couple of questions about the layers course

[winclk]

i have gone through all of the videos (will go over them again though), and i have a couple of questions.

1--how do you know when to duplicate a background layer? i noticed in some of the videos that the background layer was duplicated and some just had a new layer added.

2--when creating a new blank file how do you know how big to make it?

that's it for now. may have some more after i watch the videos again.:D

[willpresley]

One thought is how likely are you to want to use the original again -- by duplicating the layer you leave the original intact and can go back to it if it is saved as a PSD or TIFF file -- leaving layers as they are so you have quite a bit of freedom to go back after you learn some more and do it again.

New blank file depends on what you are going to put on it. If you are going to do some small work on it then a small size; if you want to put several pictures on it then 8x10 -- just depends on what you want to accomplish -- the options are all there.

[GaryK]

I always duplicate my background layer..even if it the photo is a copy of the original.
Partly just to be in the habit of doing it, and partly because then it is easier to see the "original" if I do something to that copied layer.:)