Photoshop has many features that make any graphic project easy. A very useful feature in Photoshop is the ability to group and ungroup. Learning how to use Groups and in Photoshop is very important. When you begin to learn Photoshop, groups may not seem all that important, but as you start to have larger projects you will see the need for groups.
How to use Groups in Photoshop
A Group in Photoshop is a collection of layers placed in a container. The icon for this container looks like a folder. Groups are used for two main purposes, organization, or adding effects to multiple layers. Whatever the reason you use groups, it will fall under one of those two main reasons.
What is a Photoshop Group
In Photoshop different objects, images and texts are placed on separate layers. This means that a big project can have many layers. This can cause the layers panel to get crowded fast. Group in Photoshop helps with organizing layers to keep the layers panel from getting too big. A large project also means that lots of the layers may use the same layer styles and tools. When multiple layers use the same styles and tools, they can be grouped then the style is added to the group. Adjustment layers and Fill layers can be added above the group and all the items in the group will take on the attributes. The great thing about a group is that if you drag and drop layers inside the group, they will automatically take on the attributes of the group. That means, whatever effect is being used on the group will affect any new layers added to the group.
How to create a Group in Photoshop
There are a few ways that a group can be created.
You can also select the layers that you want to group in the layers panel then go to the top right of the layers panel and click the menu button. When the menu drops down select New group from layers.
A New group from layers window will appear, you can name the group and then press Ok to confirm. If you press the menu on the layers style panel and choose New group, the window will appear for you to name the new group. You will name the new layer and press Ok to confirm. However, the layers will not be automatically added to the group. You will have to drag the layers and drop them on the new group.
Adding effects to the Group in Photoshop
This is one of the advantages of creating groups in Photoshop. You can add effects to multiple layers by adding all the layers to a group and then adding the effect to the group. When a project has many layers, it can be difficult to add effects to all the layers. You may want to add the same effect to a lot of layers but it would be difficult and time-consuming to do them all separately. You can add layers to a group and then add the effect to the group. All the layers in the group will have the same effect. If you want to add an adjustment to all the layers in the group, simply place the adjustment layer above the group in the layers panel.To add the effects to the group, right-click on the group in the layers panel then select Blending mode. The Layer types option window will appear. you can choose the layer styles that you want.There are cases where you are working on a large project with a lot of layers. Even though you may have them organized in groups and the layers panel is organized, the canvas will have all the items still there. In this case you can hide the groups so that it is easier to work without the other items visible, when you are ready for the invisible ones, you can enable the visibility.The group can be hidden by clicking the eye icon beside the group’s thumbnail. This is one quick way to hide multiple layers if you have a lot of layers to work with.
Deleting a Group in Photoshop
To delete the group select the group in the layers panel. Right-click on the group then choose Delete group, or go to the top menu bar and select Layer then Delete then Group.
An options box will appear asking you to choose whether to delete the group only or the group and the content or Cancel. Click the option that you want. If you choose Group only the group folder will be deleted and the layers will be ungrouped. If you choose Group and the content, the group and the layers inside will be deleted, if you press Cancel the options window will close and nothing will happen to the group.
Duplicating the Group in Photoshop
You can duplicate a group and its content. Go to the layers panel and right click on the group and choose Duplicate group. A window will appear for you to name the duplicated group or just press Ok to keep the default name. You can also duplicate the group by clicking it and dragging it onto the Create a new layer icon at the bottom of the layers panel.
Ungrouping layers in Photoshop
Layers in a group can be ungrouped if you no longer need the group. You can ungroup the layers by right-clicking on the group in the layers panel and then selecting Ungroup layers. You may also ungroup the layers by selecting the group then going to the top menu bar and clicking Layer then Ungroup layer or Shift + Ctrl + G. the group folder will be deleted and the layers will be left ungrouped in the layers panel.
To group the text layers go to the layers panel and hold Ctrl and click on all the text layers that you want to add to the group. When they have been all selected go to the top menu bar and click Layer then Group layer or press Ctrl + G.
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