Layer Sets

[size=18px]LAYER SETS[/size]

Photoshop?s layer sets are very powerful and can be used in a lot of ways (attachment);[list][*]Turning layers on/off
It's very easy to turn off a layer set by clicking on the eye ball icon (1).
If you look at my Halloween example (10): 3 clicks are sufficient to remove the left candle, the bowl and it?s content.
[*]Moving mutiple layers
It's also very easy to move all layers inside a layer set at the same time, by selecting the layer set and the move tool. In my Halloween example, it's easy to move a candle to a different position. Make sure that if your objects in a layer set need shadows or highlights, like in my case the candles, that you only add them at when you?re sure that you?re not planning to move that particular layer set anymore.
Notice, that you can even resize or rotate multiple objects when you put them in a layer set. You can resize the red circle and green square, by selecting the layer set, select Show Bounding Box. Any resize or rotation will now affect both objects.
[*]Changing the opacity of multiple layers
Very easy, with the layer set selected, move the opacity slider (2)
[*]Restricting the effect of adjustment layers to a layer set only
You?ll notice that the dark blue color of my background hasn?t changed by adding a Hue & Saturation adjustment layer (3). It seems that the adj. layer only had an effect on the layers inside the set, since the red ball turned orange and the dark green square changed to light green.
How can one achieve this?
Well, the default blending mode for a layer set is Pass Through, which means that the layer set has no blending mode.
If you change it to Normal (4) then the Hue & Saturation correction will only effect the layers INSIDE the layer set.
It?s easy this way for example, to add a simple correction to a group of layers, without affecting other layers. It?s easy in the Halloween scene to add a simple color correction that affects only the candle at the left.
Notice that you can also add a mask to an adjustment layer (5); some people forget that.
[*]Duplicating layer sets
A layer set can be duplicated by dragging and dropping the icon of an existing layer set on the new layer set icon (6)
[*]Masking a layer set
A very powerful thing is that one can add a mask to a layer set (7).
In my example I?m showing how a gradient mask affects both circle and square at the same time. Another example is the pumpkin. The top of the pumpkin needed some rough edges. That?s when I decided to add a mask to the pumpkin layer set, to make it less smooth (9)
[*]Locking a layer set
It?s very easy to lock a layer set (8).
You?ll notice that most of the layer sets in the Halloween example are locked.
I prefer to unlock only those layer sets that I?m working on.
Important is also to give your layer sets a name. Trying to figure out all the time what's inside layer sets that are named set 1, set 2, set 3, etc will definitely slow you down.

Also don?t forget to click on the icon for the sub-menu, where you can find more things that you can do with layer sets (11)[/list:u]Note: It will be possible in Photoshop 8 to nest a layer set inside an existing layer set.

Have fun with Layer Sets!

G.