User Guide

Using Layers and Layer Masks244
• Opacity—the degree to which
the shadow covers underlying
imagery. Setting opacity to
100% obscures underlying
imagery; lower values create a
more transparent shadow.
• Radius—the amount of blur at
the edge of the shadow. The
radius is half the distance
across the blurred region. If you
set Radius to zero, you create a
sharp-edged shadow.
• Angle—the direction of the
blur.
• Thinness—the amount of blur
applied perpendicular to the
Angle. If a blur shows streaks,
increase Thinness to soften it.
If you want to merge the drop
shadow layer with the image layer,
enable the Collapse to One Layer
check box.
Creating Patterns on Layers
You can use the same pattern-making
techniques on layers as you do on the
canvas. However, a pattern’s wrap-
around features do not apply to layers.
This is because the canvas has edges,
but layers do not—they are unlimited
in size. If you shift a pattern on a layer,
the pattern does not wrap around.
Refer to “Using Patterns” on page 66
for more information.
Moving Layers
When a layer is selected, you can
move its content anywhere in the
document to create a new image
layout.
Repositioning layer content helps you achieve the
optimal image composition quickly and easily.
Think of a layer’s content as being
contained by an invisible bounding
box. This bounding box is a rectangle
that marks the left, right, top, and
bottom edges of the layer’s content.
When you move or align a layer, you
work with the dimensions and
position of this bounding box, not the
entire area of the layer. This allows
you to easily position the contents of a
layer in relation to the canvas.
This layer contains a brush stroke. The content
area is defined by an invisible bounding box.
The layer indicators provide a visual
representation of the bounding box.
Refer to “Showing Layer Indicators”
on page 236 for more information.