- Using the palettes
- Hiding and showing palettes
- Changing screen modes
- Tools on the Tools palette
- Changing the image size
- Choosing a file format
- Choosing a bits/channel mode
- Cropping an image
- Rotating an image
- Quick Summary: Choosing Colors
- Quick Summary: Using the Swatches palette
- Using the Layers palette
- Quick Summary: Using the Layers palette
- Using fill and adjustment layers
- Choosing a mode for the History palette
- Making snapshots of history states
- Working with nonlinear histories
- Using presets
- Streamlining your workflow
Using the Layers palette
Every new image contains either a Background or a transparent layer, on top of which you can add layers of many types, such as:
- Image layers, which can contain all opaque pixels or a combination of opaque, transparent, and semitransparent pixels.
- Fill and adjustment layers, which apply editable color or tonal adjustments to underlying layers.
- Editable type layers, which you create with the Horizontal Type or Vertical Type tool.
- Smart Object layers, which are created when you bring an Illustrator vector file, another Photoshop file, or a raw file into a Photoshop document via File > Place, or when you convert a standard layer. Double-click a Smart Object layer and the object reopens in its original application for editing; save and close it and the object updates in Photoshop. Apply a filter to a Smart Object layer and it becomes an editable and removable Smart Filter.
- Shape layers, which contain vector shapes.
You’ll undoubtedly use the Layers palette A in most Photoshop sessions. It lets you create, select, show and hide, duplicate, group, restack, link, merge, flatten, and delete layers; change the layer blending mode, opacity, and fill opacity; apply layer effects; attach layer and vector masks; move layer content; and copy layers between files.