You can create complex composites that are multiple layers deep. In Photoshop, you can easily move around your layers and group multiple layers into a stack to help you perform actions on them as a single entity. Lock a layer to avoid making unintended changes to your work.
Drag the layer or group up or down in the Layers panel. Release the mouse button when you see a highlighted line at the position where you want to place the selected layer or group.
To move a layer into a group, drag a layer to the group folder
. If the group is closed, the layer is placed at the bottom of the group.
Select a layer or group, choose Layer > Arrange, and choose a command from the submenu. If your selected item is in a group, the command applies to the stacking order within the group. If the selected item is not in a group, the command applies to the stacking order within the Layers panel.
To reverse the order of selected layers, choose Layer > Arrange > Reverse. These options appear dimmed if you do not have at least two layers selected.

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Select the Move tool
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You can select the layers that you want to move directly in the document window. In the Move tool’s options bar, select Auto Select and then choose Layer from the menu options that show up. Shift-click to select multiple layers. Select Auto Select, then choose Group to select the entire group when you select one layer in the group.
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You can lock layers fully or partially to protect their contents. For example, you may want to lock a layer fully when you finish with it. You can lock a layer partially if it has the correct transparency and styles but you are still deciding on positioning. When a layer is locked, a lock icon appears to the right of the layer name. The lock icon appears solid when the layer is fully locked and hollow when the layer is partially locked.
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- Lock Transparent Pixels: Confines editing to the opaque portions of the layer. This option is equivalent to the Preserve Transparency option in earlier versions of Photoshop.
- Lock Image Pixels: Prevents modification of the layer’s pixels using the painting tools.
- Lock Position: Prevents the layer’s pixels from being moved.
For type and shape layers, Lock Transparency and Lock Image are selected by default and cannot be deselected.