Decoding Photoshop

wrote in message

Hi there,

I’ve got a photoshop file that was given to me with plenty of layers. I’m looking at the layers palette. Some of the layers are within layers, and they have a little icon of an arrow pointing downwards. Can anyone tell me what this means? Does it just mean it’s within the a higher-up layer, or is there more to it?

I think you mean the text or layer effects, these are like sub layers and affect only the layer they are attached to. You can add to, or delete them and/or edit them using the icon in the layer palette that looks like a little f. To see what each layer does try clicking on the little eyeball next to the layer. To edit an effect layer double click on the layer itself you will see a dialog box to edit the effect. (drop shadow, bevel etc)

Again, in the layers palette, some of them have two images – first a box with the actual image contained in that layer, and then a link icon, and then a box with gradation between black and white. Again, can someone explain this second box? I think it’s the mask, but how did they apply gradation to the mask?

To alter the layer mask click on it’s icon instead of the image icon at left. You can use gradients (what you described) or paint brushes (set to B&W in toolbar) to edit the mask layer. You can make odd shape layer masks by using a selection and then click on the little circle in a square it will change it to a layer mask. By using this method you can change just the selected areas of the image. You can see your masked area by using the rectangles at the bottom of the toolbar to switch between selection and mask view (masked area will be in red like old rubylith if you know what that is)

Thanks.

wrote:

Hi there,

I’ve got a photoshop file that was given to me with plenty of layers. I’m looking at the layers palette. Some of the layers are within layers, and they have a little icon of an arrow pointing downwards. Can anyone tell me what this means? Does it just mean it’s within the a higher-up layer, or is there more to it?

Again, in the layers palette, some of them have two images – first a box with the actual image contained in that layer, and then a link icon, and then a box with gradation between black and white. Again, can someone explain this second box? I think it’s the mask, but how did they apply gradation to the mask?

Thanks.

That means the layers are Grouped. You can group/ungroup by Alt-clicking on the line between the layers. Grouping creates a Clipping Group, which is handy for putting images inside text for instance.

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In article ,
wrote:

I’ve got a photoshop file that was given to me with plenty of layers. I’m looking at the layers palette. Some of the layers are within layers, and they have a little icon of an arrow pointing downwards. Can anyone tell me what this means? Does it just mean it’s within the a higher-up layer, or is there more to it?

It’s hard to tell from your description, but this could indicate clipping layers, layer groups, or layer effects.

Again, in the layers palette, some of them have two images – first a box with the actual image contained in that layer, and then a link icon, and then a box with gradation between black and white. Again, can someone explain this second box? I think it’s the mask, but how did they apply gradation to the mask?

Yes, it is a layer mask. You can do all the same things to a layer mask you can do to any image–you can paint in a layer mask, run filters in a layer mask, and so on. The easiest way to put a gradient in a layer mask is with the Gradient tool.

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