Layers - Getting Started With Photoshop - Research Guides

Navigating and Organizing Layers

The organization of layers and the ability to easiliy navigate are very important factors when working with layers. This section will show you how to select, move, create folders, search, and organize layers.

Example of a selected layer.

Selecting a Layer

In order to perform most actions in Photoshop, you will need to have at least one layer selected.

1. To select a layer, just click on it in the Layers Palette. The layer will turn blue [shown right] to indicate that it has been selected.
2. To select several layers, hold down the CMD (Mac) or CTRL (Windows) key on your keyboard and click on each layer you would like to have selected. To select several consecutive layers, select the first layer and then hold the SHIFT key and select the last layer.

Moving Layers

As you know, the order in which layers are stacked does make a difference to the appearance of your image. It is important that you know how to move layers so that you are able to change the order of them as needed.

1. Select the layer(s) you wish to move.
2. Click and hold your mouse and drag the layer to the desired position. A thick line will appear between layers to indicate where the layer will be dropped. Once you have the layer where you want it, release your mouse and the layer will move to the new location.

1. Select the Layer	2. Drag the Layer

Finding LayersAlmost every Photoshop document has more than one layer and those layers can quickly become overwhelming and and make it hard to find anything. Fortunately, there are some tools to help find different types of layers.

1. Click on the Search Dropdown ( ), to select whether you want to search layers by Kind, Name, Effect, Mode, Attribute, or Color.
2. After selecting a search method, use the options to the right of the Search Dropdown to select additional attributes to return search results.

1. Search Dropdown

2. Select layer attributes

Creating Groups

Another feature to help keep you and your layers organized is to create folders, also known as groups. You can add layers to a group and organize them however you wish.

1. Create a new folder by clicking the "Create a new group" button ( ) at the bottom of the layers palette.
2. Drag layers onto the group folder layer to add them to the group.
3. Double-click on the Group Name in the Layers Palette to rename it.

1. Click "Create new group" icon

2. Drag layers into the group