Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
To lock
everything
on a layer so you can't make any changes to it, make sure the layer is act-
ive, and then click the blue padlock at the top of the Layers panel. When you do, a matching
blue padlock appears in the panel to the right of the layer's name, and Elements puts a dark-
gray outline around the padlock icon at the top of the panel. Now if you try to paint on that
layer or use any other tools on it, your cursor turns into a No symbol (a circle with a diagonal
line through it) to remind you that you can't edit that layer. To unlock the layer, just activate
it, and then click the blue padlock icon at the top of the panel again.
NOTE
Locking a layer only keeps you from
editing
that layer. It doesn't stop you from flattening
it or merging it into another layer, or from cropping your image.
You can also lock only the
transparent
parts of a layer—helpful when you want to modify an
object that sits atop a transparent layer, like the seashell in
Figure 6-10
. When you do that,
the transparent parts of your layer stay transparent no matter what you do to the rest of it.
