Photoshop Tip: Moving The Background Layer

Mar 30, 2009 by Jennifer Farley    4 Comments    Posted under: Blog, Photoshop Tutorials

A question that comes up fairly regularly in Photoshop class is; “why can’t I move the Background layer”. The layer is a bit of a funny one because when you look at it in the layers palette, you can see a little lock beside the name so it seems like you should just be able to uncheck the lock. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work!

To unlock the Background layer and then move it wherever you want, all you need to do is double-click on the name (literally double-click on the word Background) in the layers palette, which brings up the new Layer dialog box. By default Photoshop offers you Layer 0 as a new name – simply accept this or type in a new name for your Background layer, then click OK.

Now you can drag that layer anywhere you want in the layer stack.

Tags: digital photography, Photoshop Tutorials

4 Comments + Add Comment

• 
  Robin April 1, 2009 at 5:08 pm

  Thank you for the tip! When I start a new photoshop document I just delete the background layer and add a new layer, if I forget it can cause problems in the workflow later on. With this I won’t ever have the problems again

  Robins last blog post..10 reasons your business needs a website.
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  Jennifer Farley April 2, 2009 at 9:08 am

  Thanks for visiting Robin and commenting. Glad you found this tip useful.
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  David Airey April 7, 2009 at 12:12 pm

  Oh, nice. Never knew you could do that, Jennifer. Although I reckon I only know about 10% of Photoshop’s capabilities!

  David Aireys last blog post..Graphic design contracts – your advice
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  Jennifer Farley April 8, 2009 at 9:24 am

  Hi David, glad you found it useful. Photoshop is a HUGE program, I use it everyday and I still learn new stuff about it every day.

  What programs do you use for your design work?