How to combine layers in Photoshop: practical recommendations

Few people have not heard about such a powerful graphics editor of raster graphics, like Photoshop. The Internet literally "dazzles" with images, edited or created thanks to the capabilities of this program. Sometimes, when meeting an unusual photo, the user doubts what he sees before himself - an original photo or a fantasy product of a person who has mastered the subtleties of image processing.

This situation leads to the fact that more and more people pay attention to Photoshop, trying to master the work with its various tools. At this stage, the user is introduced to such a basic concept as the layers in Photoshop.

So, what is it and what is it for? How to merge layers in Photoshop? Only carefully studying the answers to these questions, the user will be able to say with certainty that he mastered the basic skills of working in Photoshop. A layer is one of the elements of the image with which various manipulations are carried out. In fact, you can edit every single element of the picture, without affecting the rest.

All actions are carried out through a special toolbar, located in the lower right part of the program window. There you can create, edit or merge layers in Photoshop. Initially, the image imported into the program environment has blocked access to the layers. To remove the ban, you need to double-click the icon with the lock icon. Create a new layer by clicking on the special button at the bottom of the window.

In the process of work, the layout of the layers on the panel must be taken into account. This check is especially important to perform before you combine the layers in Photoshop, otherwise the result can be quite the opposite of what you expect. This is due to the fact that each upper "tier" will overlap those that are located below. Accordingly, parts of the lower layers can be seen only through the transparent regions located above. If there are no "windows", then the lower layers will not be visible at all in the final result.

After completing all the necessary editing steps, you should prepare the file for printing, especially if it is of a large format. In such cases, again, you need to know how to merge the layers in Photoshop. This is done to reduce the "weight" of images. In addition, they are easier to print, since there is no need for a powerful computer with a large amount of RAM. You can merge so "Layer - Merge Layers". A similar result will result in the use of the "Ctrl + E" key combination.

However, quite often there are situations when each of the objects in the image requires processing in several stages. In this case, it is not enough to know how to merge the layers in Photoshop. You need to be able to identify specific and work with them!

For these purposes, the easiest way is to use the following algorithm. First, select the first layer by clicking on it with the left mouse button, while holding down the "Ctrl" key. Then select the next mouse without releasing "Ctrl". After all the necessary layers are selected, right-click on any of them. As a result, a menu pops up that suggests "Merge Layers" or "Merge with Bottom." The text of the menu depends on the version of the program.

Knowing these "basics", you can start experiments in Photoshop, learning its individual tools and improving your skills with this popular editor.