- What You Will Learn
- Approximate Time
- Lesson Files
- Using the Layers Panel
- Adding and Naming Layers
- Adjusting the Size and Placement of an Object
- Renaming a Layer
- Locking a Layer
- Showing and Hiding a Layer
- Picking Colors
- Drawing Rounded Rectangles
- Using Auto Shapes
- Adding Texture and a Drop Shadow
- Changing the Stacking Order on a Layer
- Using Single-Layer Editing
- On Your Own
- Setting the Default Colors
- Aligning Objects
- What You Have Learned
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Adding and Naming Layers
When you create a new document, you get two layers by default: Layer 1 and the Web Layer. The Web Layer is where slices and hotspots are stored. We’ll discuss these in a later lesson.
Layer 1 is where all your objects and images are placed initially. If you don’t create any other layer, all the objects in your document will be stacked in this layer. For single drawings—the logo you created in Lesson 2 for example—having all objects on the same layer works just fine.
For more complex pages, using layers is a good way to organize and manage the different elements you create. You can lock any layer, allowing you to work on one part of the page without accidentally moving or deleting an object, or you can hide a layer so you won’t be distracted by its elements as you create another portion of the page.
- Click the Layers panel Options menu, located at the top right of the panel title bar, and choose New Layer from the pop-up
menu.
The panel Options menu contains several commands for modifying or controlling layers. All panels (not just the Layers panel) display the Options menu icon when the panel is open.
- Type Logo in the New Layer dialog box and click OK.
A new layer named Logo is added above the Layer 1 layer.
The new layer is selected. Look on the Layers panel, and you’ll see a pencil icon. This icon indicates the selected layer. Anything you add to the document is placed on the selected layer.
- Choose File > Import, locate the sweet_creations_logo.png file you created in Lesson 2, and click Open.
If you can’t find your file, you can use the file in the Completed folder in Lesson 2.
- Click when you see the right-angle insertion pointer.
The place you click is where the logo is placed on the canvas. You want the logo at the top left of the canvas.
The logo is placed on the Logo layer.
- Click Layer 1 on the Layers panel to select that layer.
This is the default layer. Because it is below the Logo layer, anything you place on this layer will be underneath the logo on the canvas.
- Select the Rectangle tool from the Tools panel and then draw a rectangle at the top of the page. Make the rectangle as wide
as the page.
Notice that the rectangle is underneath the logo. Don’t worry about the color of the rectangle; you’ll change it later.
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