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4. The Screen Setup of PhotoLine

## 4.7 The Layer List

The Layer List 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.

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.

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

Common Options

Layer Intensity modifies the transparency of a layer.

The combo box Display Mode controls, 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 4.11). 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.

Layer Visibility

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 (Window) or Command-key (Mac OS).

The context menu of Show Layer offers quick access to all these options, too.

Layer Selection

The button Mark Layer is used for grouping (see chapter 2.3.5) and aligning layers.

The active layer is automatically marked, too.

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

There are two additional ways for marking layers by clicking on the layer name or kind while holding a modifier key:

- Clicking while holding Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) inverts the current mark.
- Clicking while holding Shift selects all layers between the active layer and the clicked layer.

The Thumbnail

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

By clicking on the thumbnail while holding Shift, you will create a mask based on the brightness of the layer;

If you click while holding Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) the mask will be created based on the transparency of the layer. Holding additionally Shift will add to current mask, Alt will remove.

If a layer is an adjustment layer, clicking while holding Shift turns off the effect of the adjustment mask. Alt+click displays the mask as gray image allowing better editing.

With adjustment layers there is an additional small icon for the assigned adjustments next to the thumbnail. Double-clicking the icon allows to change the settings of the adjustment layer.

The Layer Name

You are able to change the name of a layer by single clicking the name of the active layer.

If a layer is completely outside of the document area, its name is displayed red.