This can be a massive time-saver if you’ve created layers in Photoshop and want to save each layer as its own image file. There are a pile of formats you can save your layers in – JPEG, TIFF, PDF and PSD to name a few. Photoshop will automatically name each file based on the layer name and you can set up options to control the name generation. I recently used this method to output 26 layers for an ABC book I illustrated, this is how you can do it:
- It’s a good idea to name your layers with a descriptive name. In my case, my layers were named A – Z.
- Choose File > Scripts > Export Layers To Files.
- In the Export Layers To Files dialog box, under Destination, click Browse to choose where you want to save your files. By default, the generated files will just go into the same folder as the source file.
- Type a name in the File Name Prefix text box to specify a common name for the files. If you don’t type something in here, Photoshop tends to put in quite a long-winded version of the PSD filename appended to the layer name.
- If you only want to save visible layers, check the Visible Layers Only option. Use this option if you don’t want all the layers exported. Turn off visibility for layers that you don’t want to be exported.
- Choose a file format from the File Type menu. Let’s say you wanted to save the layers as JPEGs, as I did in this example, you can then set quality options as necessary.
- Select the Include ICC Profile option if you want the working space profile embedded in the exported file. This is important for colour-managed workflows.
- Click Run. Photoshop will go off and do all the hard work for you, producing new files based on your layers.
Please share this tip if you found it useful. Thank you! 🙂
