How to Use Guides and Organization in Adobe Photoshop

Guides help to control the size and location of the slices you will make in Photoshop. They are optional but often set the stage for a successful artwork set. Organization using folders is key to making sure the art layers are easily hidden when needed.

This feature works the same in all recent versions of Adobe Photoshop: CS5, CS6, and Creative Cloud (CC).

Guides:

1. Bring out the rulers by going to the View menu and choosing Rulers.
2. Go to the ruler at the top of the image window, click and hold in the ruler, and drag a guide so it's positioned where you want it (in this example, just below the logo.)
3. Drag out another horizontal guide.
4. Create two vertical guides from the ruler on the left as shown.
5. Once the guides are placed, the Move Tool can be used to adjust the position of the guides or remove them by dragging them back into the ruler.

Folders:

Folders can be created in the Layers Panel to organize layers. They can then be expanded and collapsed to make the Layers Panel more manageable.

1. To create a folder from existing layers, go to the Layers Panel. Select all the text layers, as well as the Search, by clicking the top text layer and Shift-clicking on the last text layer.
2. Go to the Layers Panel menu and select New Group from Layers.
3. In the dialog box, name the folder.
4. Click the expansion arrow next to the new group to see the individual layers.