Working With Layers 2
Page 1So far you have learned:
- the names of the different types of layers
- the parts of the layer palette
- 2 methods of adding layers
- how to rename a layer
- how to view the layer's content
- Click on the black layer and flood fill
with black. In keeping with the glass analogy you have just painted the first piece of glass on the table and totally obscured the table top. The table top is still there but you can't see it because you completely painted the glass on top. Now let's get out the "paint remover" and take off some of the paint. - Click on the opacity indicator on the right side of the palette and slide it left and right. Notice how the table top (background layer) becomes visible again by degrees. Now slide the indicator back to 100% and click on the pair of eyeglasses. Visiblity is completely turned off.
- While the eyeglasses are still x'ed out (visibilty off) and the black layer is still active (dark blue) click on the picture tube tool
and choose the golfball (or any other tube if you don't have it) scaled to 42 click on the lower left of the layer. Nothing happens right? Not so, click on the eyeglasses again and the golf ball appears. Just because you can't see the layer doesn't mean it's not there. A good habit to get into is to always check to make sure the layer you want is active and visibilty is on before applying anything to a layer. It will save you a lot of do overs (ctrl+Z) in the end. - Now click on the tube 1 layer to make it active. Scale the golfball to 72 and apply it to the upper right of the layer. Now let's move the large golfball to the lower right corner. Click on the mover tool
and drag the golfball. Looks good right? Now ctrl+z (undo) to put it back in its original position. - Ok, now let's move the small golfball to the upper left corner. First click on the black layer to make it active then follow the above procedure. Doesn't look so good does it?
So why couldn't you move the small golfball and you could move the large one? Well, you didn't actually move the large golfball, you moved the entire layer, but because there was nothing else (transparent) on the layer it gave the illusion of moving.
To use our glass analogy again--When you paint a piece glass and the paint has dried you wouldn't be able to move just the paint because once the paint dries it becomes part of the glass' surface. In order to move the paint you have to move the glass too, right? This is essentially how PSP treats layers. Once an object, in this case the golfball, is applied it dries and becomes part of the layer's surface. So in order to move the object you have to move the layer. To illustrate further
- Crtl+Z to undo the last step (the black layer should be back to its original position). Click on the tube 1 layer to make it active again. Click on the mover tool then on the large golfball and drag it around coming to rest back to its starting point. Now apply another golfball scaled to 55 in the lower right corner. Grab the mover tool again and try to move the golfball you just applied. See how they move in unison? You can apply as many golfballs (or other objects) as you want and try to move anyone of them and they will all move because they have become part of the layer.
- Now here is the tricky part. First, make sure that the tube 1 layer is still active and grab the mover tool again. Now click anywhere on the layer except on the golfballs and drag. You moved the black layer right? If you look at the layer palette you will see that the black layer is now the active one. So what happened?
The mover tool will always start at the top layer whether it is the active layer or not and if it can't find anything to latch on to it will reach down through the layers and grab the first object it finds, in this case the black paint. The active layer (indicated by blue) then changes to the one it found the object on.
- Now ctrl+Z to undo the move. Notice that the active layer is once again tube 1. Turn off the visibilty of the black layer by clicking on the eyeglasses. With the mover tool activated click and drag in about the same area you did before then turn the visibility back on. Nothing happens right? The black layer is right where it is suppose to be.
The mover tools treats invisible (eyeglasses x'ed) layers as if they are not even there and will bypass them in its search for an object. There is one exception to this however, the background layer can not be moved either in the mover tool's search for an object or by directly clicking on an object on the background. Go ahead and try to move the background layer.
Save then
Go to page 3
