Adobe Photoshop CS4 - Manual (Page 293)

286 USING PHOTOSHOP CS4
Layers
Last updated 1/10/2010
Opacity Specifies an opacity level for the layer or group.
Fill With Mode-Neutral Color Fills the layer with a preset, neutral color.
Note: To add currently selected layers to a new group, choose Layer > Group Layers, or Shift-click the New Group button
at the bottom of the Layers Panel.
Create a new layer with effects from another layer
1 Select the existing layer in the Layers panel.
2 Drag the layer to the Create a New Layer button at the bottom of the Layers panel. The newly created layer contains
all the effects of the existing one.
Convert a selection into a new layer
1 Make a selection.
2 Do one of the following:
• Choose Layer > New > Layer Via Copy to copy the selection into a new layer.
• Choose Layer > New > Layer Via Cut to cut the selection and paste it into a new layer.
Note: You must rasterize Smart Objects or shape layers to enable these commands.
Duplicate layers
You can duplicate layers within an image or into another or a new image.
Duplicate a layer or group within an image
1 Select a layer or group in the Layers panel.
2 Do one of the following:
• Drag the layer or group to the Create a New Layer button .
• Choose Duplicate Layer or Duplicate Group from the Layers menu or the Layers panel menu. Enter a name for the
layer or group, and click
OK.
Duplicate a layer or group between images
1 Open the source and destination images.
2 From the Layers panel of the source image, select one or more layers or a layer group.
3 Do one of the following:
• Drag the layer or group from the Layers panel to the destination image.
• Select the Move tool , and drag from the source image to the destination image. The duplicate layer or group
appears above the active layer in the Layers panel of the destination image. Shift-drag to move the image content
to the same location it occupied in the source image (if the source and destination images have the same pixel
dimensions) or to the center of the document window (if the source and destination images have different pixel
dimensions).
• Choose Duplicate Layer or Duplicate Group from the Layers menu or the Layers panel menu. Choose the
destination document from the Document pop-up menu, and click
OK.
• Choose Select > All to select all the pixels on the layer, and choose Edit > Copy. Then choose Edit > Paste in the
destination image. (This method copies only pixels, excluding layer properties such as blending mode.)