 | Assuming that your software does support layers, your pasted content is on separate layers — one new layer per paste. This layering makes it easy to move things around, repositioning pasted stuff so that you have it in just the right spot. Separate layers also let you hide pasted content if you're not sure you really want to use it. Rather than deleting the pasted content (which you may regret if you change your mind), you can simply hide the layer that it's on, and then you don't see it until and unless you choose to display that layer again. |
Keeping things on separate layers has another benefit. By having different elements of your image on individual layers, you can overlap and rearrange the layers to restack the overlapping content. You can restack images in as many configurations as you can imagine but only because each individual part has its own layer.
Hiding layers
 | After you paste something into your image, the pasted content has its own layer. If you no longer want to see that layer's content, just hide the layer by clicking the icon next to the layer number. The icon varies from image editor to image editor. In Paint Shop Pro, the icon looks like a pair of spectacles; in Photoshop Elements, the icon is an eyeball. |
In any case, after you hide the layer, its content doesn't display onscreen or print. If you want to bring it back, simply click the box where the eye (or spectacles) icon was, and the icon reappears, as does the layer's content.
Rearranging layers to change object stacking order
If you want to change the stacking order of two or more overlapping elements in a photo, simply drag the layers up or down in the Layers palette. The top-most layers represent the content that's on the top of any overlapping stack, and the lower layers are underneath. Dragging a layer up moves it up in the stack, and dragging a layer down puts it beneath the other layers.
Deleting layers
If you just plain don't want a layer anymore and hiding isn't the answer, delete the layer. To delete a layer, just drag the unwanted layer to the trash can icon, which you can find at the bottom of the palette in some image editors (such as Photoshop cs) or at the top in others (Photoshop Elements and Paint Shop Pro, for example).
Adjusting opacity for interesting effects
When layers overlap, you can achieve very cool results by making one or more of the layers less opaque (more see-through) so that you can see underlying layers. Reducing the opacity of the elements on top of a background makes it possible to see the background image and recognize its content. Or, you can use transparency to de-emphasize some parts of an image and emphasize others. The elements on top of the background remain visible, but their slightly see-through nature integrates them more fully with the image as a whole.
For applications that support layers, you can find the opacity controls in the Layers palette, and you adjust the opacity of an entire layer, not just portions thereof. Some editing applications let you select content on a single layer, and reduce or increase its opacity independently.
Using Photoshop Elements as an example (most applications have a similar routine), follow these steps to adjust a layer's opacity, making the objects on underlying layers more visible:
1. Open the image containing the layer that you want to adjust.
2. Access your image editor's Layers palette or dialog box.
3. Within the Layers palette, click the layer that you want to make more or less opaque.
4. Choose your image editor's layer opacity control and use the slider to adjust the opacity level.
Opacity is set at 100% (not see-through at all) by default.
As you adjust the opacity, the results appear immediately within your image. You can undo your result if you don't like it or simply go back to the Layers palette and readjust.
| An opacity of 0% renders the active layer completely invisible, and you can use this to your advantage, making a layer disappear and then slowly increasing its opacity until you achieve the level of visibility that you want. You can also back down from 100%, but starting at 0% can make finding the right setting for a layer that you want to be very, very faint much easier. |
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