Photoshop Tutorial for Fashion Design (Part 18)
Palettes: Layers Palette

At the top of the Layers palette you can set the layer blending mode. By default it’s Normal. Any other mode will change how the image is interacting with the layers below. You can see that as soon as I change the top layer mode from Normal, I no longer have a solid image. Its appearance depends on the blend I choose and the layers below it.

Next to the blending modes is Opacity. This function allows you to set the layer’s transparency. I often use it to show see-through materials.

Lock commands allow you to protect the layer from all or specific editing. If you recall from the Toolbox section, I locked transparency to use the eraser so that it would cover parts of the image using background color instead of deleting pixels completely. Whenever you use protection commands a padlock appears on the respective layer. To unlock, first make sure that the layer is selected and then click on the highlighted icon. You can see that padlock disappears.

In addition to transparency, you can lock image pixels. That will allow you to move the layer but will protect it from any editing like drawing, or deleting.

Lock Position does the opposite of Image Pixels: it allows you to draw, fill and delete, but it won’t let you move your layer around.

And finally Lock All will protect your layer from any kind of editing. At the bottom of the palette are a number of basic commands which allow you to delete a layer, create a new one, which is always transparent, and you can also use this icon to duplicate a layer. To do so, just click on the layer and drag it directly to the icon and it will copy the layer, its effects and properties. You can see that I got “Background copy 2″ with opacity of 73% and all the effects listed below.

The next icon allows you to create a group where you can place your layers. It’s a handy feature if you have a number of layers creating one image. For example, we have a presentation board with quite a few layers here. This is my source document and I prefer to have every image on a separate layer for easy editing. Like changing the background, changing stacking order: just click and drag to the desired location, removing items I don’t want or deciding which color tanktop to use in styling. The only problem is moving things around.

For example, I want to move my styled croqui. To do that, I would have to select the croqui layer, its hair, shoes, pants… (On a Mac, command-click to select multiple items, for Windows, hold the Control key and click on the layers you want to select). Basically I have to select the entire outfit, including hidden layers in case I change my mind. And only now can I move the entire styled croqui.

So you can imagine how happy I was when Adobe Photoshop offered grouping. To group, simply click and drag your selected layers directly into the New Group icon and Adobe Photoshop will place all your layers into one folder. Now I can move, hide, lock or delete, and I can still work on each layer individually.

Another way to create a group from selected layers is to go to the palette menu and choose “New Group from Layers”. It is always a good idea to give them a name. And just click “OK”. And finally, simply click on the icon “Create a new group” and drag the layers inside the folder.

If you wish to remove a layer from the group just click and drag it outside. If you wish to separate layers just right-click on the respective group and choose “Ungroup Layers”.

If you have only a couple of layers that you wish to move around together you can use the Link command. First let’s select the layers and click “Link layers”. Now you can see that the title of my presentation board and the graphic image are moving together.

One of the differences between grouping and linking is the stacking order. When you link layers the layers’ position in the palette doesn’t change. Grouping, on the other hand, will push layers together producing undesired results. As you can see, stacking order is very important.

In addition to linking layers, you can link pretty much anything together. Like groups or a group and a layer. And to unlink, just simply click on the icon again.

Next to the Link is the “Add a layer style” icon: we covered it in the Styles palette section. It allows you to style your layer.

If you don’t wish to have so many layers and you want to have some of them as one image Adobe Photoshop offers a number of ways to merge layers. You can choose to “Merge Down” or “Merge Visible”. To merge layers from a selection simply choose “Merge Layers”. You can also right-click to access these options. Bear in mind that merging is very different from grouping where you can simply put all the layers in one folder and then ungroup them if you choose so. Merging combines all the pixels from all the layers permanently overwriting pixels from the bottom layer with pixels from the top layer and they can not be unmerged.

Let me give you an example. Right now, I have a graphic and two tanktops on separate layers. I can choose to move or remove the graphic. I can hide tanktop effects and I can also choose one or the other tanktop to go with the graphic. Once I merge the graphic layer, let’s say with the blue tanktop, right-click, select “Merge Layers”, these options are no longer available. Graphic, tanktop and its effect became one image. And if I were to delete the graphic, let’s say using the Magic Eraser, I am left with a destroyed tanktop. Now, that would not have happened if I had all the images on separate layers. The only way to remove the Merge command is to undo using the History palette.

And finally, you can flatten the entire image. When you do so, Adobe Photoshop asks you if you want to discard hidden layers. If you recall, I have quite a few hidden layers, like the jacket and the pink tanktop. If I click “Cancel”, I’ll just go back to my previous state and I would need to unhide hidden layers. In this case, I am happy with the way the image looks, so I’m just going to click “OK”. And we have only one layer. Now, flattening the image not only merges the layers permanently rendering all the effects, but it also replaces transparency with white color and partially locks the layer converting it into a background.

To sum it all up, most commonly used layers’ commands and features are displayed at the top and the bottom of the palette. Double-click on the layer for the Layer Style window. If you double-click on the group, you can access group properties where you can assign it a proper name. You can also double-click directly on the text to rename. For the list of features, either right-click on the layer or go to the Layers palette menu as well as the Layer menu at the top bar. Notice that the same command is listed in more than one place. And before you do any kind of editing to the layer or the group, make sure it’s selected.