If you haven't encountered Acrobat Reader on installation CD's for use with the manuals, then you should go to Adobe and download a free copy of version 5.0. Odds are that you'll be using it often. Technique Photoshop layers was the feature that catapulted Adobe's flagship graphics editor in front of all the rest in its early days, making it the industry standard and yet to be unseated. The process is relative fundamental and such an integrated part of the Photoshop experience, but so few users have yet to realize the maximum potential. So I've decided to give a basic tutorial for layers in this issue.
Layers are nothing new.
They've been around in vector graphics editors since Mac first hit the desktop. Anyone who has ever used vector graphics knows the commands move to the rear and move to the fore. In essence, these are crude layers. The best place to begin is with the layer palette and its menu, accessible through the arrowed button in the upper right. The palette is the control center of the layer function, and it has many controls to learn in order to master fully.