copy a text layer from one file to another?

[kerriann85]

This must be easy if you just now how....
I have this picture:
http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?pic=1u83JGJyF2l37sFwzgnQ6EhTNZCwK1
I want to take the text and it's funky shadow and all(which is on it's own layer) and put it onto a different picture. I've opened both the files and can copy.paste the text, but I should be able to instead take the "layer" with all it's embelishment over to the new file, right? No amount of dragging in any direction of either file will do it.
How? (And if not, I'm screwed, i'll never remember what all I did to make the text look like that.....)

I guess the simple question is....can I (how) take a layer from one file and copy it over to a different file? Please speak slowly. :)

[Wendy]

Kerri,

Open up both images and open the layers palette. Make sure you can see both images at the same time. Click on the image you want to move the text from ... then in its layers palette drag the text layer from the layers palette into your new image.

That should do it ......

By the way nice photograph and cool text :)


Wendy

[kerriann85]

Oh geez, Wendy. I knew it was that easy.
I had closed eveything down, but opened it all back up. Followed your instructions while thinking "'been there done that". Of course it worked perfectly.

I swear I tried that before posting. I swear, I swear, I swear!

Thank You!

(Thanks for the compliment, also tried sticking the boys onto one of the gradient backgrounds. It was a little wild. Helped to lighten and blur some. Maybe I'll make some Valentine postcards next!!)

[Wendy]

Kerri,

Glad it worked ... I'd never tried doing that before so it was something new for me too :) .



Wendy

[Jodi Frye]

kerri you totally lucked out that the text was still on it's own layer....this is why it's so important to save psd layered work ! Text would not have been too bad to select ( if you owned the font ) but why go through the pain of selecting something off an image when you can just drag a layer...beats all ! Keep saving psd layered files !!!! Great Job !

[kerriann85]

I'm learning! I thought I might come back and play with that pix sometime so I left the layers.... In fact, before long, I probably will have more layers than a truckload of onions as my hard drive crashes under the strain.

[Jodi Frye]

kerri, uou can do it !! I just burn to disc once the files reach a certain MB size and then delete them from my system....room for more ! Perhaps i have too much faith in discs but I never buy cheap bargain bin discs so hopefully that will help. Besides, i'd like to think that I can keep getting better and the old stuff will seem like crap to me anyways. I really must update my webspace for this very reason. Alot of it looks really bad to me now but i liked it when i did it.

[Wendy]

I like to live dangerously ... I saved everything in layers for a couple of years or so but realised that I rarely go back to them, I now take a view and flatten about 80%.

What I do keep is layered templates of interesting things ... that way I can just use them over and over again.


Wendy

[Steve]

The subject is my question. I have used Micrografx for years and like it a lot. Photoshop I figured was the AutoCAD of paint programs. So I purchased it. However, some things are just different and seem to be much more difficult to accomplish than Micrografx. Like.. copying multiple images, text (layers in Photoshop) from one image file into another. I only know how to copy (or drag) one layer at a time. Please help.

Thank you
Steve

[kerriann85]

It looks like you can "link" the layers you want to move, then move them.
This is from the help in PSE3:

To copy multiple layers into another image

You can copy multiple layers, including the Background layer, from one image to another. Keep in mind that the pixel dimensions of the destination image determine how large the printed copy of the layers can be. Also, if the pixel dimensions of the two images are not the same, then the copied layers may appear smaller or larger than you’d expect.

In the Editor, make sure that both the source and destination images are open, and select one of the layers you want to copy.

In the Layers palette, click in the column immediately to the left of any additional layers you want to copy. The link icon appears in the column.

Use the Move tool to drag the linked layers from the source image to the destination image.

[Steve]

Thank you, I figured it had something to do with linking. But where do I find the MOVE tool? Or, can the group be dragged into the new image?

[kerriann85]

The move tool is the little arrow tool at the top of the tool choices.

Once all the layers you want are linked you'll just drag them from the original picture there in the big editing window to the other picture that's open in the editing window.. (I originally tried to drag them all together from the pallette to the picture, this didn't work, they'll only go individually from there.)

[Steve]

I figured it out. First link the layers, then go to the Layer pulldown

Layer>
Group Linked or Ctrl+G

Then drag the grouped image into the new image

Then in the new image...
Layer>
Ungroup or Shft+Ctrl+G

[kerriann85]

Ok, that would have been the next thing for me to try out. (I'm learning all this stuff too.)

Glad it worked!

[Steve]

Thanks for being online. Now I can get going right away in the morning.
This was one of our biggest hurtles for a year.

[kerriann85]

No problem! So glad to help. I've gotten a lot of advice around here, it's nice to assist someone else for a change.

Come back if you have more questions!