Watch the video above then read the instruction below which document the actions taken in the video. The video above is intended as a visual indicator of where to go next, the detail of the tutorial is contained within the textual content of the page below:

Layers are a fantastic feature within Photoshop that allow an image to be comprised of many simple components that build to make a very special image, however for many new to Photoshop Layers seem to be the stumbling block that leaves them confused and believing that Photoshop is too complex a beast for them and sends them off looking for simpler (inferior) image editing packages. The video above is intended to be a very simple introduction that illustrates the concept of layers in the simplest manner.

The key to understanding layers which are much more simple than you probably think is to think of a layer as a clear sheet of acetate that you are going to create and image upon. To retain the maximum amount of flexibility you are going to place each component of you image on its own layer, that way the component can be moved and edited individually to gain the best composition.

To start create new image of any size.

Once you have a blank canvas to work on go to the bottom of the Layers Window and click on the New Layer icon, immediately you will see that you now have two layers where before you just had a background layer. The Background layer will be either white or a colour you specific when you created your canvass, the new layer will have a grey checkerboard effect which indicates that it is transparent. You can work directly onto the background layer but this has limited flexibility so I normally leave the background layer blank and begin my work on a new layer.

Once I have my new layer I am going to click on it in the Layers Window to indicate that this is the layer that I wish to work upon. To confirm this is the active layer it will be selected in Blue to give a strong visual indicator that this is the layer your actions will appear upon. It is good practice regularly give the Layers Window a glance just to confirm you are working on the layer where you want your work to appear. It isn't the end of the world if you work on the wrong layer as you can back-track easily via the History Window.

Once I have drawn a Red Splat on on the new layer I am going to leave that layer and create a new one by clicking on the New Layer icon again and I am going to drawn a Blue Square. Notice that there is a small snapshot of the layer contents within the Layer Window, this helps you identify which layer is which. If your are working with small image components that are difficult to see in the snapshot it is a good idea to Name your layers, this can be done by double clicking on the default layer name such as Layer 1, Layer 2. When double clicked a small text box will appear that can be used to assign your own text to that layer. This is extremely helpful when you have a complex image with many layers and it will save you time and effort try to find the correct layer to edit.

Finally I am going to add a third layer containing a Green Circle. In the Layers Window you can see that we now have four layers including the Background layer. To illustrate the independent nature of each layer I am simply going to click on the Move tool and move each layer in turn. By moving a layer individually you can see that the other components do nothing as the are on separate layers (in essence on their own image). In the video I also drag and drop the layers within the Layers Window to show that the layer order can be changed to bring different elements of the image to the front.

So to summarise Layers they are akin to sheet of clear acetate that contain one aspect of the image, layers provide flexibility by allowing you to edit just the one layer at a time and play around with positioning of that layer to gain the best composition.

There is a great deal more to say about Layers but for now we will leave it there as the concept has been illustrated in it simplest form.

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