Photoshop: Layer Tutorial
- Stephanie Lynn
- Laura P Rowan
This is an intermediate topic. You will need to possess some basic understanding and have some experience with Drupal content editing.
Permission Level
Level 1 or Higher - See permission level document for details
Recommended Tool
This documentation is demonstrating the use of Adobe Photoshop CC (but it will also be very similar in older versions of photoshop)
Resources
Practice Files: Peabody Photo
Working with Layers
This tutorial will teach you about layers and how to build this very simple banner image using layers.
What are Layers?
Layers are just canvases for you to place images, illustrate or type on. Each new photoshop file starts with a single layer - the background layer. If you were to build your image with just one background layer, and all your changes happen on that layer, you can't easily undo mistakes because if you delete the one layer, all your previous work is also deleted.
For example, what if you were illustrating a complicated image. After 15 or 20 minutes of illustrating, you realize you made a mistake - how would you remove just that mistake without losing all of your work. If you draw each really important section on it's own layer, you can just delete the affected layer.
Photoshop does have a multiple undo option so you can technically undo an unlimited number of your changes, but even that isn't always sufficient because if you undo all your work to get back several steps in your process, you still have lost some the work you did previously and must redo it.
Some helpful guides or resources to review before starting this process.
- Guide to image sizes
- UGA Branding Typography Guidelines
- UGA Branding Color Guidelines
- Installing Typefaces/Fonts
Steps
Step 1: Create a New Photoshop Image
Select "File > New" from the top menu, and set the image size to 2400 pixels wide x 720 pixels high
Step 2: Insert a Photograph Element
Let's place a photograph into our photoshop document. Click the word "file" on the menu bar, then click "place embedded" from the drop down menu that is exposed. Image of Peabody Hall you can use today if you do not have one of your own.