Layers, groups and masks

A document is a stack of layers. Layers higher in the Layers panel cover the ones below them. Every change can be undone.

Kinds of layers

• Pixel layers — images and painting. Layer → New Layer adds an empty one.
• Shape layers — rectangles, ellipses and lines that stay editable.
• Text layers — text you type on the canvas and can edit any time.
• Fill layers — a solid colour covering the canvas.
• Adjustment layers — Brightness/Contrast, Hue/Saturation, Exposure, Temperature/Tint, Black & White, Invert, Posterize and Threshold. They change everything below them without touching the pixels.

Opacity and blend modes

Each layer has an opacity and one of 16 blend modes (Multiply, Screen, Overlay and more) in the Properties panel.

Groups

Select a layer and press Cmd/Ctrl+G to put it in a group; Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+G ungroups. Drag layers in the Layers panel to reorder them or move them into a group. By default a group passes its layers' blending through; give it opacity, a blend mode, a mask or effects to treat it as one unit.

Masks

Layer → Add Layer Mask hides parts of a layer without erasing them. Click the mask thumbnail, then paint black to hide, white to reveal and grey for partial transparency. Shift-click the thumbnail to turn the mask off temporarily. With a selection active, the new mask reveals only the selection.

Effects

Drop shadow, outer glow, outer stroke and colour overlay are in the Properties panel. Layers with effects show an fx badge.

Limitations

• Masks follow a layer when it moves, but not when it is scaled or rotated.
• Groups can be moved but not yet scaled or rotated as a whole.
• Clipping masks, vector masks, Curves and Levels are not available yet.