Working with layers When you placed the image you'll notice that Layer 1 was created in the Layers palette. The eye indicates that the layer is visible, and the empty box next to it can be clicked to lock the layer (preventing you from editing it). The coloured box indicates what colour the paths on that particular layer will display as; this won't affect your final artwork in any way. The pen and yellow highlight indicate that you are currently working on Layer 1 and can edit objects and create paths. When you select anything on a layer, a smaller box will appear next to the pen - you can drag the box to a different layer to move the entire selection to that layer. 'Layer 1' isn't very descriptive, is it? Double-click the layer to display the following dialogue box: You can rename the layer to something easier to remember by typing into the Name: box. Ticking Dim Images to: and typing a value into the box beside it will dim your sketch accordingly, making it a lot easier to trace - I use a value between 50% and 70%, depending on how light my lines are. You can also tick Lock now to save locking the layer after pressing OK. Since this is your drawing layer, you don't want to edit anything on it (it makes selecting paths easier too). The palette on the right is what you should end up with after exiting the above dialogue box. The new name of the layer appears, as well as the 'uneditable' icon in the box and a line through the pen. From here you won't need to touch this layer until the very end (when you'll have to delete it).

tutorials - chiaroscuro