Adobe® Photoshop® CS3: Top 100 Simplified® Tips & Tricks

Chapter 2. Working with Layers, Selections, and Masks

Unless you use Photoshop only to resize and print photographs, you will use layers, selections, and masks in some way for most projects. You may duplicate a layer as a safety step or build a complex multilayered image file with any combination of layers, selections, and masks.

Layers give real editing and designing power to Photoshop. A layer is basically a transparency sheet with an image on it. You can edit, transform, or add filters to a layer independently from other layers. You can make one layer alter the look of a layer above or below it. You can save a file with the layers and easily change your design later by editing one or more of the layers. You can also drag a layer from one document ...