Version 1.54 Manual
Copyright 2015-2017 by Harald Heim & The Plugin Site Support Web site: http://thepluginsite.com E-mail: http://www.thepluginsite.com/about/contact.htm User Forum: http://www.thepluginsite.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=41 Credits Idea and Concept: Harald Heim Development: Harald Heim Logo and Artwork: Harald Heim Beta Testers: Ken Payne, Gerd Dollhopf Photos: Light trails, USB stick and panorama by Harald Heim Flower girl by ffotograff65 / pixmac Stone beach by elwynn / pixmac Sunset by Gerd Dollhopf
LayersXXL Manual Table of Contents 1 Introduction...1 1.1 Description...1 1.2 FAQ...2 1.3 Compatibility...4 1.4 Installation...6 1.5 Step by Step...8 1.5.1 Denoising High ISO Shots...8 1.5.2 Combining Macro Photos or Photos with Different Focal Points...9 1.5.3 Creating an HDR Image...10 1.5.4 Creating Light Trail Effects...10 1.5.5 Combining Multiple Portrait Photos...12 1.5.6 Producing Multiple Exposure Effects...12 1.5.7 Combining Panorama Photos...13 2 Features...15 2.1 File Menu...15 2.1.1 Open As Layers...15 2.1.2 Save Layers to Files...15 2.2 Edit Menu...16 2.2.1 Preferences > LayersXXL...16 2.3 Image Menu...18 2.3.1 Auto-Align Layers...18 2.3.2 Auto-Blend Layers...18 2.3.3 Auto-Expose Layers...19 2.3.4 HDR-Combine Layers...21 2.3.5 Remove Transparency...23 2.4 Enhance Menu...25 2.4.1 Tasks...25 2.5 Layer Menu...26 2.5.1 Style Settings...26 2.5.2 Styles...26 2.5.3 Blending Options...27 2.5.4 Layer Effects...29 2.6 Window Menu...33 2.6.1 Layer Comps...33 2.7 Help Menu...35 2.7.1 LayersXXL Help...35 2.7.2 LayersXXL Videos...35 2.7.3 About Plug-In > LayersXXL...35 2.8 Layer Panel...36 2.8.1 Style Settings Icon...36 2.8.2 Style Settings Symbol...36 i
1 Introduction 1.1 Description LayersXXL adds up to 180 powerful features to Photoshop Elements for Windows that were previously only available in Photoshop. These features are available as new menu items, icons and dialogs, so they seamlessly integrate into the user interface of Photoshop Elements. ElementsXXL upgrades Photoshop Elements with features of Photoshop and bridges the gap between Photoshop Elements and Photoshop. LayersXXL works with version 6 to 15 of Photoshop Elements for Windows. Features: Up to 180 new features for Photoshop Elements for Windows (Version 6 and higher) Open/Save Layers: Opens multiple files and automatically places them as layers Automatically creates exposure variations from a single raw file and places them as layers Saves layers as separate files Layer Processing: Auto-Align feature for perfectly aligning photos of the same scene or as a panorama Auto-Blend feature for creating panoramas or increasing the depth of field Auto-Expose feature for denoising high ISO shots, creating multiple exposure effects, improving light trail shots as well as applying other blending effects HDR-Combine feature for creating a high dynamic range image from multiple photos or even a single photo Remove Transparency feature for automatically removing transparent areas from stacked images or panorama layers Action-like task items for automatically performing seven common tasks: Denoising, Depth of Field Increase, HDR, Light Trail, Manual Composition, Multiple Exposure and Panorama. Layer Comps: Panel for creating layer compositions, editing them and quickly switching between them (Version 11 and higher) Save Layer Comps to Files feature for automatically saving each layer composition to a separate file (Version 11 and higher) Layer Styles: 5 new layer effects 15 new blending options including a Blend If feature for advanced masking 90 new layer style settings including patterns, gradients and contours Gradient editor for managing, editing and creating your own gradient style effects Ability to load, edit and save.asl style files
LayersXXL Manual 2 1.2 FAQ Does LayersXXL take Photoshop Elements closer to Photoshop? LayersXXL adds almost 180 new features to Photoshop Elements that are only available in Photoshop, e.g. opening images as layers, auto-aligning, auto-blending, HDR functionality, enhanced layer styles and layer comps. So LayersXXL bridges a big part of the gap between Photoshop Elements and Photoshop. Additionally LayersXXL adds features not available in Photoshop, e.g. the Auto-Expose and HDR-Combine features. Especially if you use Layers XXL together with our ElementsXXL product, you gain 400 new features for Photoshop Elements. How does LayersXXL compare to ElementsXXL? LayersXXL and ElementsXXL can be used on their own or together. They have only two functions in common: Auto-Align Layers and Auto-Blend Layers. If you like the Auto-Align and Auto-Blend features in ElementsXXL, you will love them even more in LayersXXL, because using them is now much easier with the additional Open As Layers, Remove Transparency and Tasks features of LayersXXL. Otherwise LayersXXL and ElementsXXL offer totally different functionalities. ElementsXXL makes available basic functionality like channels, tools, smart objects, path and vector masks, new filters etc. On the other hand LayersXXL concentrates on combining multiple layers for various advanced purposes, e.g. HDR, denoising, macro stacking, multiple exposure and panorama. Additionally LayersXXL provides dozens of new layer composition and layer style features. Both products together make Photoshop Elements even more powerful. Why should I use LayersXXL for HDR imaging instead of other products? LayersXXL's HDR-Compose feature has the following advantages over traditional HDR software: It produces natural looking results without the typical overdone HDR look. It also offers more creative freedom and possibilities. LayersXXL's HDR output is not just a single image but three layers (shadows, midtones, highlights) and two layer masks. So you have much more freedom for further improving the HDR look with all tools of Photoshop Elements. You can even reapply the HDR-Compose dialog on the final image to non-destructively edit it, which is not possible with traditional HDR software. Finally, LayersXXL fully integrates into Photoshop Elements, so you do not need to leave its UI to create HDR images. What is the difference between LayersXXL and other products that extend Photoshop Elements? The big thing about LayersXXL is that it fully integrates into the user interface of Photoshop Elements by adding new menu items, icons and various dialogs. LayersXXL starts up together with Photoshop Elements, so it does not need to be run manually. LayersXXL feels like an upgrade to Photoshop Elements and not like a plugin or external tool. Other products that try to extend the functionality of Photoshop Elements have to be executed by clicking a button or menu item. They are limited to a single dialog that blocks the user interface or consist of simple actions. So they are not as intuitively and easy to use as LayersXXL. They do not provide the rich features of LayersXXL. There is no other product that adds Open/Save Layers commands, Auto-Expose and HDR-Combine features as well as all Photoshop layer styles options to Photoshop Elements. LayersXXL supports Photoshop Elements 6 and higher and does not need to be purchased separately for each Photoshop Elements version. With which version of Photoshop Elements should I use LayersXXL? We recommend using LayersXXL with Photoshop Elements 11 to 15. However, in Photoshop Elements 13-15 you additionally have a Content-Aware Fill option on the Remove Transparency dialog. In Photoshop Elements 6 to 10 there are no Layer Comps features and there is no icon added to the Layers panel. In Photoshop Elements 6 to 7 clicking the fx
LayersXXL Manual 3 symbol for editing existing layer styles does not work and the saturation slider of the HDR-Combine feature is less effective. How do I know which features are added by LayersXXL and which are part of Photoshop Elements? LayersXXL adds a green background to its icon and menu items (ElementsXXL adds a light blue background). To remove this colorization, please go to File > Automation Tools > LayersXXL and deactivate the "Colorize Icons & Menu Items" check box. Additionally you can check out the manual on the menu under Help > LayersXXL Help. All features of LayersXXL are mentioned and explained there in detail. Does LayersXXL work with 16-bit images? Unfortunately the answer to this question is "No" at the moment. So far Photoshop Elements only supports layers for images with 8-bit per channel. As LayersXXL mainly provides features that require layers, it can only be used on 8-bit images so far. If Photoshop Elements will support layers for 16-bit images in future, we will make LayersXXL support 16-bit images. We may also add some workarounds in a future version for making some features of LayersXXL nevertheless work with 16-bit images. I have a non-english version of Photoshop Elements. Can I use LayersXXL with it? Yes, definitely. 95% of the features of LayersXXL are automatically translated to the language of Photoshop Elements. For example, if you use a Spanish version of Photoshop Elements, all menu items and almost all dialogs of LayersXXL are in Spanish. Only the Preferences dialog and a few messages are only available in English and German. There is only a English manuals for LayersXX, but you can read about most LayersXXL features in the manual of Photoshop or on the Photoshop Help page - both of which are available for various languages. You can simply search for a certain term, e.g. the name of a menu item, in the Photoshop PDF manual or on the Photoshop Help page. Here are the Photoshop Help pages (where you can also find the Photoshop manual) in all languages that Photoshop Elements supports: Czech, German, English, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish, Turkish, Chinese, Taiwanese. If you want to look up some LayersXXL features in the English manual and you have a non-english version of Photoshop Elements installed, you can activate the "Force English Localization" check box on the LayersXXL Preferences dialog. After restarting Photoshop Elements, the LayersXXL items will be shown in English language. Alternatively you can enter the term together with "Photoshop" in Google, e.g. "Photoshop Auto-Align Layers". Then you will find a lot of information and tutorials about it. Sometimes the Auto-Blend Layers feature of LayersXXL does not work. What can I do about it? In some cases the Auto-Blend Layers feature may not have enough memory to perform its task. Here are some measures to make it work anyway: 1. Exit all other applications. 2. Close all other documents in Photoshop Elements. 3. Choose Edit > Clear > All to free more memory in Photoshop Elements. 4. Go to Edit > Preferences > Performance and increase the Memory Usage to 90 or 95%. 5. Reduce the number of layers that are processed with Auto-Blend Layers. 6. Reduce the image size of the document that contains the layers. 7. If you run Windows 32-bit, upgrade to Windows 64-bit. This will double the amount of memory that Photoshop Elements can use (from 1.6 GB to 3.2 GB RAM). In Photoshop Elements 13 (and higher) you can even use almost all of your RAM under Windows 64-bit.
LayersXXL Manual 4 1.3 Compatibility LayersXXL works under Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP (32-bit & 64-bit). It requires the following application to be installed: Adobe Photoshop Elements (Version 6 to 15 or 2018) All menu items and most dialogs of LayersXXL are localized to the language of Photoshop Elements. The options of the LayersXXL Preferences dialog and some messages are displayed in English or German. LayersXXL only works with 8-bit images so far, because they require layer support, which is not available for 16-bit images in Photoshop Elements. Feature/Version Table Here is an overview of which LayersXXL features are available in which version of Photoshop Elements: Photoshop Elements Version Features 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 2018 Open as Layers (4) Save Layers To Files (1) Auto-Align Layers (8) Auto-Blend Layers (3) Auto-Expose Layers (9) HDR-Combine (10) *1 *2 Remove Transparency (2/3) *3 Tasks (7) Layer Comps (15) New Blending Options (15) New Layer Effects (5) New Style Settings (90) Style Gradient Editor (10) Create layer from layer styles Style Settings icon on Layers panel *4 Clicking on fx symbol to edit existing style settings Total Number of Features 165 165 166 166 166 182 182 183 183 183 183 = works only on images with 8-bit/channel = not available
LayersXXL Manual 5 *1 = Photoshop Elements 6-7: The Saturation slider of the HDR-Combine dialog works slightly different, because Photoshop Elements 6 and 7 do not support the Vibrance effect. *2 = Photoshop Elements 6-10: The Contrast slider of the HDR-Combine dialog works slightly different, because Photoshop Elements 6-10 do not support a Curve adjustment layer. *3 = Photoshop Elements 6-12: The Content-Aware Fill option of the Remove Transparency dialog does not work. Photoshop Elements 13 and higher is necessary. *4 = Photoshop Elements 6-10: There is no Style Settings icon added to the Layers panel. You have to use the Layers > Layer Style > Style Settings menu item instead.
LayersXXL Manual 6 1.4 Installation Uninstallation If you want to install the full version or a newer version, you do not need to uninstall the trial version or older version. The trial or old version is overwritten when installing the full or newer version To nevertheless uninstall LayersXXL go to Start > Control Panel > Uninstall a program (Windows 7) or right click the Start button, select Control Panel and click on "Programs and Features" (Windows 8 & 10). On the appearing dialog double click the appropriate item to uninstall it. Installing Double click the downloaded.exe file and follow the installation instructions. When Plugin Installer shows up, activate the check boxes of your preferred application(s) and press the Install button. You can run Plugin Installer at any time from Start > All Programs > The Plugin Site > LayersXXL > Plugin Installer. Then you have more options than during installation, e.g. an Uninstall button. If you install a new version of Photoshop Elements and LayersXXL is already installed, you do not need to run the full LayersXXL installation again. You can run Plugin Installer from the Start menu and use it to install LayersXXL into the newly installed version of Photoshop Elements.
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LayersXXL Manual 8 1.5 Step by Step 1.5.1 Denoising High ISO Shots Automated Method: 1. Choose Enhance > Tasks > Denoise from the Enhance menu. 2. On the appearing Open As Layer dialog select at least two images (taken with the same camera settings of the same scene) by using the Ctrl or Shift key. Then click the Open button. 3. When the Auto-Expose Layers dialog appears, adjust its sliders if necessary. Then click OK. The left image is a 100% detail of a photo taken at ISO 6400. For the right image the Denoise option of Auto-Expose Layers was used on five photos taken at ISO 6400.
LayersXXL Manual 9 Manual Method: 1. Choose Open As Layer from the File menu and select at least two images (taken with the same camera settings of the same scene) by using the Ctrl or Shift key. Then click the Open button. 2. Choose Auto Align Layers from the Image menu and click OK. 3. If there are transparent border areas, choose Remove Transparency from the Image menu, activate the "Stacked Images" radio button and click OK. Alternatively use the Crop tool to manually remove them. 4. Choose Auto-Expose Layers from the Image menu, select the Denoise method and click OK. 1.5.2 Combining Macro Photos or Photos with Different Focal Points Automated Method: 1. Choose Tasks > Depth of Field Increase from the Enhance menu. 2. On the appearing Open As Layer dialog select at least two images by using the Ctrl or Shift key. Then click the Open button. 3. Now you will see all images as layers with layer masks that reveal the sharpest parts of each layer. Choose Flatten Image from the Layers menu to combine all layers to one. Manual Method: 1. Choose Open As Layer from the File menu and select at least two images by using the Ctrl or Shift key. 2. Choose Auto Align Layers from the Image menu and click OK. 3. Choose Auto Blend Layers from the Image menu. 4. Select Stack Images from the Blend Method options. If desired, activate the check box for seamless tones and colors. Finally press OK. 5. If there are transparent border areas, choose Remove Transparency from the Image menu, activate the "Stacked Images" radio button and click OK. Alternatively use the Crop tool to manually remove them.
LayersXXL Manual 10 1.5.3 Creating an HDR Image Automated Method: 1. Choose Tasks > HDR from the Enhance menu. 2. On the appearing Open As Layer dialog select at least one raw file but maximally three files (taken with the different exposure settings of the same scene) by using the Ctrl or Shift key. Then click the Open button. 3. When the HDR-Combine Layers dialog appears adjust its settings for the best result. Then click OK. Manual Method: 1. Choose Open As Layer from the File menu and select at least one raw file but maximally three files by using the Ctrl or Shift key. Then click the Open button. 2. Choose Auto Align Layers from the Image menu and click OK. 3. If there are transparent border areas, choose Remove Transparency from the Image menu, activate the "Stacked Images" radio button and click OK. Alternatively use the Crop tool to manually remove them. 4. Choose HDR-Combine Layers from the Image menu, adjust the settings for the best result and click OK. 1.5.4 Creating Light Trail Effects Automated Method: 1. Choose Tasks > Light Trail from the Enhance menu. 2. On the appearing Open As Layer dialog select at least two photos (taken of the different scenes) by using the Ctrl or Shift key. Then click the Open button.
LayersXXL Manual 11 3. When the Auto-Expose Layers dialog appears adjust its Brightness and Contrast sliders and try the Hide slider for excluding some photos. Then click OK. Manual Method: 1. Choose Open As Layer from the File menu and select at least two photos of light trails by using the Ctrl or Shift key. Then click the Open button. The left image is one of three light trail photos taken with a tripod. The right result was produced by automatically aligning and cropping all three photos and applying LayersXXL's Auto-Exposure feature with the Light Trail option activated. 2. Choose Auto Align Layers from the Image menu and click OK. 3. If there are transparent border areas, choose Remove Transparency from the Image menu, activate the "Keep Overlapping Areas" radio button and click OK. Alternatively use the Crop tool to manually remove them. 4. Choose Auto-Expose Layers from the Image menu, select the Light Trail method, adjust the Brightness and Contrast sliders, try the Layers slider for excluding some photos and click OK.
LayersXXL Manual 12 1.5.5 Combining Multiple Portrait Photos Automated Method: 1. Choose Tasks > Manual Composition from the Enhance menu. 2. On the appearing Open As Layer dialog select at least two images by using the Ctrl or Shift key. Then click the Open button. 3. Now you will see all images as layers each with a layer mask except the bottom layer. Use the brush tool for making certain image areas of a layer visible or invisible. This way you can combine the best parts of each photo. Manual Method: 1. Choose Open As Layer from the File menu and select at least two images by using the Ctrl or Shift key. 2. Choose Auto Align Layers from the Image menu and click OK. 3. If there are transparent border areas, choose Remove Transparency from the Image menu, activate the "Stacked Images" radio button and click OK. Alternatively use the Crop tool to manually remove them. 4. Create a layer mask for each layer except the bottom one and use the brush tool for making certain image areas of a layer visible or invisible. This way you can combine the best parts of each photo. 1.5.6 Producing Multiple Exposure Effects Automated Method: 1. Choose Tasks > Multiple Exposure from the Enhance menu. 2. On the appearing Open As Layer dialog select at least two photos (taken of the different scenes) by using the Ctrl or Shift key. Then click the Open button.
LayersXXL Manual 13 3. When the Auto-Expose Layers dialog appears click the Swap button multiple times for effect variations and try the "Multi-Expose 2" option. Adjust the Brightness and Contrast sliders if necessary. Then click OK. Manual Method: 1. Choose Open As Layer from the File menu and select at least two photos (taken of the different scenes) by using the Ctrl or Shift key. Then click the Open button. 2. Choose Auto-Expose Layers from the Image menu, select the Multi-Expose method. Click the Swap button multiple times for effect variations and try the "Multi-Expose 2" option. Adjust the Brightness and Contrast sliders if necessary. Then click OK. 1.5.7 Combining Panorama Photos Automated Method: 1. Choose Tasks > Panorama from the Enhance menu. 2. On the appearing Open As Layer dialog select at least two images by using the Ctrl or Shift key. Then click the Open button. 3. On the Remove Transparency dialog you can decide about the transparent areas of the panorama. To to keep them click Cancel. To crop them away deactivate the Content-Aware Fill check box and click OK. To fill them with content (Photoshop Elements 13 and higher) activate the Content-Aware Fill check box and click OK. 4. Now you will see all images as layers stitched as panorama. Choose Flatten Image from the Layers menu to combine all layers to one. Manual Method: 1. Choose Open As Layer from the File menu and select at least two images by using the Ctrl or Shift key. 2. Choose Auto Align Layers from the Image menu. For normal panoramas best choose the Cylindrical option of the Projection group, because the Auto option is sometimes a bit unreliable. The other options position and distort the panorama images differently. Click OK.
LayersXXL Manual 14 3. Choose Auto Blend Layers from the Image menu. 4. Select the Panorama radio button from the Blend Method options and activate the check box for seamless tones and colors. Finally press OK. 5. If there are transparent border areas, choose Remove Transparency from the Image menu and activate the Panorama option. To crop the transparent areas away deactivate the Content-Aware Fill check box and click OK. To fill them with content (Photoshop Elements 13 and higher) activate the Content-Aware Fill check box and click OK.
2 Features 2.1 File Menu LayersXXL adds two menu items to the File menu of Photoshop Elements, which allow you to perform open and save operations on the layers of a document. So instead of using separate documents for multiple images you can now process these images in one document as layers. 2.1.1 Open As Layers Requirements: None The Open As Layers menu item opens multiple images as layers in a new document and names each layer after the corresponding file. On the appearing file dialog you can select multiple images by using the Ctrl and Shift keys or by drawing a rectangle around the files. Click the Open button to confirm your selection. Make sure that all image files that you want to open are located in the same folder. If the selected image files do not have the same image dimensions, smaller images will be center aligned in the document. If one of the selected files is a raw file, the Camera Raw dialog will be shown (with default preference settings). If you select only one raw file, two additional exposure variations of the same raw file are opened as layers (with default preference settings), which is useful for HDR imaging. You can influence the behavior of the Open As Layers feature on the LayersXXL preferences dialog. 2.1.2 Save Layers to Files Requirements: None The Save Layers to Files command saves each layer of a document as a separate image file. The name of each layer will be used as the file name for each saved file. The file extension of the layer name will be changed to the format that is selected for saving. If a layer has transparent pixels around its borders, these pixels will be cropped away before the image is saved. So not all saved images may have the same image width and height.
LayersXXL Manual 16 2.2 Edit Menu LayersXXL adds an item on the Preferences sub menu of the Edit menu for changing the LayersXXL preferences. You display the same dialog by using the LayersXXL menu item on the File > Automation Tool sub menu. 2.2.1 Preferences > LayersXXL Requirements: None If you click on this menu item on the Preferences sub menu, a dialog window is opened that lets you change the settings of LayersXXL. You can switch between different preferences groups by using the list on the left-hand side or by clicking the Prev and Next buttons. To set all options to the original default values click the Reset button. Press OK to apply the changes on this dialog or Cancel to discard them. LayersXXL Page The Deactivate LayersXXL check box lets you deactivate LayersXXL without installing it. You have to restart Photoshop Elements to make the deactivation work. To reactivate LayersXXL again please choose File > Automation Tools > LayersXXL from the menu. When running LayersXXL for the first time, all menu items, icons and buttons of LayersXXL have a blue background, so you immediately see which features were added. To remove this highlighting, once you know LayersXXL well enough, deactivate the Colorize Icons & Menu Items check box. If you are using a non-english version of Photoshop Elements and would like to see the menu items and dialogs of LayersXXL in English language, you can activate the Force English Localization check box. You have to restart Photoshop Elements for this feature to start or stop working. This feature can help if you want to look up things in the English manual or if the localization to your language is not perfect.
LayersXXL Manual 17 Open As Layers Page This page lets you change the behavior of the Open As Layer item on the File menu. The Show Camera Raw combo box determines if the Camera Raw dialog is never shown, only displayed for raw files or appears for raw, jpg, tiff and psd files. The With one selected raw file combo box defines what is done if only one file is selected on the Open As Layers dialog. The No Bracketing option simply opens only one file. The Auto Bracketing option shows the Camera Raw dialog only once and then automatically creates two additional exposure variations, whose exposure difference depends on the Bracketing Range combo box. The Manual Bracketing option displays the Camera Raw dialog three times: The first time with normal exposure, the second time with under exposure and the third time with overexposure. In each case you can manually adjust the Camera Raw settings. Please note that Manual Bracketing overrides the Never setting of the Show Camera Raw option. The Bracketing Range combo box controls the intensity of the Auto Bracketing and Manual Bracketing options of the second combo box (labeled "With one selected file"). For best result keep the -2/+2 EV option. With -1/+1 option the exposure variations may be too similar and with -3/+3 option the difference is sometimes too extreme. These exposure variations can be used with the the HDR-Combine Layers command for improving the dynamic range. HDR-Combine This HDR-Combine page contains an option for the HDR-Combine Layers command. By default, a new document for previewing the HDR effect is opened. As the preview image is downscaled, the effect is rendered and displayed faster when adjusting some sliders. As a downside it increases the render time before and after displaying the HDR-Combine dialog slightly. The Do Not Use Preview Document check box makes sure that no preview document is used. This means that the HDR-Combine will show up and vanish faster, but adjusting some of the slider will be slower. If you play a lot with the HDR settings, better keep this check box deactivated. If you often apply the same HDR settings, better activate it.
LayersXXL Manual 18 2.3 Image Menu LayersXXL adds five new menu items to the Image menu of Photoshop Elements. 2.3.1 Auto-Align Layers Requirements: At least two layers have to be selected in the Layers panel. The Auto-Align Layers function lets you align two or more very similar photos in order to combine them to one image. This is quite useful if you want to combine multiple shots of the same subject, e.g. a group of people, photos taken with different exposure or depth of field or if you want to create a panorama image from multiple shots. Firstly, you need to place each photo on a different layer (see Open As Layer). Then you select all layers in the Layers panel and run the Auto-Align Layers command. After the layers were aligned, you can use layer masks to only add the best parts of each layer to the final image. In the Auto-Align Layers dialog you can choose between different options for changing the projection of the images. The Auto option tries to find the best option for the corresponding image layers. It chooses between Perspective or Cylindrical projection. When creating a panorama it may choose the Perspective method, which is not always the best choice, so we recommend activating the Cylindrical option. For stacked images it is best to keep the Auto option. The Perspective option chooses a layer as the referene image (usually the middle layer) and perspectively stretches the other layers to match it. The Cylindrical option avoid the bow-tie distortion of the Perspective option by placing the layers on an unfolded cylinder. The Spherical option is meant for photos with wide fields of view, thus it spherically transforms the layers. The Collage option aligns the layers without changing the shape of the layers. Finally, Reposition makes sure that matching image contents overlap by simply repositioning the layers, so no transformation is applied. An activated Vignette Removal check box tries to remove shadows at the corners of the layers. Geometric Distortion compensates barrel, pincushion or fisheye distortions. 2.3.2 Auto-Blend Layers Requirements: At least two layers have to be selected in the Layers panel. The Auto-Blend Layers function enables you to put different images together in order to create either a panoramic scenery with seamless transitions or or to increase the depth of field of macro or other types of photos. The individual photos have to be present as layers (see Open As Layer) and these layers have to be selected for this functionality to work.
LayersXXL Manual 19 The left and middle image are two of eight photos that were combined with the Stack Images feature to create the right image result. If you are trying to blend panorama photos or want to combine macro shots taken without a tripod it is advisable that you apply the Auto-Align Layers feature beforehand in order to have the layers correctly positioned. Otherwise the result may not be as expected. The Auto-Blend Layers dialog offers two blend methods to select. If you want to create a panorama images, activate the Panorama option. If you want to increase the depth of field, choose "Stack Images". An activated Seamless Tones and Colors checkbox grants smooth transitions and colors. 2.3.3 Auto-Expose Layers Requirements: At least two layers have to be selected in the Layers panel. Basically the Auto-Expose Layers feature automatically adjusts the opacity and blend mode of the selected layers in order to produce different effects including denoising and multiple exposure.
LayersXXL Manual 20 The two photos on the left were combined with the Multi-Expose option of Auto-Expose Layers. The Denoise option calculates the average of all layers thus reducing high ISO noise. The two Multi-Expose options create an effect that is known as multiple exposure in traditional photography. They allow you to combine two or more different scenes into one photo. The Light Trail option adds light trails from photos into one image. It can also be used to combine other night shots. Whereas the Denoise, Multi-Expose and Light Trail options use predefined blend modes and opacity settings, the Other option lets you freely adjust the Mode combo box and Opacity slider. The Mode combo box contains all blend modes known from the Layers panel of Photoshop Elements. The Opacity slider represents the option with the same name on the Layers panel. But here you are changing the blend mode and opacity of multiple layers and not just one layer. Nevertheless the bottom layer will always be set to Normal blend mode and 100% opacity to produce an usable effect.
LayersXXL Manual 21 The Brightness slider increases or decreases the brightness of the effect. Usually it is necessary for compensating the brightening or darkening effect of the Exposure option as well as certain blend modes. The Contrast slider adjusts the contrast of the combined layers. Sometimes it may be necessary to deactivate certain layers to achieve a better effect. But you do not need to exit the Auto-Expose Layers dialog to do that. You can use the Hide slider instead, which lets you exclude certain layers from the effect. For example, a value of 1 hides the top layer and a value of 2 excludes the two top layers. On the other hand a value of -1 ignores the bottom layer and a value of -2 hides the two bottom layers. This slider is only usable if more than two layers have been selected. It can be quite helpful with the Light Trial option for animating the light trail. The Swap button is meant to be used for creating variations when using the Multi-Expose methods, but can also be used with the other methods. Each time you click the button the layers will be swapped, which, means that their positions will change. The first number of the button text is the current layer position. The second value is the the total number of possible positrons. So for two selected layers with two possible positions, you will see "1 / 2", "2 / 2" and again "1 / 2" when you click the button twice. For three selected layers there are six possible positions, so you have to click the Swap button six times to check them all out. So the button text will display "1 / 6" up to "6 / 6". For n selected layers there are n * (n-1) possible positions, so for 4 layers that means 12 and for 10 layers already 90 possible positions. To restore the original layer position you have to make sure that a "1" is displayed as the first number on the button. The easiest way to do that is to click the Restore button. The Merge Layers check box combines all selected layers into one layer. This is more or less a convenience option, because you can also do that from the Layers menu later. The Auto-Align button runs the Auto-Align Layers command discussed above. Thus it matches the image content of the selected layers. Click the Cancel button to end everything. If you want to reset the sliders to their default settings, hold down the Alt key and click the Cancel button. 2.3.4 HDR-Combine Layers Requirements: One, two or three layers have to be selected in the Layers panel. The HDR-Combine Layers feature combines two or three photos of the same scene taken with different exposure settings. You get the best HDR results if you shoot three photos of the same scene with -2/+2 or -3/+3 exposure adjustment and then use HDR-Combine on these three photos. But you can also use single photos, preferably a raw file. So here is a ranking ranging from best to worst results: 1. Three raw files of the same scene taken with different exposure. 2. Three jpeg files of the same scene taken with different exposure. 3. One raw file 4. One jpeg file However, sometimes you may get a slightly better result with number 3 than number 2. You may get a very similar result with all four approaches, if the photographic scene is not illuminated by an extreme light source like the sun or a lamp at night, which is when HDR makes the biggest difference. You usually get better results with raw files than with jpegs or tiffs, because raw files have a higher dynamic range, so when LayersXXL automatically produces exposure variations it extracts all details from shadows as well as highlights of the raw data. The left image is a standard raw conversion. The right image was produced
LayersXXL Manual 22 by combining three exposure variations of the same raw file. Instead of combining images to a 32-bit HDR image and tone mapping them back to 8-bit, this feature takes a different approach. It omits the 32-bit step and combines the images directly with the help of layer masks. As a result you get more a natural looking image that provides a higher dynamic range. Additionally you are also able to improve the result by manually editing the layer masks. If only one layer is selected in the Layers panel, two other layers with -2/+2 EV exposure variations are automatically created. We only recommend taking this approach if you do not have differently exposed photos or do not have at least a raw file. Otherwise please use the Open as Layers command to open the photos or to automatically create exposure variations from a raw file. This certainly produces better HDR results. If you have two or three layers selected, they are sorted and named "HDR Shadows", "HDR Midtones" and "HDR Highlights". The brightest layer is named "HDR Shadows", because it offers the most shadows details, and the darkest layer is called "HDR Highlights", because it contains the most details in the brightest image areas. After this first processing step, the HDR-Combine Layers dialog appears. The Shadows and Highlights sliders adjust the opacity of the shadows and highlights layers. They control the intensity of the effect. The Width sliders adjust the masks of the shadows and highlights layers. The higher the value of the sliders, the more image areas from the shadows or highlight layers are introduced in the combined image. The Anti-Halo sliders enable you to remove halos in the shadows or highlights if necessary. For some images you have to use positive slider values, for others you need negative values in order to remove halos. The Contrast and Saturation sliders control the general contrast and saturation. The Merge Layers check box combines all selected layers into one layer. This is more or less a convenience option, because you can also do that from the Layers menu later. The Auto-Align button runs the Auto-Align Layers command discussed above. Thus it matches the image content of the selected layers. Usually it is better to auto-align layers before using the HDR-Combine Layers command. If the necessary alignment is not to extreme, it will also work fine from this dialog. After you clicked the OK button, you can still go back to the HDR-Combine Layers dialog and change its settings. To do that make sure that you have all two or three HDR layers selected and choose Image > HDR-Combine Layers from the menu again. If you activated the Merge Layer check box before clicking OK, you have to undo the HDR-Combine Layers
LayersXXL Manual 23 step in the History panel before you can enter the dialog again. Click the Cancel button to stop everything. If you want to reset the sliders to their default settings, hold down the Alt key and click the Cancel button. 2.3.5 Remove Transparency Requirements: At least one layer has to be available The Remove Transparency command is meant to remove the transparent areas that are created by the Auto-Align Layers command. It takes the transparent areas of all layers in the current document including their layer masks and vector masks into account. Remove Transparency either crops the transparent areas of all layers or fills a new layer with image content that hides the transparent areas. However, filling only works in Photoshop Elements 13 and higher. If you use Remove Transparency for cropping the image, it spares you the work of manual cropping with the crop tool, which often requires multiple cropping steps, because transparent areas of one layer may be hidden behind other layers. Unlike the Trim command of Photoshop and ElementsXXL it removes not only rectangular areas but all transparent areas including irregular ones. If you use Remove Transparency for filling the image with the content-aware feature, it still saves you several clicks compared to doing it manually. Remove Transparency offers two cropping methods. The Panorama option works best on layers that are horizontally aligned as a panorama image. The Stacked Images option is meant for stacked layers that are used e.g. for increasing the depth of field, creating HDRs and denoising. With Stacked Images it crops the smallest inner rectangle of all visible layers, because stacked image overlap mostly. With Panorama it crops the combined inner rectangle of all visible layers, because a panorama is distributed over multiple layers that only overlap very little. If there is only one layer, both options produce the same result. The left image shows eight layers that were auto-aligned, which resulted in very different transparent areas. The middle image shows the eight layers on top of each other. After applying the Remove Transparency command with the "Stacked Images" method (and deactivated "Content-Aware Fill" checkbox), the image on the right was the result. The Content-Aware Fill check box, which only works in Photoshop Element 13 and higher, adds a new layer with image
LayersXXL Manual 24 content that hides the transparent areas. Content-aware Fill works nicely if the image borders contain textures with little details, e.g. clouds, still water, grass, earth, plain walls etc. It does not work very well if there are very fine details in the border areas, e.g. wires, tiles, people. In such cases it is usually better to either crop away the transparency (by deactivating the Content-Aware Fill check box) or to manually fill in the details with the clone stamp or healing brush tools.
LayersXXL Manual 25 2.4 Enhance Menu 2.4.1 Tasks Requirements: None The Tasks sub menu offers seven items for almost automatically performing certain tasks, which start with opening one or more images and end with the final image result. The Denoise task lets you combine multiple photos of the same scene taken with the same camera settings in order to reduce high ISO noise. The Depth of Field Increase task removes blur by using photos taken with a different focus point. The HDR task increases the dynamic range of a photo by overlaying multiple photos taken with different exposures. When opening only one file, exposure variations are automatically generated by LayersXXL. The Light Trail task combines various light trial photos or night shots to produce a more impressive effect.the Manual Composition task opens multiple photos and adds layer masks for starting with a manual composition. The Multiple Exposure lets you create an analog multiple exposure by blending different photos. Finally, the Panorama task stitches panorama photos together. The top images were taken hand held. The bottom result was produced by using the Panorama task. Each task performs the following steps: 1. Open as Layers (displays file dialog for selecting multiple files) 2. Auto-Align Layers (no dialog is shown) 3. Auto-Expose Layers, HDR-Combine Layers or Auto-Blend Layers depending on the task (no dialog is shown for these tasks: Depth of Field Increase, Manual Composition and Panorama). 4. Remove Transparency (no dialog is shown except for the Panorama task; for the HDR task this command is executed before step 3) You can skip step 1 if you already have your images placed as layers in a document and have them selected in the Layers panel. Then simply click the Cancel button when the Open As Layers dialog appears to continue with step 2.
LayersXXL Manual 26 2.5 Layer Menu LayersXXL offers five new layer effects, 100 new effect and blending options for Photoshop Elements. They can be accessed from two new menu items on the Layer > Layer Style sub menu. 2.5.1 Style Settings Requirements: An 8-bit image has to be opened. Some effects need a layer mask or transparent areas. LayersXXL replaces the simplistic Style Settings dialog of Photoshop Elements with a dialog similar to the Layer Styles dialog of Photoshop. You can access it on the Layer Style sub menu of the Layer menu, e.g. by clicking the Style Settings menu item, or with the new fx icon on the Layers panel. The three main parts of the Style Settings dialog (Styles, Blending Options and Layer Effects) are discussed below. The Classic button in the right bottom corner lets you switch to the original Style Settings dialog of Photoshop Elements. 2.5.2 Styles If you click on the Styles item in the list box at the left hand side, a styles list box will be displayed. This Styles control sheet is similar to the Effects > Styles panel of Photoshop Elements, but additionally provides options for creating new styles, organizing your own style collection and saving it as a.asl file. Styles are basically presets that store the settings of one or more layer effects (and sometimes blending options). To apply one of the styles simply click on it in the styles list box. You can replace the current styles or add more styles with the help of the icon at the right hand side of the styles list box. Clicking this icon displays a menu with various options. At the bottom of the menu you can see the names of style files, which are already included with Photoshop Elements. Clicking on one of these items opens the appropriate style file. But you can also open other.asl files with the Load Styles menu item. In both cases you will be asked if you want to replace the current styles with the new ones. To keep the existing styles and add the new ones simple click the No button. If you use the Replace Styles menu item, you can also choose an.asl file with new styles, but you will not be asked if you want to replace the styles in the list. Instead the old styles will be automatically removed and only the new styles will be
LayersXXL Manual 27 shown in the styles list. To fill the list with the default styles again, use the Reset Styles menu item. For saving all current styles in a single.asl file, please choose the Save Styles menu item. You can rename an existing style by selecting it in the list and choosing the Rename Style menu item. You can also remove a style with the Delete Style menu item. Finally, the New Style menu item lets you create a new style from the currently active layer effects. The New Style button has the same functionality. On the New Style dialog you can decide if you want to store only the settings of the layer effects or also include the settings of the blending options in the preset. 2.5.3 Blending Options Requirements: An 8-bit image has to be opened. The Style Settings dialog provides general blending as well as advanced blending options. To display them click on the Blending Options item in the list box on the left hand side. The general blending controls (blend mode and opacity) are identical to those one the Layers panel, so you should be familiar with them. The advanced blending options on the other hand provide very special options for influencing the blending properties of the layer. The Fill Opacity slider works like the Opacity slider, but keeps the layer effects untouched. So it only changes the opacity of the image content of the layer. The three Channels check boxes let you deactivate the red, green and/or blue channels of the current layer.
LayersXXL Manual 28 The Knockout feature makes the current layer "punch through" to reveal content from other layers. So the layer content itself will be used similarly to a layer mask that affects one or multiple layers. The Shallow option "knocks through" to the next layer below or the base layer of a clipping mask group. The Deep option punches through to the background layer or without a background layer it knocks out to transparency. The Blend Interior Effects As Group check box applies the current blend mode to following layer effects: Inner Glow, Satin, Color Overlay and Gradient Overlay. The Blend Clipped Layers As Group option applies the blend mode to all layers in a clipping mask group. Deactivating this option retains the original blend mode and appearance of each layer in the group. An activated Transparency Shapes Layers check box restricts the knockout and layer effects to non-transparent areas of the layer. Otherwise they are applied throughout the whole layer, which is usually not what you want. The Layer Mask Hides Effects option applies the layer mask to the layer effects too. Similarly, the Vector Mask Hides Effects option makes sure that the layer effects only show up in the areas that are defined as opaque by the vector mask. The clouds from the bottom left image were blended with the top left image using the settings in the bottom right screenshot. The top right image shows the result. Manually masking all of the fine branches would have taken 1-2 hours whereas the Blend If feature made it possible in less than a minute. The Blend If feature is a very powerful tool for masking certain image areas. It lets you make certain brightness and color ranges of the current layer transparent (by using the This Layer slider). And it also enables you to blend certain brightness and color ranges of the layer below into the current layer (by using the Underlying Layer slider). If you perform an adjustment, the Blend If check box will be automatically activated. To disable the Blend If effects, simply deactivate this check box. The Blend If combo box lets you choose between Gray, Red, Green and Blue options. These options are not exclusive - on the contrary you can e.g. define a gray range as well as a red range, green range and blue range. The two Blend If sliders offer two knobs each. One for the darker tones and one for the bright tones. By holding down the Alt key and dragging one of the knob halves you can split each knob in two, which has the great side-effect that the tonal values between the two halves produce a smooth transition. We recommend that you always do that to avoid harsh edges. For example, if you want to make the brightest image areas of the current layer transparent, choose the Gray
LayersXXL Manual 29 combo box option, hold down the Alt key and drag the left halve of the gray slider knob of the "This Layer" slider to the left. Additionally if you want to blend in the dark red areas of the underlying layer into the current layer, choose the Red combo box option, hold down the Alt key and drag the right halve of the black slider knob of the Underlying Layer slider to the right. Sometimes you have to combine the Blend If feature with a layer mask to remove a few blending imperfections. Still it saves you a lot of manual masking work. Please note: It is not possible for a plugin to access the settings of the Modify and Blend If groups from Photoshop Elements. So the last used settings are kept, but they are not automatically used when the Style Settings dialog is displayed again. Only when the Modify and Blend If check boxes are activated, these settings are applied. When you change one of the settings, the appropriate checkbox is automatically activated. So if you plan to use the Modify and Blend If settings on more than one layer, best edit these settings in one pass, so that you do not need to edit them later again. 2.5.4 Layer Effects Requirements: An 8-bit image has to be opened. Photoshop Elements offers by default a total of 20 effect options and the following five layer effects: Drop Shadow, Glow (Inner & Outer), Bevel and Stroke. LayersXXL adds 100 new effect options (including gradient, pattern and contour effects) and five new layer effects: Inner Shadow, Satin, Color Overlay, Gradient Overlay and Pattern Overlay. Layer effects work best on layers with transparent areas or a layer mask, e.g. text layers, layers with design elements or layers with cut out image areas. By clicking on one of the twelve items on the left hand side you display the options of a layer effect and automatically activate it. To disable a layer effect again, deactivate its check box. Unlike the other layer effects the Bevel & Emboss layer effects offer two sub pages with controls called Contour and Texture, because not all options fit on one page.
LayersXXL Manual 30 This image was created with the following layer effects: Drop Shadow (white shadow), Outer Glow (black letter outline), Inner Shadow (letter gloss effect) and Gradient Overlay (white/red gradient). It is best if you explore all of these effects options by trying them out. That will make their function more clear than any explanation would be able to. Only certain control elements will be discussed here to give you a kick start. The Angle Control The angle control lets you select the light angle of the Stroke, Inner Shadow, Satin, Gradient Overlay and Drop Shadow effects. Simply click somewhere within the circle to change the angle or enter the angle directly in the text box. The Angle/Altitude Control This control is only available under Bevel & Emboss. It lets you select the angle as well as the altitude of the bevel effect. The invisible line between the center dot and the small white circle defines the angle. On the other hand the distance between the center dot and the small white circle defines the altitude of the bevel effect. Click somewhere within the circle to change both angle and altitude or enter them in the appropriate text boxes. The Global Light Check Box The Global Light check box lets three effects (Bevel & Emboss, Inner Shadow, Drop Shadow) share the same light angle. So if the Global Light check box is activated and you change the angle, all other effects that have Global Light activated will automatically use the same angle value. If you deactivate the Global Light check box for an effect, this effect can use its individual angle value. The Color Box Almost all effects offer a color box for selecting a certain color that is applied with the effect. Click on the color box to display a color dialog for choosing another color. Most of these color boxes are at the right hand side of Blend Mode combo boxes. In such a case the blend mode is used to apply the color. If you selected a bright color, e.g. white, it is recommended to select Screen as the blend mode. If you selected a dark color, e.g. black, you get the best results with
LayersXXL Manual 31 Multiply blend mode. The Pattern Combo Box Some effects let you choose a pattern for adding a texture look. The currently loaded patterns are displayed on the Pattern combo box. If you want to use another pattern, please click on the menu icon at the right hand side of the combo box. This displays a menu with options for loading a pattern file via a file dialog or for choosing pattern files that are delivered with Photoshop Elements. After loading a new pattern file, its patterns are displayed in the combo box. You can sample your own pattern from an image by creating a selection and choosing Edit > Define Pattern. This pattern will then be available on the Pattern combo boxes when you open the Style Settings dialog again. The Gradient Control & Gradient Editor Four effects (Stroke, Inner Glow, Gradient Overlay and Outer Glow) let you choose a gradient for adding a gradient look. The currently used gradient is displayed in a rectangular box. If you want to use another gradient, please click on the menu icon at the right hand side of the gradient box. This displays a menu with options for loading a gradient file via a file dialog or choosing gradient files that are delivered with Photoshop Elements. After loading a new gradient file, its gradients are displayed on the same menu and can be chosen. If you click on the gradient box, the Gradient Editor window shows up. Here you can choose other gradients, edit them and even create totally new gradients of your own.
LayersXXL Manual 32 The list box at the top displays the currently available gradients just like the menu in the previous dialog. Click on one of the list items to apply the gradient and to display it in the big gradient bar below for editing. The menu icon above the list box offers options for loading gradient files. Alternatively you can also click the Load button. The Save button on the other hand saves the current gradients to a new file. Right clicking on the list box displays a context menu for creating a new gradient (see the New button below) as well as renaming and delete a gradient. The bottom half of the Gradient Editor window contains controls for editing the currently selected gradient and for creating a totally new gradient. The Smoothness slider controls the softness of the colors and transparency of the gradient. A value of 0% produces a hard gradient whereas a value of 100% results in a soft one. The New button adds the current gradient as a new gradient. Clicking it makes a new dialog for entering the new gradient's name appear. After clicking OK the new gradient appears in the list box at the top. The big gradient bar displays the gradient and offers controls for editing its transparency and color values with the help of handles. The transparency handles are located above and the color handles are located below the gradient bar. To select a handle left click or right click on it. To change its position simply drag it. If you drag a handle away from the gradient bar, it will vanish. It will be deleted once you release the mouse button. If you keep the mouse button pressed down and move the mouse back towards the gradient bar, the handle will appear again. To create a new handle click in a blank space above or below the gradient bar. The rhomb-shaped handles between the normal handles define the gradient midpoint. If you move such a midpoint handle, the gradient will be stretched on one side and compressed on the other. If a handle is selected, its values are displayed in the controls below the gradient bar. All three types of handles have a location property, but transparency handles have opacity properties and color handles have color properties. The location value can be entered in the text box, but usually it is more practical to drag the handle to change it. To edit a color click on the color box, which displays a color dialog. To edit the opacity use the Opacity slider. The Delete button deletes the currently selected handle. Dragging the handle away from the gradient bar has the same effect. Midpoint handles cannot be deleted.
LayersXXL Manual 33 2.6 Window Menu 2.6.1 Layer Comps Supported by Photoshop Elements 11 to 13 only Requirements: An image has to be opened. Clicking this menu item displays the Layer Comps panel for creating, editing and organizing layer compositions. You can resize the Layer Comps window by placing the mouse at the window border and dragging it. A layer comp stores the following properties of each layer in a document: visibility, position and layer style. So layer comps allow you to create different looks or designs within one document by making certain layers visible or invisible, by positioning layers differently or by using different layer styles for certain layers. You can also quickly switch between layer comps in order to compare different looks or designs instantly. If you switch to another document, the layer comps of the last document are not accessible anymore (unless you duplicated the document). So each document has its own layer comps. The layer comps are saved together with the document if you save it to a PSD file. The existing layer comps are displayed in a list box on the Layer Comps panel. Above it there are five buttons as well as a menu icon that displays a menu with further commands. You can also display the same menu as a context menu by right clicking on one of the layer comp items in the list box. To create a layer comp from the current state of the document, click the New button on the Layer Comps panel or choose the New Layer Comp menu item of the panel or context menu.
LayersXXL Manual 34 On the appearing dialog you can enter a name for the layer comp and decide which layer properties should be applied. If you are unsure, keep all three check boxes activated. If you like, you can also add a comment for explaining the meaning of this layer comp. After clicking OK, you will see the new layer comp in the list of the Layer Comps panel. To switch between existing layer comps use the < and > buttons or click on the check box of the layer comp in the list. Clicking on the name of the layer comp will only select it, but not activate it. Alternatively you can select a layer comp in the list and choose the Apply Layer Comp menu item from the panel menu. The Previous Layer Comp and Next Layer Comp menu items of the panel menu have the same effect as the < and > buttons. To go back to the last document state that existed before you activated one of the layer comps, activate the Last Document State check box in the list or choose the Restore Last Document State menu item of the panel menu. To edit the name of a layer comp, redefine which layer properties should be applied or change the layer comp comment, simply double click the layer comp name in the list. You can also select a layer comp and use the Layer Comp Options menu item to do the same. A dialog (similar to the New Layer Comp dialog above) will appear for editing these properties. You can also duplicate one or more layer comps by selecting them in the list and choosing Duplicate Layer Comps from the panel menu. This is useful if you want to modify existing layer comps for new designs or looks. To delete a layer comp again, select it and click the Delete button or use the Delete Layer Comp menu item. If you want to modify a layer comp, activate it as discussed above. Then modify the visibility, position or layers styles of the appropriate layers and click the Update button or use the Update Layer Comp menu item. You can also store the current document state as an existing layer comp by selecting the layer comp and clicking the Update button. This will of course overwrite the old contents of the layer comp. To save each layer comp to a different image file choose the Save Layer Comps to Files menu item. In the appearing file dialog choose the destination folder and file format of the saved files. The name of the saved files will be a combination of the document name and the layer comp name.
LayersXXL Manual 35 2.7 Help Menu 2.7.1 LayersXXL Help (no requirements) Clicking this menu item displays the manual of LayersXXL where you can inform yourself about its features. 2.7.2 LayersXXL Videos (no requirements) This menu item displays a web page with videos for LayersXXL that show how to accomplish certain things with the features of LayersXXL. 2.7.3 About Plug-In > LayersXXL (no requirements) Displays the About message of LayersXXL, which also includes its version number.
LayersXXL Manual 36 2.8 Layer Panel 2.8.1 Style Settings Icon Supported by Photoshop Elements 11 and higher LayersXXL adds an "fx" icon on the Layers panel. Depending on the version of Photoshop Elements the icon is added to the top or bottom of the Layers panel. Clicking it displays the Style Settings dialog for adding or editing layer effects. If the background is selected, it will be automatically converted into a layer. In Photoshop 6 to 10 you do not have this icon and you have to use the Layer > Layer Style > Style Settings menu item instead. 2.8.2 Style Settings Symbol Supported by Photoshop Elements 8 and higher Once a layer style was added to a layer a small fx symbol appears at the right hand side of the layer bar. LayersXXL allows you to click on this symbol to bring up its Style Settings dialog for editing the layer style. In Photoshop 6 and 7 you have to use the Layer > Layer Style > Style Settings menu item instead, because clicking the fx symbol displays the standard Style Settings dialog of Photoshop Elements with fewer features.
LayersXXL Manual 37 Copyright 2015-2017 by Harald Heim & The Plugin Site