I hate it when designers make layers fill layers… I can’ select them…
is there a way you can select a fill layer? (the way you select a normal layer (I mean w/o transparency) by doing ctrl-click in layer thumbnail after having selected marquee select tool… is there a way to do that on a fill layer?
why can’t they just do normal layers and apply color overlay etc…?? what is purpose of fill layers? (or whatever they’re called… I mean when two icons appear where layer name would go…)
thank you…
phffffffffffffffft!!!
ok, that out of the way fill layers are useful in ways too numerous to mention. ( BTW, one they are preferable to color overlay (fx) is that PS only allows you ONE fx per layer AND that fx are an all or nothing deal , while fill layers allow you to fill all or part of your image).
OK now less address your understanding of fill layers: You select them like regular layers ( the content itself however: is a fill, gradient or pattern) The content of in a fill behaves much like an adjustment layer. In other words YOU NEED TO MASK any part of the fill layer you want to be transparent. You can do this via a path or a layer mask ( again, just like you would in an adjustment layer). From that point on, unless you unlink the masks, everything moves together with the fill layer when you use the move tool.
Hope that clear things up for you.
you say they’re selected like regular layers… but then you say I need to MASK any part of the fill layer I want to be transparent… but the layer already HAS transparency, and I want to select all of it w/o the transparency…
this is the kind of layer I’m talking about… http://mayacove.com/dev/ps/ps.gif
(can’t make layer thumbnails bigger… just went to layer panel options but make th’nails larger was not an option (CS5, mac) )
(other situation was at work… icons for the layers were a bit different… icon on the left was a square with a sort of tiny adjustment handle at the bottom… (can’t post screenshot from work, don’t have access to FTP…) don’t even know what these layers are called exactly… I said “fill” layer, but am not 100% sure…
I see these layers all the time when get design comps done by designers, and they always drive me nuts… they all usu. HAVE transparency already, but I just can’t select them w/o transparency the way I do regular layers (doing ctrl-click in layer thumbnail after having selected marquee select tool…) sometimes I select the layer and this outline appears, and I can’t get rid of it… sorry, I did not understand yr explanation as to the usefulness of these kinds of layers…
one they [fill layers?] are preferable to color overlay (fx) is that PS only allows you ONE fx per layer AND that fx are an all or nothing deal , while fill layers allow you to fill all or part of your image…
thank you…
but then you say I need to MASK any part of the fill layer I want to be transparent.
Like the fx ( but w/o the control) , a fill layer applies the fill,texture, or gradient to the WHOLE canvas. So a fill layer is a regular layer for all intents and purposes, except for the fact that you cant paint on it (that’s why it’s a FILL layer not a PAINT layer. ‘A is A’). To manipulate the fill coverage you manipulate the mask.
HOWEVER, for what I see in your thumbnail, you are dealing with a VECTOR SHAPE LAYER. So of course you cant select them… you are not dealing with pixels. ( which, BTW has the added advantage of begin resolution independent). You could rasterize the layer, but that would defeat the purpose of vector art. 
Seriously, it’s better to click on the layer, then use the path selection tool to click on the shape. Voilá.
the rasterizing helped… thank you…
(just clicking on the layer with the path tool selects entire layer (layer shape, w/no transparency)???
did not work for me… (which path tool? there are lots of them… when I mouse over different options for path tool in options window I don’t get tooltip saying what they are…)
thank you…
the rasterizing helped… thank you…
Am glad that helped, but remember that no it’s no longer a shape layer (SHAPE LAYERS ARE GOOD… once you take the time to master them)
did not work for me… (which path tool? there are lots of them… when I mouse over different options for path tool in options window I don’t get tool tip saying what they are…)
I said click on the layer itself FIRST, THEN use the path tool ( there are only two, each with its own ability, but for know use the one that looks like a black arrow) to select the shape… you can move the shape around with that tool. The other will let you change the shape.
BTW, because I sense you are confused the path tool is the one bellow the text tool. 
