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4. The Screen Setup of PhotoLine

## 4.7 The Layer Panel

The Layer Dialog is the center of editing large documents with many layers. It lists all layers in a document and allows to edit, copy or delete them.

Most layer functions are accessible through the Layer menu or through the context menu of the Layer Dialog. The context menu contains only the most important functions, but you don’t have to use sub menus in order to access them.

Layer Intensity modifies the transparency of a layer.

The combo box Display Mode rules, how a layer is combined with its background. There are various modes available therefore you should try their effect with several examples in order to get used to them. If Protect Underlying Transparency is activated, the active layer will not modify the transparency built-up by the preceding layers.

Lock Transparent Areas can only be selected, if the active layer is an image and has an alpha channel (see chapter 2.3.2, creation of an alpha channel see chapter 7.5.48). If the switch is selected, the alpha channel will be protected and can not be modified by image operations like pointing or like filters.

Layer Not Selectable defines, that the layer tool (see chapter 6.2.1) cannot select the layer. This ensures that you don’t select a layer by mistake. Layer Not Movable prohibits, that a layer can be moved. A perfectly placed layer is safe from being moved by mistake with this option. You can override both settings by holding Shift.

If you deactivate Show Layer, the layer becomes invisible. Clicking while holding the Alt-key has a special meaning. If other layers are visible, they will become invisible, so that the layer you clicked on will be the only visible layer. If it was already the only visible layer, all other layers will become visible, too. Show Layer has a second meaning, too: if it is clicked while holding Shift, the layer will be made a clipping layer (see chapter 2.7). This state is indicated by a pair of small scissors. Additionally the icon indicates whether a layer is a layer mask (see chapter 2.8). A layer can only be a layer mask, if it has a parent layer.. The layer mask state can be modified by clicking while holding the Ctrl-key. The context menu of Show Layer offers quick access to all these options, too.

The button Mark Layer is used for grouping layers. You activate it for the layers you want to group (see chapter 2.3.5), and select Layer/Management/Group Marked Layers. If you want to dissolve a group, select Layer/Management/Dissolve Group. The active layer is automatically marked, too.

The context menu of the Mark Layer button allows you to mark or unmark all layers.

The little picture shows the layer in order to ease recognition. The size of this picture can be adjusted by using the menu of the title bar.

You are able to change the name of a layer by double clicking on its cell. If you do that, the layer information dialog (see chapter 7.5.48) will appear, and you can change the name, the size and the resolution. If a layer is completely outside of the document area, its name is displayed red.

If a layer is a adjustment layer, there will be a small icon for the assigned work next to preview. Double-clicking the icon allows to change the settings of the adjustment layer.

Layers are always drawn from the bottom to the top. This means, layers in the background are displayed at the bottom of the layers dialog.

You can change the order of the layers by simply dragging a layer to a new position

Aside from showing layer, the Layer dialog is used for controlling the channels of a document, too. This happens in the subdialog Channels, also called Channels Palette. By using the eyes the visibility of the single channels can be controlled. Alt+click on an eye makes that channel the only visible. The selection defines whether a channel can be edited or not. Channel to Selection copies the active channel to the mask and Channel to Layer creates a new layer based on the active channel. These are only accessible, if there is only one channel selected and the active layer is an image.

If the active layer is an adjustment layer, a special channel will also be listed. This special channel represents the mask of the adjustment layer. If the visibility of the special channel is turned on, it will be drawn the same way as a the normal mask (see chapter 4.5.2.5 and chapter 7.10.1.23).

Using PhotoLine you usually don‘t need the Channels Palette, because every appropriate tool and filter has its own channel control.