Paint Shop Pro Layers pg 3: Production Graphics with Wendy Peck at webreference.com

Paint Shop Pro Layers: Working with Layers

Make layers invisible by clicking the eyeglass icon. The contents of the layer are not affected, and another click to the icon will make the layer contents visible again.

Merge layers
Layers are handy, but you can easily end up with a huge number of layers, which takes away much of the time you saved for using them. In rare cases, you will want to merge all of your layers together, or flatten your image. Please be cautious with this though - once layers are merged, there is no going back. You may wish to make a change in the future, and you will regret not having your layered document.

To merge the entire image, simply right click on any layer and choose Merge>All>Flatten. You will be left with exactly the same result visually, but all your layers will have merged into one.

You can also merge only the images that are visible in the document. To make a layer invisible, click on the eyeglasses near the center of the Layer Palette. An "X" will appear through the icon and the contents of that layer will disappear from the document screen. (Click again to make it visible again.)

To merge several layers, but not all, simply turn off the visibility for any any layers you do not wish to merge. Right click on any layer and choose Merge>Visible. Be careful though. A merge cannot be reversed unless you can use the Undo command.

Group layers
A much less intrusive way to combine layers for the purposes of moving objects together, is to group them.

Click on the Group button at the right of the Layers palette as shown at the left, highlighted in red. When the Group tab is active, the right side display changes and each layer will have a "None" in the right column.

Groups are arranged by assigning numbers, and numbers are specified with repeated clicks on the layer group listing. A left click increases the number and a right click reduces the number. Think of setting a digital alarm clock with this operation.

In the example below, I have clicked once in the group area for the layers titled, "Spotted Black" and "Small Black." These two layers now belong to the group "1" and if one is moved, the other will also be moved. I clicked twice in the group area for the "Main Black" layer and "Layer5." These layers are now grouped in group "2," and will move together.

If I wanted to add the layer "Main Black" to group number "2," I would RIGHT click one time on the "Main Black" Group area. Right click reduces the number, so that layer is now in group "1."

The active layer is ready to be dropped into another document. The cursor changes to a + when it is over an area that can receive the layer.

Share layers between documents
You can share layers between documents. Both documents must be open. The window size must be reduced so at least a portion of each document is visible, since we will be dragging the layer from one document to another.

Simply click and drag a layer from the active document to the destination document. The layer is pasted into the destination document as a new layer. The layer also remains in the original document. This is a very handy feature when you are creating comps for clients. Drag constant elements from one document to another, saving time and maintaining consistency.

That's the basics for layers in Paint Shop Pro Read on to learn more about vector layers and then applying layer effects.

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Paint Shop Pro Layers Tutorial Index

Paint Shop Pro Layers Start
Layer Basics
Working with Layers
Vector Layers
Layer Effects