Working With Layers

Layers is what we use in Photoshop to both organize our space and to create a rich environment for editing and manipulating photos. It makes combining and removing space very easy and quick.

Note: Navigate to Window > Layers if the menu is not currently shown.

1)
Place an image. I recommend this one for sheer simplicity.

This tutorial only works by utilizing the copy/paste function from this previous post.

Notice how you have two layers present. One says 'Background' and the other says 'Layer 1', which has your image. The background layer acts as a layer on the bottom. As more layers are added, they stack up on top of each other as they appear to in the layers panel. We can manipulate this.

2)

Choose the 'Magic Wand Tool (W)' and select the space around the house by clicking once in the open space. Click delete.

3)
Click the little black eye next to 'Layer 1' and see the house disappear to reveal the background (which is white). Keep it hidden for now.

4)
To get a better idea of what this means, click the bottom layer (Background) and navigate to Edit > Fill.

5)
Under 'Contents' choose 'Color...' and select a color other than white (like green). Click OK twice in those windows to get back to editing.

6)
So now we see your chosen color. Make the house visible again by clicking the eye next to 'Layer 1'.

We now have two layers. One background layer with the color green and a layer on top with a house.