Photoshop quick tip: Background layer to normal layer

A standard document in Photoshop always has a so-called background layer, a layer you cannot move and doesn’t support transparancy. That’s why you may want to change the background layer to a normal layer sometimes. Most people know you can do this by double-clicking the background layer icon. You will get a dialog where you can give the new normal layer a name, among other things. If you want to bypass this dialog because you don’t need a special name, you have two speedy options. Either double-click the icon of the background layer while holding the Alt-key, or drag the little padlock icon on the right of the background layer icon to the trash.

To make a background layer out of a normal layer you need to use a menu. Go to ‘Layer – New – Background from layer’.