Chapter 6. Layers: The Heart of Elements

If you’ve been working mostly in the Quick Fix window so far, you’ve probably noticed that once you close your file, the changes you’ve made are permanent. You can undo stuff while the file is still open, but once you close it, you’re stuck with what you’ve done.

In Elements, you can keep your changes (most kinds, anyway) and still revert to the original image if you use layers, a nifty system of transparent sheets that keeps each component of your image on a separate sliver that you can edit. Layers are one of the greatest image-editing inventions ever. By putting each change you make on its own layer, you can rearrange your image’s composition and add or subtract changes whenever you want.