You can create a layer group by clicking the New Layer Group button at the bottom of the Layers Dialog, by using the menu command Layer → New Layer Group, or through the Layers dialog context menu.

This new empty layer group appears just above the current layer. It is recommended to give it a descriptive name. To change the layer group name, double-click the name, press F2, or right-click the layer and select Edit Layer Attributes from the context menu. If you don't rename your layer groups, you can get confused when several groups have been created with names such as Layer Group #1, Layer Group #2, etc.

You can create multiple layer groups and you can embed them, that is include a layer group in another one.

Puede añadir capas existentes a un grupo de capas pulsando y arrastrando.

	Nota
	La mano que representa el puntero del ratón debería volverse más pequeña antes de soltar el botón del ratón. A thin horizontal line marks where the layer will be inserted.

To add a new layer to the current layer group, click the New Layer… button at the bottom of the Layers dialog, use the New Layer… command in the main menu, or press Shift+Ctrl+N.

When a layer group is not empty, a small icon appears. By clicking it, you can fold or unfold the group.

Layers that belong to a layer group are slightly indented to the right, allowing you to easily see which layers are part of the group.

Si un grupo de capas se vuelve invisible usando el icono del ojo pero aún está abierto (de modo que las capas dentro del grupo se muestran en la lista), se muestra un ojo tachado además de las capas que están dentro del grupo para indicar que estas capas no se muestran en la proyección final de la imagen, pero son teóricamente visibles en el grupo de capas.

You can raise and lower layer groups in the Layers dialog as you do with normal layers: click-and-dragging, and by using up arrow and down arrow keys at the bottom of the Layers dialog.

To duplicate a layer group, click the Create a duplicate of the layer button or right-click and select the Duplicate Layers command in the pop up context menu.

You can move a layer group to another image by click-and-dragging. You can also copy-paste it using Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V: then, you get a floating selection that you must anchor ( anchor button at the bottom of the Layers Dialog).

You can also move a layer group to the canvas: this duplicates the group in the group. Chain all layers in the duplicated layer group, select the Move tool, then, in the image, move the layer. That's one way to multiply multi-layer objects in an image.

To delete one or more layer groups, click the icon button on the bottom of the Layers dialog, or drag and drop the selected layer groups on top of that button, or use the Delete Layers command from the main menu or from the Layers dialog context menu.

When a layer group is activated, you can add another group inside it with the “Add New Layer Group” command. There seems to be no limit, except memory, to the number of embedded layer groups.

Un modo de capa aplicado a un grupo de capas actúa sólo en las capas de ese grupo. Un modo de capa por encima de un grupo de capas actúa sobre todas las capas inferiores, dentro y fuera de los grupos de capas.

Imagen original

Figura 8.71. Modo de capa dentro y fuera del grupo de capas

We added a white layer in the layer group with HSL Color mode: only the square and triangle turned gray.

We added a white layer outside and above the layer group with HSL Color mode: all layers underneath changed to gray, including the background layer.

Layer groups have a special layer mode: the Pass Through mode. This mode exists only if a layer group is active.

Cuando se utiliza este modo en lugar de cualquier otro, las capas dentro del grupo de capas se comportarán como si fueran parte de la pila de capas, no pertenecientes al grupo. Las capas dentro del grupo se mezclan con capas debajo, dentro y fuera del grupo.

Mientras que con el modo Normal, las capas dentro de un grupo se tratan como si fueran una sola capa, que luego se mezcla con otras capas que están debajo en la pila; un modificador en una capa dentro del grupo combina solo las capas que están debajo en el grupo.

Más detalles sobre pasar a través en Atravesar .

Cuando un grupo de capas está activado, los cambios en la opacidad se aplican a todas las capas del grupo.

Masks are also available on layer groups. They work similarly to ordinary layer masks, with the following considerations.

The layer group’s mask size is the same as the combined size of all its children at all times. When the group’s size changes, the mask is cropped to the new size — areas of the mask that fall outside of the new bounds are discarded, and newly added areas are filled with black (and hence are transparent by default).

We added a black (transparent) layer mask to the layer group, making the layers inside the group transparent (invisible).

Of course, you still can add a layer mask to a layer in the group to mask a part of the layer.

When working with a lot of layers, finding a particular layer in the list can be difficult. To find the layer to which an image element belongs, use the on-canvas layer selection function via Alt+Middle click on the image element. The available layers will be looped through to show the new active layer and the layer name will be temporarily displayed in the status bar.

There have been problems with slow preview rendering of layer groups in case of many layers in a large image. If you are experiencing this, you can disable rendering layer group previews in Edit → Preferences → Interface.