Ok - this week's tip is a short one. I apologize in advance for something lacking depth, but I'm getting ready for ACen this weekend, and the current state of affairs here at Ft. Awesome (mi casa) is a maelstrom of packing and drawing and even a little bit of God of War.

What? I like that game.

So. Photoshop files can quickly become a tangled and precarious leaning totem-pole of layers when you're in the thick of CG work. Here's a little tip on how to bring that down to size, and a tip that I hadn't learned until around 6 months back.

As always, the obligatory foreword:

REMEMBER: this is not THE way nor necessarily the BEST way. It's just how I do it.

In photoshop, on that charming little window that contains your layers, you should see a set of icons lining the bottom. One of those handy little icons resembles a folder. Click that.

You've just created a "Set". A Set is just a grouping of specific layers that can be collapsed when needs be. With your new set selected, click on the "new layer" icon. You can also drag existing layers into the set.

Like layers, the sets can be renamed, too. I tend to do this on pages with multiple characters and whatnot to keep them all nice and tidy, only opening the ones I need to work on at a given time. This keeps me from having the sensation of scrolling for miles just to find that one layer that needs to be tweaked or that one character who could use a little more CG love.

There you go - a little trick to make your stay in Photoshop that much cleaner. Remember to recycle. Curb your dog. Pick up litter...etc etc.

I'll have something more choice next week once I get back from the convention and recuperate.