Julieanne Kost's Blog

To automatically select Layer Groups (as oppose to selecting individual layers), with the Move tool selected, check the Auto-Select box in the Options bar and choose Group from the pull-down menu.

To delete a Group, select Layer > Delete > Group or, with the Group selected on the Layers panel, click the trash can icon. Either method displays a dialog with the options to delete the “Group and Contents” (which deletes both), “Group Only” (which removes any groups but leaves the layers), or “Cancel”.

To delete the Group and all of it’s contents while bypassing the dialog select the Group on the Layers panel and either drag the Group to the trash can icon or, Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) -click the trash can icon.

Command (Mac) / Control (Win) -drag a Group to the trash can icon to delete a Group without deleting it’s contents.

With a Group targeted in the layers panel, Select Layer > Duplicate Group or Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) -drag the Group in the Layers panel (until you see a heavy black line between the layers) and release.

Note this shortcut will not work if the Group is at the top of the Layers panel – in this case, I use the context sensitive menu (Control -click (Mac) or right mouse click) on the Group and select Duplicate Group.

Layer Groups are an excellent way to organize a complex multi layered document. To create an empty Layer Group, click the Create Layer Group (the folder) icon at the bottom of the Layers panel. The Group will be added above the currently targeted layer. If no layers are targeted, Photoshop adds the group to the top of the layer stack.

To create a new Layer Group while simultaneously placing targeted layers into that group Group select Layer > Group Layers or drag the targeted layers (in the Layers panel) to the New Group icon at the bottom of the Layers panel, or use the keyboard shortcut Command (Mac) / Control (Win) + G. The group will be added above the topmost currently targeted layer.

To ungroup layers select Layer > Ungroup Layers or use the keyboard shortcut Command (Mac) / Control (Win) + Shift + G.

Select Layer > Arrange > Reverse to reverse the stacking order of the selected layers. Note: if the layers are in different groups this option is not available.

Command (Mac) / Control (Win) + “[“ or “]” moves the layer up or down. This is a very useful shortcut when recording actions as the specific name of the layer is not recorded.

• Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) + “[“ or “]” targets the layer above or below the currently targeted layer.
• Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) +Shift + “] “or + “[“ adds the next layer up or down to the targeted layer(s) (note when you get to the top or bottom of the layer stack, Photoshop will “wrap around” to continue adding/subtracting layers).
• Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) + “,“ or “.” targets the bottom/top -most layer.
• Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) + Shift + “,“ or “.” targets all layers that fall between the currently targeted layer to the top or bottom of the layer stack.

Note: these shortcuts are essential when recording actions as they help to select layers, but do not record the specific “name” of the layer in the action.

To make a document the same size as another open document, while in the Image Size and Canvas Size dialog boxes, select the other open document from the bottom of the Window menu and Photoshop will automatically fill in the values.

Holding the Shift key while dragging and dropping a layer(s) between two documents will place the “dropped” layer(s) into the center of the destination document. If there is a selection in the destination document, holding the Shift key while dragging and dropping an image will drop it into the center of the selection.

When working with tabbed documents in Photoshop CS4, moving a layer(s) from one document to another can be accomplished by dragging the layers (with the Move tool) from the image area, on top of the “destination” document’s tab. When the “destination” document pops forward, position the cursor over the image area and release to “drop” the layers.

I know that some of you prefer to drag and drop layers from one image to another by dragging them from the Layers panel, however you can not drag and drop from the Layer’s panel to the tab of another open document. If you like the tabbed panels, but feel that you must drag and drop between documents from the Layer’s panel, try using the Arrange Document Icon in the new Application Bar to “Tile All in Grid” all of the open images — then drag and drop from the Layer’s panel to the other tiled images.

I have set a custom keyboard shortcut (Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts) for Window > Arrange > Tile and Window > Arrange > Consolidate to Tabs in order to streamline up the process of toggling between the two display views.

If you’re constantly creating the same size document, don’t forget that you can create your own custom presets, by entering your preferred values in the New Dialog box and clicking the “Save Preset” button. In addition, you can change the defaults for Photoshop’s “New Document Preset Resolution” in Preferences > Units & Rulers for both your Print and Screen work.

Option-Command (Mac) / Alt-Control (Win) + N will enter the last numeric entry in to the “New” dialog box (instead of whatever dimensions were last copied).

Clipping masks are most commonly used when an adjustment needs to be applied to a single layer in a multi-layer document. For example, if you have a triptych of images (each on their own layer) within a single document and need to brighten only one of the images, you can add an adjustment layer and “clip” it so that it only effects that single layer.

The easiest way to “clip” an adjustment layer to the layer below it is to target the layer that needs the adjustment in the Layers panel, then click the clipping icon at the bottom of the Adjustment panel before adding the adjustment, (or, if you forget, you can click the clipping the icon after adding the adjustment at the bottom of the Adjustment panel). As you make the adjustment, you will notice that the modification is only effecting the layer that the adjustment is “clipped” to.

Another use of clipping masks is to clip content suce as a photo to a shape such as type. In order to do this, put the type layer under the photo layer on the Layer’s panel, target the type layer (by clicking in it in the Layer’s panel) and select Command-Opt (Mac) / Control-Alt (Win) + G to create a Clipping Mask.

Or, on the Layers panel, hold the Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) key and position the cursor over the line that separates the two layers in the Layer’s panel. When you see the icon switch to a triangle with two overlapping circles -click to create a Clipping Mask.

You can have multiple layers clipped to a base layer. Visually, you will know that the layers are clipped because the bottom most layer’s name will be underlined in the Layers panel, and the clipped layer(s) will be indented with an arrow pointing downwards towards the base layer.

To paste content (from the clipboard) into a Layer mask, Option (Mac)/ Alt (Win) -click the Layer mask icon on the Layers panel and then select Edit > Paste.

If you have an active selection in your document (marching ants) and have content on the clipboard, selecting “Paste Into” will paste the content from the clipboard into your selection – and automatically convert the selection into a Layer mask.

Clicking on the Link icon (between the layer and the mask icons in the Layers panel) will unlink the mask from the layer (allowing either to move independently of the other). Click in the empty are to relink the layer with the mask.