Make sure you have both priests and gates open and that you have changed the Image Mode  of gates to RGB.  Make priests active.

Make a Selection around the Priests in the orange and green robes in priests. Their shapes are somewhat irregular so a selection has been saved with the image for your convenience.  Try to make the selection on your own or load the selection included.  Once loaded, select Edit/Copy to copy the contents of your Selection to the clipboard.  The clipboard is Photoshop ’s storage area for image data you copy and paste.

Make gates active.  Select Edit/Paste.  Your Selection (the Priests) is pasted into gates in a new Layer .  Photoshop  automatically titles the Layer “Layer 1.”  Select the new Layer and rename it “Priest.”  Alternately, you can use the Move Tool  to {Click}, drag, and drop your selection from priests to gates.

Transparency
Examine the Layers  Palette .  The Priest Layer  sits on top of the Background Layer and in the Image Window  the Priests sit on top of the Gate image.  You can see the gate, tree, and landscape around the Priests because, by default, Layers are transparent.  Pasting the selection into gates has created a new Layer with a transparent background in which the Priest selection sits.  Recall when we created a new image we selected a transparent background.  Transparency  is represented by a gray and white checkerboard.  {Click} the Visibility Toggle in the background Layer.  The gate disappears.  You see only the Priests and the transparent background that surrounds them.

Make sure the Priest Layer  is active.  Layers  are active when colored blue.  A Paintbrush icon also appears in the Paint or Link Toggle box.  {Click} the Opacity  control and drag the slider back and forth.  You begin to see the Gate and Trees in the background through the Priests as you decrease its opacity.  As you create images you’ll find Transparency  a powerful tool.

Moving Layers
Select the Move Tool .  Make sure the Priest Layer  is active.  {Click} and drag the Priests in the Image Window .  You’ll notice that you can move the Priests or part of Priests outside the edges of the Image Window.  With Layers , you can think of the Image dimensions as the dimensions of a virtual window through which we see the image data.  Photoshop  permits you to move image data outside of the virtual window.  As a result, we can do things like drag the Priests to the bottom right corner of the screen so that only their faces appear.  You’ll find this flexibility a great creative aid when composing images.

Blend Modes
Move the Priests to the center of the image.  {Click} the drop-down Blend Mode s  list and explore the different Blend Modes.  Photoshop  examines the color data of the Layer  you are blending and the color data of the Layers  below and uses the various Blend Modes to create particular visual effects.  Keep in mind you can also move the Layer around and play with Opacity .  Photoshop’s flexibility and complexity encourages combining effects and operations for increased creativity.  Make sure you select Normal for the Blend Mode  before proceeding.

Lock Transparency , Lock Pixels , Lock Position.
Select the Airbrush Tool .  Make sure the Priest Layer  is active.  Check the Lock Transparency  checkbox.  Paint on the Priest Layer.  You’ll notice that your paint strokes are limited to areas that contain image data, in this case the Priests.  The effect is similar to painting a Selection.  By selecting Lock Transparency, you are restricting changes to the image data contained within the Layer.  Use the History Palette  to remove your brush strokes and uncheck Preserve Transparency.

Locking the Layer ’s pixels will allow you to reposition the content of the Layer but not change or modify the pixels themselves.  You cannot, for example, use the Airbrush Tool  to change the color of an object on a Layer with locked pixels.

Locking the Position of content on a Layer  allows you to paint or edit it but not move it.

Layer  Masks
Layer  Mask s are Alpha Channels  attached to a Layer.  Black completely masks or covers image data.  White reveals image data.  Gray values between Black and White reveal image data at various degrees of opacity.  Add a Layer Mask to the Priest Layer by {Clicking} the Add Layer Mask button at the bottom of the Layers  Palette .  A Link icon and a Mask Thumbnail are added to the Layer.

A Layer  Mask  is linked to the Priests Layer.

Select the Airbrush Tool  and {Click} on the Brushes Tab.  {Click} the circular brush at the top right corner of Palette.

{Click} the circular brush at the top right corner of the Brushes Palette.

We’re going to remove the Priest in the green robe from the picture.  Make sure the Foreground Color is Black.  Start painting over the Priest’s robe until the body of the Duck is roughly circular.  If you examine the Thumbnails  in the Layer , you’ll notice the Mask Thumbnail displays Black where you’ve applied your paint strokes, making those areas taken up by the Priest in the green robe transparent.  The Priest Thumbnail looks the same because you haven’t actually erased the Priest; you’re merely hiding or masking him.

The Priest’s Green Robe is being masked out by the Layer  Mask.

The Priest is still on the Layer , but is hidden by the mask.

{Click} the Link Icon in between the Thumbnails  of the Priests Layer .  Move the Priests.  You’ll notice that the Mask remains in place.  To move the Mask with the image data keep the Thumbnails linked.

To remove the Layer  Mask  {Right Click} on the Mask’s Thumbnail in the Layer’s Palette and select an option from the Context Sensitive Menu  that appears.  You have the choice of either discarding or applying the Mask. {Click} “Discard” to remove the Mask and restore the Priest to its original state.  If you {Click} “Apply”, the masked areas of the Priest are erased and the Mask Thumbnail removed.   Selecting “Disable Layer Mask” keeps the Mask but does not apply it to the Layer.  A red “X” appears over the Mask Thumbnail.  To reapply the Mask select “Enable Layer Mask” from the Context Sensitive Menu.

Recall making Selections  into Alpha Channels .  If you {Click} the “Channels Palette ” you’ll see that adding a Layer  Mask  creates an Alpha Channel in the “Channels Palette.”

Transforming Layers
You might have noticed that the Priest is a bit too large for the image that he has been inserted into.  This can be easily corrected.  You can use the “Transform ” effects to resize, rotate, and distort image data in Layers  and Selections .

Select Edit/Free Transform .  A Transformation  Box surrounds the image data of the Layer , in this case the Priest.  By {Clicking} on the Box’s handles, you can resize the image data.  Holding the [SHIFT] key constrains the Box as you resize, maintaining proportion.  If you hold the mouse pointer just outside of the Box close to one of the Handles you can rotate the image.

For precise Transformation  control select Edit/Transform  and choose the desired effect.

Make the Priest slightly smaller so that he looks as though he is walking down the path beside the gate.

Creating New Layers
To create a new Layer  {Click} the Create New Layer  button at the bottom of the Layers  Palette .  A Layer is added above the currently active Layer.  Make the new Layer active and rename it “Garbage Can.”

Make the Background Layer  active.  Make a Selection around the White Garbage Can and Sign on the bottom left hand side of the image.  If the Priest is obscuring that part of the image you can move him away or turn the Priest Layer’s Visibility off.

Having made your Selection, copy it to the Clipboard by selecting Edit/Copy.  Make the “Garbage Can” Layer  active.  Select Edit/Paste.  Your Selection, in this case the Garbage Can, is placed into the Layer.  You may have to move the content on the Layer to reposition it exactly where it’s placed on the original image (the Background Layer.)  As an alternate, you can select Edit/Paste Into.  A new Layer is created and the image data in the Selection is copied to the precise position it was copied from.  In addition, a Layer Mask  is automatically created based on the Selection.

Move the Priest Layer  so the Priest is behind the Garbage Can in the “Garbage Can” Layer.  We’ve now added depth to the image.  The Priest appears behind the Garbage Can and a measure of realism has been added to the photograph.  You’ve created an image or composite using Layers .  By isolating different elements or components of an image in Layers, you have a great deal of creative flexibility.  Imagine creating this image without Layers.  You would have to make very precise selections and use the History Palette  extensively.  It would also take up much more time.

The Garbage Can and Sign that we want to isolate

The content isolated

The Priest behind the Garbage Can

Text and Layers
When you add Text to an image by selecting the Type Tool and {Clicking} in the Image Window  at the location you want your text to appear, a Layer  is automatically created above the currently active Layer.  The name of the Layer defaults to the text you input.

Photoshop  6 allows you to type text directly into your document.  Other image-editing programs and previous versions of Photoshop required that you type your text into a specialized dialog box.  Now all the user need do is select the Type Tool, place their cursor in their Image Window , and begin to type. 

Make sure the top Layer  in the Layers  Palette  is active and the Foreground Color is white.  Select the Type Tool and {Click} toward the top left corner of the image.  At this point, we won’t go through the Type Tool options.  For now input “Japanese Shrines” and input a value from 12-18 in the Size field.  {Click} OK.  Your type is created in its own Layer.

Editable Type Layers  are indicated in the Layer  by a capital “T”.

At this point, the type can be re-edited or changed by highlighting the text in the Image Window  with the Type Tool in the Layer .  Editable type is indicated by the capital “T” that sits in the Thumbnail of the Layer.  By {Right-Clicking} on the “T” and selecting Rasterize Layer you convert the type to a graphic, making it no longer editable.  You can position the type as close to the top left corner as you wish.

Layer  Styles
Layer  Styles  are pre-defined special effects applied to the image data contained in the Layer.  To apply a Layer Style , select the Layer you want to apply the effect to and {Click} on the Add a Layer Style button at the bottom of the Layers  Palette .  In this instance, apply a Drop Shadow  to your Type Layer.

From the Styles  drop-down, select Drop Shadow .  A rather substantial dialog box appears with options to adjust the appearance of the Drop Shadow.  Use the Layer  Style  dialog box to add, remove, and modify Styles on your Layers .  {Click} on a Layer Style checkbox to add a Style and {Click} on the Style label to modify its properties.  We’ll take a closer look at the Styles later in the manual so stick with the Drop Shadow for the time being.  {Click} OK to close the Layer Style dialog box.  Take a look at your Image Window .  You’ll notice a soft shadow behind the type.  The type appears to be floating in front of the image.  A lower-case italic “f” appears in the Layer indicating that an effect has been applied. 

The Layer  Style  dialog box.

Layer  Effects  are indicated in the Layer by a lowercase “f”.

Click on the small gray triangle beside the “f” to reveal the effect.

{Click} on the small gray triangle beside the Style  icon on the Layer  to reveal the individual Styles  that have been applied to it.  Each Layer Effect  has a set of properties that change according to the effect.  If you’d like to adjust these settings {Double Click} on the Style’s label in the Layer Palette  and the Layer Style dialog box appears.  Each effect also has its own Visibility Toggle as well.  Experiment with properties to customize the effect.