Page 259 - Enhancing CAD Drawings with Photoshop

4386.book Page 243 Monday, November 15, 2004 3:27 PM

COMPOSITING IN PHOTOSHOP 243

Organizing Layers
Before we start applying layer style effects in the next section, it is worth spending some time orga-
nizing the layers of the CompositingProject document. Taking time to organize the layers is especially
warranted in a more complex project if you have dozens or hundreds of layers.
You can organize layers in the Layers palette in four ways: descriptive naming, ordering, using
colors, and categorizing with layer sets. Of these four, you have already applied descriptive names to
each layer in the previous sections, actually beginning with naming the objects in VIZ. Also, you
might have noticed that I’ve been routinely assigning colors throughout the preceding chapters, but
layer color is affected by arranging layer sets. Let’s take a look at how you can keep the Layers palette
organized.
There are 10 layers and only 7 colors, so if you want to color every layer, some repetition is neces-
sary. It doesn’t really matter which colors you choose for particular layers; the colors are used only to
visually differentiate the layers within the Layers palette and provide a visual mnemonic for you while
you work with this project. That said, try to find some logic for the colors that you choose if possible.
In this project, the glass layers are related, so they could have the same color. The shadow layer is
a somewhat special layer because it doesn’t represent a 3D object like the other layers. For these rea-
sons, I recommend using blue for all three glass layers and setting the Shadow layer’s color to red.
1. Right-click the Shadow layer name in the Layers palette and choose Layer Properties from the
context menu. In the Layer Properties dialog box, choose Red from the Color drop-down list
box and click OK.
2. Similarly, give the three glass layers a blue color.
3. Layer order is significant whenever pixels overlap. In this project, only the Shadow layer has
pixels that overlap other layers; therefore, it should be at the top of the Layer stack so it can be
seen. Drag the Shadow layer to the top of the Layers palette, if it is not already. The shadow
will be revealed in the document window if it was previously hidden below other layers.
The most important purpose for reordering layers is to reveal obscured pixels. A secondary
purpose is to organize that Layers palette. You might want items at the bottom of your com-
position to appear at the bottom of the layer stack, for example. It’s really a matter of personal
preference, and more complex projects can warrant additional thought.
If you have a series of related layers, it makes sense to put them together within a layer set.
Photoshop CS now supports nested layer sets, making organized folks very happy (myself
included admittedly). Let’s see how this works in our relatively simple project.
4. Click the Create A New Set button at the bottom of the Layers palette. Drag the Framing, Glass
Right, Glass Curved, and Glass Left layers into the new set. Rename Set 1 to Curtain Wall.
Notice that the layers you dragged into the set are indented so you can tell that they are part
of it.
5. Create another layer set inside the first set and call it Glazing. Drag Glass Left, Glass Curved,
and Glass Right into the Glazing set. Leave the Framing layer above the Glazing set but still
within the Curtain Wall set. Reorder the remaining layers according to Figure 7.25.
But look! When you created the layer sets, you lost any layer color that was on the layers you
dragged into the sets. However, you can give the entire set a color.