Photoshop 101: Lightning Fast Layer Groups
The day I discovered this little time saver, I rolled my eyes in shame thinking about how much of my life I’d wasted doing it the hard way. I want to share a neat little Photoshop productivity tip for faster folder creation in the Layers palette. The method varies between versions (because of shift select functionality added recently to the Adobe Suite) but I’ll show you how to do it in CS3 and CS1. I don’t have a copy of CS2, so hopefully the (you) readers can help us with that in the comments.
Keeping your Layers palette tidy can save you time. Lets make it a little easier (and quicker). Instead of Adding a new Folder and then dragging layers into it, there is a faster way to create a group. Like I said before, it differs between versions, so I’ll show you 2 different ways (CS3 & CS1).
Photoshop CS3:
In CS3, we are able to Shift + Select layers (as well as Command/Control + Select, which means your layers don’t have to be in consecutive order to do this trick). So, all you have to do is Shift + Select the Layers you would like to group into a folder, Drag them to the “Folder” or “New Group” icon, and your done. Photoshop will automatically place the layers into a new Group.
Photoshop CS1:
CS1 is slightly different, but not much more difficult. Select one of the layers you would like to be in your group, then “link” the other layers you want in your group, to the selected layer. Now Drag the selected layer to the “Folder” or “New Group” icon, and your done. Photoshop automatically puts the layer you Drag into a new Group, along with all layers ‘linked’ to that layer.
You can also select all the layer you want in the Group and hit Command+G to group them! Command+Shift+G will Ungroup a selected Group.
CS2 = CS3
You can drag all the layers to the link button to link them, also you can drag them to the new layer button to duplicate all your layers. This is a great feature. (CS3)
you can also select the layers with ctrl or shift, and then shift click on the new folder icon
I was just thinking about this the other day actually! I believe the thought went along the lines of “There’s got to be a better way!”
Thanks Bitt – you always seem to read my mind!
@loki,
Fantastic! See! How did I miss that. There are so many ways to do things in Photoshop that sometimes merely bring up the subject as a group/community can help us all learn from each other, and those that know these things can keep their skills in check. Like a refresh if you will. Thanks for sharing. I’m gonna tattoo that one on my arm. : )
~Bitt
and.. ctrl + G?
wtf?
Isn’t it easier if you just hit CMD + G?
Thanks Bitt — nice to see people publishing tips and hints for those of us still slumming it in CS1.
Just wanted to say all your tips made my summer creating a lot easier…
Thanks.
in cs3 you can also shift/cntrl click on the layers you want grouped then just hit control+g and itll put them all in there. thats how i do it most of the time. i usually prefer it over dragging bc it saves just a little more time
You can drag all the layers to the link button to link them, also you can drag them to the new layer button to duplicate all your layers. This is a great feature. (CS3)
This is a great tip but I have always thought that if you have several layers selected, you should be able to just click on the layer group icon at the bottom of the layers pallet to make a new group with the selected layers inside. Sadly all it does is make an empty group.
Seems like no brainer functionality to me. I guess Adobe doesn’t agree.
This is a great feature
On my side, since I always want to rename my groups, I created a shortcut in my keyboard shortcuts to do a “New group from layers”.
I select the layers I want to group, I hit the shortcut I created and then, it brings up the Group properties window. That means I can give the group a name immediately (even a group color), and after hitting enter, the groupe is all set.
No need to go back on the group name, double click it and rename it.
;)
Hey.
(after you have selected the layers) You can also press comand+G and then the layers are grouped :o)
Congratulations master of the obvious.
Great tutorial i also found this useful
http://www.mutinydesign.co.uk/web-design-resources/how-to-group-layers-in-photoshop/