Photoshop Elements 11: The Missing Manual

Chapter 6. Layers: The Heart of Elements

If you’ve been working mostly in the Quick Fix window so far, you’ve probably noticed that once you close a file, the changes you’ve made are permanent. You can undo stuff while the file is still open, but once you close it, you’re stuck with what you’ve done.

In Elements, you can keep your changes (most kinds, anyway) and still revert to the original image if you use layers, a nifty system of transparent sheets that keeps each component of the image on a separate sliver that you can edit. Layers are one of the greatest image-editing inventions ever: By putting each change you make on its own layer, you can rearrange an image’s composition and add or subtract changes whenever you want.

If you use layers, then you can save a file and quit Elements, come back days or weeks later, and still undo what you did or change things around some more. There’s no statute of limitations for the edits you make using layers.

Some people resist learning about layers because they fear layers are too complicated. But they’re actually really easy to use once you understand how they work. And once you get started with layers, you’ll realize that using Elements without them is like driving a Ferrari in first gear. This chapter gives you the info you need to get comfortable working with layers.

Understanding Layers

Imagine that you want to figure out the various ways you can redecorate a room in your house. The first thing you do is create a bare-bones drawing of the ...