Merge Layers in Photoshop CS6

3 Parts:

Steps

Video: Merge Layers in Photoshop CS6

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You're watching VisiHow. In this video, we are going to show you how you can merge layers in Photoshop CS6 in Windows 7.

1. 1
   To begin, we should open Photoshop

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   This can be seen at the bottom by the blue square with the letters "PS".

   

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2. 2
   Once we open Photoshop, we can either open a new document or open an existing one

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   There is another VisiHow video on how to do that. Once we open or create a document, the screen will look similar to the one in the tutorial. The particular document will be in the layer in the top left-hand corner. If we have other documents opened, then they will be listed along at the tab section as well.

   

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3. 3
   As we will be merging layers, we need to have more than one layer in our document

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   We might have only one "Background" layer, which we can see by looking at the right-hand side. In this video, the "Background" layer is locked, as shown at the right-hand side. We have two identical layers on top of the "Background" layer.

   • If we want to merge layers, we should consider that once we merge them, there is no way to go back if we close and reopen the document.
   • Merging layers compresses them into one flat image, almost like the JPEG option will.
   • If we want to keep layers, we should save as a Photoshop file. There is a VisiHow video on how to do that.
     

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4. 4
   We select the layers

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   We can click to select one layer, "Shift"-click to add all of the layers up to the selected layer, or "Ctrl"-click a layer to add it to the selection. This will select one, two, or all of them if we prefer that. Then, we can merge the selected layers. Let's select and merge the top two layers.

   

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5. 5
   We use the mouse to right-click the selected layers and bring up a new menu

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6. 6
   We should move the mouse across to the "Merge Layers" section

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7. 7
   We also have the "Merge Visible" option in the menu

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   There is another VisiHow video on how to merge visible layers. This is a slight variation of "Merge Layers".

   

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8. 8
   We click "Merge Layers"

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   We will see that the top layers will be as one in a new layer. The name of the layer will be the same as the layer on which we click first.

   

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9. 9
   We cannot go back if we close and reopen the document

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10. 10
    However, we can do it now by clicking "Edit" in the top left-hand corner

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    We click "Undo Merge Layers". This is good to know if we merged the layers by accident, and we don't want to lose any work.

    

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11. 11
    If we want, we can click "Edit" and "Step Forward"

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    Our layers will be merged again.

    

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This is a VisiHow video. We've just shown you how you can merge layers in Photoshop CS6 in Windows 7. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to add them to the section below. We'll do our best to get back to you.

If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.

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