Photoshop User - USA (2021-01)

(Window>Layer Comps) click the Create New Layer

Comp icon. In the resulting dialog, name the comp

(use a descriptive name) and check the boxes for

Visibility, Position, and Appearance. (You only have

to do this for the first comp). Click OK.

Next, change the visibility of the layers (or move

a layer, change the Opacity, turn off a mask, etc.),

and create the next layer comp.

In this example, I wanted to end up with several

logo choices, so I added adjustment layers that

would allow me to change the look of individual

layers. Then I went through and created the comps,

each time turning on and off the visibility of the

appropriate layers.

Once finished creating comps, you can view them

either by clicking to the left of the name of the comp

you want to view in the Layer Comps panel, or by

clicking on the first button at the bottom of the panel

to “scroll through” all the comps.

Q: How do you paste a texture onto

a layer mask?

A: In order to paste onto a layer mask, you have to

be able to view the mask; and simply clicking on it

in the Layers panel won’t do the trick. To view the

contents of the mask, hold down Option (PC: Alt) and

click on the mask thumbnail. Now you’ll be able to

copy from a texture photo and paste into the mask.

(Hold down Option [PC: Alt] and click again on the

mask thumbnail to see the effects of the mask.)

Q: Apparently you can use layer comps to

create several versions of a document,

but I don’t understand how that works.

Can you explain?

A: The Layer Comps panel lets you “record” different

versions of a multi-layered document, based on the

position, visibility, and appearance (layer styles) of

each layer. Then you can choose which layer comp

you want to view. The key thing to remember is that

while you can change the visibility and position of

your layers, you can’t change things such as scale,

or the fonts used in a type layer. For example, if you

wanted to have two different sizes of the same logo

within different layer comps, you’d have to create

two copies of the logo layer, scale one of them, and

then hide the layers one at a time as you create

layer comps.

It usually works best if you add any necessary

layers and effects (including adjustment layers and

layer styles) before you start creating the layer

comps. The actual process of creating layer comps

goes like this: Show the layers you want to include

in your first comp, and in the Layer Comps panel

Finally, save the document as a PSD file and the

layer comps will always be available.

Q: Follow up layer comps question: I under-

stand that you’re supposed to be able

to access the layer comps from inside

another document. How do I do that?

A: If you import the PSD that contains the layer comps

into your main document, you can access, and choose

from, the layer comps. Use File>Place Linked to

import the PSD file into your photo. (Yes, it seems

odd to place a Photoshop file into a Photoshop file,

but for this process it’s a necessary step.)

Placing the file creates a smart object, but rather

than double-clicking on the smart object thumbnail to

edit it, there’s an easier way. With the smart object layer

active go to the Properties panel (Window>Properties);

it should say Linked Smart Object at the top. You’ll

see a menu that currently says “Don’t Apply Layer

Comp.” Use this menu to choose which layer comp

DAVE CROSS

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