ptg 242 Chapter 14 Drag-copying layers between files via the Layers panel So far, you have learned how to drag and drop layers with the Move tool and create layers from le thumb- nails. Here you will drag and drop a layer, multiple layers, or a layer group from the Layers panel of a source document into a target document. An advan- tage of this method is that if the source le contains multiple layers, you can control which ones are copied. Here, as with the Move tool method, pixels that lie outside the live canvas area are included. To drag-copy a layer between files via the Layers panel: 1. Open the source and target documents. On the Arrange Documents menu on the Application bar, click one of the 2 Up icons. A 2. Click in the source document window, then on the Layers panel, click the layer, Background, or layer group that you want to duplicate, or Ctrl- click/Cmd-click multiple layers. 3. Drag your selection from the Layers panel of the source document into the target document B A On the Arrange Documents menu on the Application bar, click a 2 Up icon. B After clicking in the source document window, we are Shift-dragging a layer group from the Layers panel of that document into the target document window. SELECTING A LAYER UNDER THE POINTER To quickly select a layer that contains nontrans- parent pixels below the pointer, choose the Move tool. Check Auto-Select on the Options bar, choose Group or Layer from the menu, then click an image area in the document. ptg Combining Images 243 (or Shift-drag the selection to make the new imag- ery appear in the center of the target document). e new layer(s) will be stacked above the previ- ously selected one. A 4. If the source document has a dierent color prole than the target document, the Paste Prole Mismatch alert dialog will appear. Click Convert or Don’t Convert, then click OK. An alert will also appear if the source and target documents have a dierent bits-per-channel setting. Click Yes to accept the change in image quality (or click No to call the whole thing o). 5. Either close the source document or click the Consolidate All (rst) icon on the Arrange Documents menu. 6. Optional: With the Move tool (V), reposition the new layer. Or to scale the new layer, choose the Move tool and check Show Transform Controls on the Options bar. If you can’t see all the handles, press Ctrl-0/Cmd-0 to change the document zoom level. Shift-drag a corner handle on the bounding box, then press Enter/Return to accept the new size. A When we released the mouse, the duplicate layer group appeared in the center of the target document. CREATING A NEW DOCUMENT FROM A LAYER To quickly create a new document from a layer, click the layer, then from the Layers panel menu, choose Duplicate Layer. The Duplicate Layer dialog opens. From the Document menu, choose New, enter a name for the new document in the Name fi eld, then click OK. Save the new fi le. ptg 244 Chapter 14 A We began by opening some theme-related images, just to see how they would look together and to get our creative juices owing. We decided to use the photo of a burlap texture as the background for a montage. One eective way to create a composite image is by adding layers to a target le that contains a white or solid-color Background, a photograph of a texture, or a screened-back image. You can scale or move the image layers individually to create a pleasing compo- sition, and fade the side of any layer by applying a gradient to its layer mask, as we show you here. To fade the edge of a layer using a gradient in a layer mask: 1. Open several documents, one of which is to be used as a background (target) image for the whole composition. A e target image should be the largest of the bunch. To prevent any scale discrepancies, make sure all the images have the same resolution. 2. Follow the instructions on pages 238–239, page 240, or pages 242–243 to drag and drop the source imagery into the target document, includ- ing scaling the new image layers with the Move tool, if necessary. B 3. Save the target image and close the others. 4. Click one of the new image layers, then click the Add Layer Mask button at the bottom of the Layers panel ( A , next page). Keep the layer mask thumbnail selected. 5. Choose the Gradient tool (G or Shift-G). Click the Gradient picker arrowhead on the Options bar, then click the “Black, White” gradi- ent. (If you don’t see this preset, choose Reset Gradients from the picker menu, then click OK in the alert dialog.) Also click the Linear Gradient button on the Options bar. 6. In the document window, start dragging hori- zontally or diagonally from where you want the complete fadeout to be, and stop dragging where you want the image to remain fully opaque ( B , next page). Hold down Shift while dragging to constrain the angle to an increment of 45°. e gradient will ll the layer mask, and the imagery on that layer will be partially hidden ( C–D , next page). ➤ To redo the fade eect, make sure the layer mask thumbnail is still selected, then drag in the document again with the Gradient tool (drag in a new direction or start dragging from a new position). 7. Repeat steps 4–6 for other layers you want to partially mask. Fading the edge of a layer via a gradient in a layer mask B We dragged layers from some other documents onto our target image, which contains a photo of burlap. We resized and repositioned the new layers, and also rotated two of them. ptg Combining Images 245 D i s i s t h e L a y e r s p a n e l f o r t h e n a l image, which is shown at left. C We also created a layer mask for the “WALL” layer, then dragged in the document with the Gradient tool, in a dierent direction. A Next, we created a mask for the “BLUE” layer, and kept the layer mask thumbnail selected. B We chose the Gradient tool and the “Black, White” preset. To hide the edge of the imagery on the “BLUE” layer, we dragged a short distance to the left, starting from outside the canvas area. (e black areas in a mask hide layer pixels. Note the black areas in Figure D , below.) ptg 246 Chapter 14 HIDING A SEAM WITH A BRUSH You can edit a layer mask using the Brush tool, a basic Photoshop technique that is described on page 169. REMOVING AREAS OF A MASK WITH A BRUSH B e r i g h t e d g e o f t h e “ B L U E ” l a y e r i s p a r t i a l l y h i d d e n b y a g r a d i e n t t h a t w e a p p l i e d t o t h e l a y e r m a s k ( a b o v e l e f t ) . T o r e v e a l more of the texture of the blue buttery, we chose a Soft Round brush and an Opacity of 55% for the Brush tool, and are painting with white as the Foreground color to partially remove the mask (above right). A e e d g e o f a n i m a g e l a y e r i n t h i s d o c u m e n t i s p a r t i a l l y h i d d e n b y a g r a d i e n t t h a t w e a p p l i e d t o t h e l a y e r m a s k . W e w a n t to eliminate the noticeable seam. We chose the Brush tool, a Soft Round brush, an Opacity value of 100%, and black as the Foreground color. We made the brush very large, clicked the layer mask thumbnail, and are dragging downward in the image (above left). With a couple of quick swipes of the brush, the seam is gone (above right). ptg Combining Images 247 Aligning and distributing layers Similar to the way you might align objects in a draw- ing program, via buttons on the Options bar, you can align the visible parts of one layer to another layer, or align multiple layers to one another. To align layers to one another: 1. Choose the Move tool (V), then check Auto Select and choose Layer on the Options bar. 2. Click one image or type layer, then Ctrl-click/ Cmd-click one or more additional layers. A 3. Click one of the six align buttons on the Options bar (use tool tips to identify them). B–C ➤ To align layers to the edges of a selection, create the selection before following the steps above. e distribute buttons equalize the spacing among multiple selected or linked layers. You must select three or more layers rst. To equalize the spacing among layers: 1. Choose the Move tool (V), then check Auto Select and choose Layer on the Options bar. 2. Click a layer, then Ctrl-click/Cmd-click at least two other layers. 3. Click one of the six distribute buttons on the Options bar. D–E ➤ Oops! You clicked the wrong button? Choose the Undo command before applying a dierent one. E We clicked Distribute Horizontal Centers. C We clicked Align Bottom Edges. A We chose the Move tool and we selected four layers. B e s e a r e t h e a l i g n b u t t o n s o n t h e O p t i o n s b a r . A l i g n Top Edges A l i g n Vertical Centers A l i g n Left Edges A l i g n Horizontal Centers A l i g n Bottom Edges A l i g n Right Edges D i s t r i b u t e Top Edges D i s t r i b u t e Vertical Centers D e s e a r e t h e d i s t r i b u t e b u t t o n s o n t h e O p t i o n s b a r . D i s t r i b u t e Left Edges D i s t r i b u t e Horizontal Centers D i s t r i b u t e Bottom Edges D i s t r i b u t e Right Edges Auto-Align Layers ptg 248 Chapter 14 By dragging with the Clone Stamp tool, you can clone all or part of an image from one layer to another in the same document or between docu- ments. is tool is useful for creative montaging, commercial retouching, and video editing. e Clone Source panel lets you keep track of up to ve dier- ent source documents (represented by a row of but- tons at the top of the panel); reassign new sources; clone repeatedly from the same source; and trans- form the source pixels before or as you clone them. To use the Clone Stamp tool and the Clone Source panel: 1. Open one or more RGB documents to be used as source imagery, and create or open a target document. 2. Choose the Clone Stamp tool (S or Shift-S). From the Options bar, choose a Soft Round brush, a Mode, an Opacity of 100% (to start with), and a Flow percentage, and check Aligned. Optional: If you have a stylus and tablet, you can activate the Tablet Pressure Controls Opacity button and/or the Tablet Pressure Controls Size button on the Options bar. ★ Optional: If the source le contains adjustment layers and you want the Clone Stamp tool to ignore their eects when sampling, activate the Ignore Adjustment Layers When Cloning button. 3. Display the Clone Source panel. A By default, the rst source button is selected. Check Show Overlay and Auto Hide, then set the Opacity to around 35–50% so you’ll be able to preview the source as an overlay (a faint version of the source layer). If you want the overlay to display only within the brush cursor, check Clipped. 4. In the target document, create a new blank layer. 5. Click the source document tab. From the Sample menu on the Options bar, choose which part of the document is to be cloned: Current Layer, Current & Below, or All Layers. For either of the rst two options, also click a layer. 6. Alt-click/Option-click an area in the image to set the source point. B e source le and layer will be assigned to, and will be listed below, the rst source button on the Clone Source panel. 7. Click the target document tab. 8. To position the clone, move the pointer over the image without clicking. Adjust the tool diameter by pressing [ or ], then start dragging to make the cloned pixels appear ( A , next page). e overlay will disappear temporarily (because you checked Auto Hide), then will reappear when you release the mouse. (For other ways to transform the overlay, see the next page.) 9 . To clone from another document, click the second source button at the top of the Clone Source panel, then repeat steps 4–8. Or to switch to a dierent clone source, click its button. Beware! e Clone Source panel keeps the links active only while the source documents are open. If you close a source document, its link to the Clone Source panel is broken! ➤ To use the Clone Stamp tool to retouch imagery within the same document, see pages 276–277. B With the Clone Stamp tool, we Alt-click/Option-click in a source document. A Using the Clone Source panel, you can transform the clone overlay and switch between multiple sources. Using the Clone Stamp tool and the Clone Source panel . increment of 45°. e gradient will ll the layer mask, and the imagery on that layer will be partially hidden ( C–D , next page). ➤ To redo the fade eect, make sure the layer mask thumbnail. direction or start dragging from a new position). 7. Repeat steps 4–6 for other layers you want to partially mask. Fading the edge of a layer via a gradient in a layer mask B We dragged layers from. ptg 246 Chapter 14 HIDING A SEAM WITH A BRUSH You can edit a layer mask using the Brush tool, a basic Photoshop technique that is described on page 169. REMOVING AREAS OF A MASK WITH A BRUSH B