Understanding Layers

Layer Panel

When you work in essential workspace, it is available by default. If not visible you can simply click on F7 key on the keyboard.

Components of the Layer Panel

Let's understand all the components and different types of Layers:

Thumbnail: A thumbnail is a small picture having the content of the layer. It can be seen on the layer.

Layer Group: Layers can be grouped by placing them into a folder. A layer group is a folder that has multiple layers.

Type Layer: The Type layer is a layer that can be edited, such as the text layer.

Layer Style: The Layer style is a layer that has some effects. We can click on the eye icon to turn the layer style on or off. The layer style options can be seen by double-clicking on the layer.

Layer Mask: The Layer mask is an essential part of a layer for non-destructive editing. It is used to paint on the mask to show and reveal the image components.

Smart Object: A smart object is a special layer or a container that holds multiple layers, vectors, video, raw files, 3D, etc., types of objects.

Background Layer

The background layer is a default layer in every image which is behind the image content. It is also known as the invisible layer because, by default, it is locked; to work on it, we will need to unlock it. The background layer is useful to make an image transparent or change the background of an image. While creating an image, we can also choose a transparent background; it will add a transparent background layer.

Understanding background layer.

Adjustment Layer: The adjustment Layer is a layer having some customizations such as colors or tone of all the layers underneath it. It will only affect the layers underneath it and avoids other layers.

First, we need to open an image. To open an image, stroke the Ctrl+ O keys and select the image from your local storage. It will open in our workspace.

Now, we can see the image is opened in a default layer. It is a hidden layer. We can double-click on the lock icon to extract it from the image.We can name this layer; by default, it will be named as Layer 0. To extract it from the image, click ok. To confirm the extraction, select a layer, drag the image, and move it .

Adding a new Layer

Photoshop is an advanced photo editor; usually, it will create a new layer when we choose a new tool and start something drawing on it.

For example, if we select the text tool and add some text to the image, it will add that text in a new layer. Consider the below image:

We have added some text; Photoshop has automatically created a new layer and add that text on a new layer named Layer 1. The main benefit of adding text in a new layer is that we can easily manage that text without affecting the image content. We can edit and move the layer if needed.

If we manually want to add a new layer, we can do so by clicking on the new layer icon given at the bottom of the layer panel (Highlighted in the above image) or hitting the Ctrl + Shift + N keys. It will prompt for a new layer, provide a layer name and click Ok to create. We can define the opacity, color, color modes of this layer. Later, in other sections, we will discuss them in detail.

Now, we can add content such as text, images, colors, etc., to this layer.

Deleting a Layer

Deletion of a layer is a straightforward process like adding a new layer. To delete a layer, right-click on a layer and select the delete option or navigate to the layer panel and look for the delete icon at the bottom of the panel.

It will ask for the confirmation of deleting the layer; click Yes to continue.

We can also hit the Delete key to delete with confirmation. It will not ask for confirmation. We can select multiple layers by holding the shift key and clicking on the layer.

Anytime you want your layer back, you can undo operations using Ctrl + Alt + Z keys.