Alibony Lessons for Photoshop Elements, Lightroom, and Digital Photography

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Photoshop Elements: Unlock the Background Layer

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Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 9

November 30, 2010

The Background layer in Photoshop Elements is a special layer with restrictions that limit its use. Whenever you open a photo in Photoshop Elements, the photo is placed on the Background layer. Also, when you create a new blank file that contains a background color, a Background layer filled with the color is created. The Background layer appears as partially locked in the Layers panel.

Restrictions

The restrictions applied to the Background layer include:

  1. You cannot delete the Background layer.
  2. The Background layer cannot contain any transparent pixels. If you select and delete a portion of a photo, the selection is filled with the background color.
  3. You cannot move the Background layer up or down in the layer stack.
  4. You cannot create a new layer beneath the Background layer.

Liberate the Background Layer

The restrictions on the Background layer are a good thing - they can prevent you from damaging or deleting your original photo. However, they can also be very frustrating when working with layers. You can easily convert the Background layer to a regular layer. To unlock and liberate your background layer, you can do the following in the Layers panel:

  • Press Alt (or Option on the Mac) and double-click on the Background layer thumbnail. The Background layer is unlocked and renamed as Layer 0.

  • Drag and drop the Lock icon on the Background layer to the Trash bin icon on the Layers panel. The Background layer is unlocked and renamed as Layer 0.

  • If you want to rename the Background layer to something other than Layer 0, double-click the Background layer thumbnail nail to display the New Layer dialog box. Enter a new name and click OK.

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Updated on August 4, 2011