Organize and manage layers

In the Layers list, you can disable layers and groups to make them invisible in the canvas without removing them from your composition. For example, if a large image layer obstructs the layers below, you can temporarily hide it. If you hide a group, you also hide all layers and groups nested in it. However, hidden layers and groups can still be deleted, renamed, and rearranged in the Layers sidebar.

1. Select the layers you'd like to hide or reveal.

2. Do one of the following:

• Choose Arrange > Hide or Arrange > Show (from the Arrange menu at the top of your screen).

• Press Control ⌃ + H on your keyboard.
• In the Layers sidebar (choose View > Layers > Show Layers if the list view isn’t visible), move the mouse pointer over the layer or layer group you’d like to hide or show and click the visibility icon .

• In the Layers sidebar, Control ⌃–click a layer or group and choose Hide or Show.

Note: Hidden layers and groups are not included when your image is exported.

Grouping layers into layer groups lets you make your compositions more organized. It also lets you apply effects and adjustments to a number of layers together without having to merge them. When you move or resize a layer group, each layer is moved and resized together, in proportion. You can also group layers within layer groups to create nested groups.

To group multiple layers into a layer group or to ungroup them:

1. Select the layers you'd like to group or ungroup.
2. Do one of the following:
   • Choose Arrange > Group or Arrange > Ungroup (from the Arrange menu at the top of your screen).
   • In the Layers sidebar, Control ⌃–click the layers you’d like to group or ungroup and choose Group or Ungroup (choose View > Layers > List or View > Layers > Thumbnails if the Layers sidebar isn’t visible).
   • Press Command ⌘ + G on your keyboard to group, or Shift ⇧ + Command ⌘ + G to ungroup layers.

Do one of the following:

• Select a layer inside an expanded layer group in the Layers sidebar (choose View > Layers > Show Layers if the Layers sidebar isn’t visible) and choose one of the options from the Insert menu at the top of your screen.

• Drag a layer to the layer group in the Layers sidebar.

• Drag a layer group into another layer group. The group, together with all its layers, will be nested inside the layer group.

To expand or collapse a single layer group:

• In the Layers sidebar, click the disclosure triangle next to the layer group's name.

To expand or collapse a layer group and all the groups nested within it:

• In the Layers sidebar, Option ⌥–click the disclosure triangle next to the layer group's name.

When you lock a layer or layer group, it stays visible in your image but it will no longer be editable. However, locked layers and groups can still be deleted, renamed, and rearranged in the Layers sidebar.

To lock or unlock a layer or layer group, do one of the following:

• Choose Arrange > Lock or Arrange > Unlock (from the Arrange menu at the top of your screen).

• In the list Layers sidebar (choose View > Layers > Show List if the list view isn’t visible), move the mouse pointer over the layer or layer group you’d like to lock and click . To unlock layers, click .
• In the Layers sidebar (choose View > Layers > Thumbnails or View > Layers > List if the Layers sidebar isn’t visible), Control ⌃–click a layer or layer group choose Lock or Unlock.

Merging (also called flattening) layers is a destructive action that combines a number of different layers into one. Any adjustments, effects, styles, or other formatting information are also flattened down into the image, so they will no longer be editable. Merging layers can be useful when you have a large image with many different layers that you won’t necessarily need to edit in the future and you want to make the image more manageable.

To merge two or more layers, do the following:

1. Select the layers you’d like to merge.

2. Then, do one of the following:

   • Choose Arrange > Merge (from the Arrange menu at the top of your screen).
   • In the Layers sidebar (choose View > Layers > List or View > Layers > Thumbnails if the Layers sidebar isn’t visible), Control ⌃–click the layer you’d like to merge and choose Merge.

   • Press Option ⌥ + Command ⌘ + E on your keyboard.

To merge every layer in a composition:

• Choose Arrange > Merge All (from the Arrange menu at the top of your screen).
• Press Option ⌥ + Shift ⇧ + Command ⌘ + E on your keyboard.

You can add different color tags to layers to better organize multi-layered documents.

• To add a color tag, Control ⌃–click a layer and in the Tags section, pick a color.

You can use the layer filtering option to quickly view all group layers, image layers, shapes, or text in a document, or filter layers by their name or the assigned color tags.

To filter layers do one of the following:

• At the bottom of the Layers sidebar, start typing the layer name into the search field.
• Click Filter at the bottom of the Layers sidebar and pick the desired option.

To reset all filters, click Clear All.

Renaming groups and layers in the Layers list helps organize your document.

To rename a layer do one of the following:

• In the Layers sidebar, double-click the layer name you want to change and type in a new name.
• In the Layers sidebar, Force click the layer name and type in a new one.

Also, if a layer has been named automatically, you can Control ⌃–click the layer in the layers sidebar, choose Suggested Names and pick a name from the list of suggested names.

Do one of the following:

• In the Layers sidebar, Control ⌃ – click the layer you'd like to delete and choose Delete.

• Select the layer you'd like to delete, then press Backspace ⌫ on your keyboard.

• Select the layer you'd like to delete, then choose Edit > Delete from the Edit menu at the top of your screen.