of working with Photoshop. Today’s tutorial, Part 6: Layers, Got to Love Them will explain how to work with layers, opacity, free transform, groups, and layer styles. Let’s get started!

 
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Martin is a Hungarian graphic designer, digital artist and an Adobe Certified Expert and Instructor (Design Master). He is currently teaching and working in London but usually travels around the UK and share his love for Adobe products and graphic design. You can follow him on his blog or on Twitter.  

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  • http://www.designioustimes.com Doink

    You can speed up even more layer accessing with the “Auto Select” feature of the Move Tool with “Layer” or “group” setting. When you click the picture, it will automatically expand the specific layer group. Very useful when there are tons of layers.

    However, it requires a bit more attention, just so you don’t click randomly on the canvas and expand all the layer groups :)

    • Mark

      So funny you bring that up about “Auto Select”, I just figured out last week I could do that and I’ve been using PS for years. Apparently not enough thou. I’m using CS5 but has this always been there?

      thanks,

      Mark

      • http://www.shaneparkerphoto.com Shane Parker

        Auto-select has been around forever. I HATE using it though. I’m used to selecting the correct layer manually so that no matter where I click and drag, I’m moving the object I expect to be moving. With auto-select activated, I always accidentally click on an object from another layer. That’s how Illustrator works, and it annoys me (folks who primarily use AI feel the opposite).

      • 7

        You can still create layers in illustrator. The default behavior though is to put everything on the single starting layer. It makes illustrator alot easier to get into for folks coming from photoshop, who’ve never used it much. Just make a new layer every time you want to be *sure* the object you’re working on is separate from anything else, and then lock that layer when you’re done working in it. You can even “drill down” in a layer that has layer groups and compound paths.

      • 7

        Also, on Auto-select:

        I prefer to use the ‘ctrl-click’ method to select a layer object sometimes, instead of looking through the hundreds of layers in a given document to find the one I want. I believe this is default behavior. I’m not positive what the mac equivalent keystroke is, probably command+click.

        You still have to be careful with this though, as anything in a layer group above the object you’re selecting, even if it’s behind a masked object that overlaps it, will not select. Instead, you’ll end up selecting the invisible portion of the masked object in the above layer group. I kinda wish photoshop was built to ignore masked portions of objects when utilizing the ctrl-click to select command.

    • Débora

      I don’t use Photohop at all, I’m really starting to know it now, but already while following this Basix series I get really annoyed trying to select the content of a layer by clicking on the image on the canvas. Great tip!! Maybe I won’t like it so much while working with many items and layers, but for now I think I’ll use it.

      Could you just show me where to reach this ‘Auto Select’ other than using the shortcut? I couldn’t find it. I just like to kinda know where the things and then embrace the shortcut.

      Thanks!!

  • trevor

    I do like your Tuts keep, thanks and keep them coming.

  • http://www.jineveeholic.com kevin

    I am pretty much comfortable using ctrl+clicking the pixel(image)

  • godbout

    excellent! learn so much with those tuts. thanks martin.

  • http://blofair.com/ John D Costa

    superb ! very helpful which um also learning huge from this site . i think its juzz awesome tutorial

  • Dublin

    Wonderful tut’s!
    I wish my college lecturers would be as interesting!

    Cheers,

  • Daniel

    This has summed up layers for me, I’ve seen heaps of screen casts on layers and they’ve provided a foundation but I can see it all in one screen cast on this site.

  • rk

    I knew a little bit about layers but you showed so much more in this small video. Thank you so much, please keep these videos coming, they are truly helpful and your effort/generosity is much appreciated!

  • http://www.wacowebdesign.be Danny

    These are very nice and complete tuts. Thx

  • Dora

    I really enjoy these tutorials, and I found this one really interesting!
    One question though: How that black background for the letters is created, and how are they combined (background+letters) so that they can be moved around together?
    My question may sound too simple, but I am REALLY a beginner. :)

    • MT

      Background was created with the rectangle tool, and the type layer is just above it. You can move them together if you select both layers from the layers panel by clicking one and control clicking the other. You can select as many layers as you want that way.

  • tg

    Hey:) I really like your videos! I just couldn’t find out how do you get stroke outside with square corners?

  • Hilary

    Hi, Martin! Thanks for all the wonderful tuts. I’m a PS beginner, and your videos are wonderfully helpful.

    At the end of this video, you mention that the viewer can practice working with layers in the PSD exercise file… Where is this file located?

    Thanks again, and please keep ‘em comin’!

    • Leonie

      There’s a button “Download Source Files” just beneath the Final Product image at the top of the page.

  • Fred

    many thanks, Martin. You doing a great job!

  • http://www.facebook.com/ichigo.kun.90 Alyusser Ahmed Sebihi

    thanks martin thanks a lot that helped me too much ^^,