Working with the Layer Comps Palette in Photoshop

What Layer Comps does do is enable you to create and save multiple versions of your document within a single master file. This function actually makes the Layer Comps palette more of a distant cousin to the History palette. Through the Layer Comps palette, Photoshop records all the vital statistics of your layers, including their visibility, position, and blending options. This comes in handy when you want to show a client or art director various design versions within a single document. That’s right. No longer do you have to save the various renditions of a design or project in multiple files.

You can also use Layer Comps in ImageReady to produce various link pages for a Web site, all within a single document file.
Follow the steps below to discover how the Layer Comps palette operates:

1. Choose Window-->Layer Comps to display the palette.
2. Create all your desired layer content. Note that if you perform all your editing on just a Background, you cannot save the document as a layer comp.
3. When you have a version of the document that you want to save as a comp, click the New Layer Comp button or choose New Layer Comp from the palette pop-up menu.
The New Layer Comp dialog box appears. To create a comp and bypass the options dialog box, hold down the Alt (Option on the Mac) key when you click the New Layer Comp button.
Note if you execute certain commands, such as changing the size of the document (cropping, using Image Size or Canvas size and so on) or rotating by any amount other than 180 degrees, you get a warning alarm icon, which informs you that you will not be able to fully restore the layer comp.
4. Name your layer comp, and choose the attributes you want recorded —Visibility, Position, and Appearance (Layer Style) of the layers. You can also add an optional comment about the configuration you are capturing. Click OK.
Note that if you add a comment, you see a triangle just to the left of the layer comp name. Click the triangle to expand to see your comment in the palette.
5. Continue creating your various configurations of the document, capturing a layer comp after each.
6. To display a particular layer comp, click in the left column in the Layer Comps palette.
You see a document icon, which indicates that particular layer comp is selected.
7. To efficiently cycle through all your layer comps, Ctrl+click, (Ô+click for Mac) all your comps in the palette to select them all.
You can also click the first layer comp and then Shift+click the last layer comp, which automatically selects all files in between. Then click the Apply Next Selected Layer Comp and Apply Previous Selected Layer Comp buttons at the bottom of the Layer Comps palette. You can also, less efficiently, apply layer comps by selecting the particular layer comp and choosing Apply Layer Comp from the palette pop-up menu. The document icon will move to that layer, and Photoshop will display that layer comp.

Here are a few more Layer Comp tidbits:
- To rename a layer comp, simply double-click its name in the palette.
- To delete a layer comp, select it and click the trash can icon in the Layer Comps palette. You can also drag the layer comp to the trash can icon or choose Delete Layer Comp from the palette pop-up menu.
- To duplicate a layer comp, select it and drag it onto the New Layer Comp button in the palette or choose Duplicate Layer Comp from the palette pop-up menu.
- To update a particular layer comp with the currently active configuration of the document, select the layer comp and then choose Update Layer Comp from the palette popup menu or click the Update Layer Comp button at the bottom of the palette.
- To display your document at its latest configuration (but not necessarily the latest saved layer comp), choose Restore Last Document State from the palette pop-up or simply click on Last Document State in the Layer Comps palette.
- To rearrange the order of the layer comps, simply drag it to a new location in the palette.

Photoshop offers you a variety of great ways to output your layer comps. Here is the lowdown on each:
- Choose File-->Scripts-->Layer Comps to Files: Select this command and Photoshop exports your layer comps to individual files. In the dialog box provide a destination and Prefix name for your file. Indicate whether you want to include only selected layer comps (you must select them before you choose the command). Leave the Selected Layer Comps Only option deselected to have Photoshop export all layer comps. Then choose your desired file type and specify whether you want to include ICC Profiles and Maximize Compatibility. Click Run and then sit back and watch the magic happen. Photoshop runs the script and sequentially numbers and saves your layer comps to individual files at your specified location. If all goes well, Photoshop will prompt you that your export was successful. It doesn’t get better than that.

- Choose File-->Scripts-->Layer Comps to PDF: Choose this command to export your layer comps as a multipage PDF file. Photoshop saves each layer to a separate PDF page. In the dialog box click the Browse button to provide a filename and destination. Indicate whether you want to include only selected layer comps. Then choose your options for your PDF Slide Show presentation. Specify the amount of time you want in between pages and whether you want the show to loop (keep playing continuously). Click Run. Photoshop runs the script and saves the PDF to your destination. Attach the PDF to an e-mail (or FTP it), and the recipient of your file can open and view the PDF using Acrobat Reader (a free download from www.adobe.com). This is a great way to present design and project options to your clients, coworkers, or directors for review and decision-making.

- Choose File-->Scripts-->Layer Comps to WPG: This option exports your layer comps to a Web Photo Gallery. In the dialog box click Browse and choose a destination for your file. Next, specify a gallery style and whether you want to export only the selected layer comps. Click Run. Photoshop does its scripting thing and automatically launches a Web Photo Gallery in your default browser, displaying each layer comp both as a thumbnail and as a larger image. This can also be a great way to handle client or management review of project designs, especially if e-mailing isn’t an option.