How to save design variations with layer comps

Save design variations in seven steps

1. 1

   Open the poster

   Go to lilcactus.app and choose File› then Open… (Ctrl+O or ⌘O), or drag the file onto the window. To follow along exactly, open the sample poster from this page: a canyon photo, a Vibrance adjustment layer and a Title group holding a dark Band and the Text. A yellow note that the Arial font face can’t be verified can be ignored here.

2. 2

   Save the first comp

   Choose Window› then Layer Comps. The panel opens as a tab in the same group as Layers; switch between the two with Window› then Layers and Window› then Layer Comps, because the group may not have room to show both tabs. Click New (the plus at the bottom of the panel): a comp called Comp 1 appears, remembering the layers as they are. Click Rename (the box with a text cursor, two buttons left of New); the old name is selected, so type Title top and press Enter or ↩.

   

   

3. 3

   Move the title and save a second comp

   Choose Window› then Layers. Click the Band row and Shift or ⇧-click the Text row to select both. Choose the Move tool from the top of the toolbar and drag the title down until the band sits just above the bottom edge, over the road.

   Choose Window› then Layer Comps, click New and rename it Title bottom as in step 2.

   

   

4. 4

   Hide the band and save a third comp

   Choose Window› then Layers and click the Band row on its own, so only Band is selected, then click its eye to hide it. Choose Window› then Layer Comps and click New. If the buttons at the bottom of the panel drop out of sight, click the arrow at the left of the Properties tabs to fold that group away (to put it back later, choose Window› then Properties and click the button at the left of its tabs). Rename the comp No band as in step 2. The panel now lists three comps. The tick marks the current comp; after any change to the layers, it moves to Last Document State.

   Tip With Band and Text both still selected from step 3, the eye would hide both layers: select Band on its own first.

   

5. 5

   Switch between the comps

   Click the circle beside Title top: the band and title jump back to the top and the band is shown again. Click the circle beside No band to go back.

   Last Document State, at the top of the list, holds the layers as they were the last time you saved or applied a comp straight after your own edits; here, the No band layout.

   

6. 6

   Export every comp as a PNG

   Click the export button at the bottom left of the panel (Export every comp as a PNG in one ZIP). Lil Cactus downloads a ZIP with one PNG per comp, named after the comps: Title top.png, Title bottom.png and No band.png, each at the full document size, as at the top of this page.

   

7. 7

   Save the file with its comps

   Choose File› then Save As› then Lil Cactus Project… (Ctrl+Shift+S or ⇧⌘S). The project keeps the comps and every layer editable; after that, File› then Save updates it. To keep the comps in a PSD instead, see the questions at the end of this page.

   File› then Export› then PNG… (or another format) writes one flat image of the comp that is showing.

   

What a comp remembers

• V, visibility: which layers are shown or hidden.
• P, position: where each layer, its mask and its vector mask sit.
• A, appearance: opacity, fill, blend mode and layer style.

Click V, P or A on a comp’s row to turn it off; switching to that comp then leaves that property as it is. A comp doesn’t store pixels, text, colors or adjustment settings: edit those once and every comp shows the change. See how layers work.

Update, rename and delete comps

• Update (the circular arrows) overwrites the selected comp with the document as it is now.
• To rename a comp, double-click its name, or select it and click Rename; the old name is selected, so type the new name and press Enter or ↩.
• Select a comp and type a note in Comment, for example what a client asked for.
• The trash button deletes the selected comp; the layers stay as they are.

Fix common problems

A comp didn’t bring back a change

Check the comp’s V, P and A buttons: a property that is turned off isn’t restored.

Lil Cactus says some saved layers no longer exist

You deleted layers after saving the comp. The remaining layers are restored; select the comp and click Update to save it again without them.

The comps are gone after reopening the file

It was saved as a JPEG or PNG. Save a Lil Cactus project as in step 7.

The third comp shows no title

Both Band and Text were selected when you clicked the eye, so both were hidden. Choose Window› then Layers, click the Text row on its own, then click its eye. Choose Window› then Layer Comps, click the name No band and click Update.

Coming from another editor

Photoshop

Window › Layer Comps, and File › Export › Layer Comps to Files.

Layer comps: questions and answers