In order to do anything with a printed physical photo, such as move it or crop it, or put it into a photo album, you must actually select it by physically picking it up. In this video, we'll take a closer look at how you select an item in a digital project.

I'll be using this PSD file as well as some additional elements, all of which you can find in the Part 2 lesson 4 practice folder. Start by making the I-Love-Grandma.psd file, the active file. This file already has three layers: a background layer, a photo, and a heart element. Just as with a physical photo in a layer digital document, you must select the layer of any photo or item in order to move it or do anything with it. You can do this by clicking on its layer in the Layers panel, or you can use the Move tool to select it as long as you have Auto Select Layer checked in Tool Options. Watch the Layers panel when I click on the heart on my document with the move tool. The heart layer in the Layers panel becomes the active layer.

The same thing happens when I click on the gray background on my document. The background gets selected, and on the photo. Auto Select Layer means that I can click and drag to move any item on my layered document. It gets selected and moved at the same time, which is quite handy.

You can also use your arrow keys to move it into place wherever you want it as long as its layer is already selected. Now let's uncheck Auto Select Layer and see what happens this time I want to move the photo. If I click and drag on the photo on my document, the heart moves instead because the Move Tool isn't set to automatically select the layer I click on.

I'll press Ctrl Z in Windows or Command Z on a Mac to undo that, and it actually goes back to the original spot where it was before. So I'll need to move it back into place. With Auto Select Layer not checked I would need to first click on the photo layer in the Layers panel to select it and then move it but I don't really want to move my photos. So I'll undo that. So for now let's choose auto select layer.

Now let's take a look at Show Bounding Box. When this is checked, whichever layer is active in the Layers panel will have a dotted bounding box around it with resizing handles on it. This quickly shows you which layer is the active layer. Notice that the bounding box moves to whichever item I click on, but it doesn't show if I click on the background layer.

So let's go back to the heart layer. The bounding box also allows you to quickly resize a layer. I will be showing you how to do that later. But for moving small items a bounding box can actually get in the way. For example, I'll click on the Photo Bin and move the letter I on to my document. If I try to move it I have a hard time landing on the small space inside the bounding box. Instead, my cursor keeps showing me resize icons. So let's go back to Tool Options, and de-select Show Bounding Box. Now even though it's small, it's much easier to see the actual letter and click on it to move it. I'll move it to the left of the heart and use my arrow keys to bump it into place.

The last option on the left is Show Highlight On Rollover. Its only purpose is to show you items that aren't selected. Hover your mouse over any item and when you see the blue outline, you know you can click and that item will be selected. It doesn't show when you're over the item that's currently selected, only items that are not selected. I find the blue outline more annoying than helpful. So I de-select it.

Now let's talk about a time you'll want to de-select Auto Select Layer, and that's when a layer is so thin that it's hard to land on and select with the Move tool. I'll open the Photo Bin and move the word Grandma onto the photo. It's just thick enough that I can manage to land on it just right with the Move tool and move it into place. Move it over with my arrow keys there.

The last item is a scribble. This is very hard to land on because it's so thin. I'm more likely to grab the photo below it and move it. If that happens to you press Ctrl Z in Windows or Command Z on a Mac to undo and choose one of two options. One option is to open Tool Options and de-select Auto Select Layer. This Using the Move tool doesn't select the layer you actually land on. It just moves whatever layer is currently selected in the Layers panel. Another option is to use a keyboard shortcut to temporarily de-select Auto Select Layer. For this option you would keep Auto Select Layer checked. But when you have a difficult item to land on and you know its layer is selected in the Layers panel, press the Ctrl key in Windows or the Command key on a Mac, and that will switch whatever you have checked in Tool Options for Auto Select Layer to the opposite.

Notice how the checkmark disappears and reappears from Auto Select Layer when I press and let go of the Ctrl key in Windows or the Command key on a Mac. That means I can keep Auto Select Layer checked and use a keyboard shortcut as I click and drag anywhere on the document to move the scribble, and the Move Tool won't select a different layer until I let go of the Ctrl key in Windows or the Command key on a Mac. I'll put the scribble down below Grandma and use the arrow keys to move it down and over just a wee bit.

The opposite is true as well. If I de-select Auto Select Layer I can temporarily select it by pressing the Ctrl key in Windows or the Command key on a Mac. Some people like to de-select Auto Select Layer as they work on projects and other people, like myself, prefer to work with it checked, but whichever way you prefer, you're only a keyboard shortcut away from accessing the opposite Move tool option.