Layers is a simple Mac screen capture utility with an interesting twist: the capture places every object on the desktop (whether visible or hidden by a window above it) on its own layer in a psd file. For example: if I had 8 browser windows open, each directly on top of the other, when I execute a screen capture and open it in a program that accepts layered psd files (like Photoshop, for example), each of the browser windows can be viewed unobstructed by any windows on top of it because it lives on its own layer. Clever idea.

You can also manipulate the layers in Photoshop (show, hide, adjust opacity, apply layer effects, resize, move, free transform, etc.) just as you would any layer in Photoshop. Layers gives you a tremendous amount of control over what is on your desktop even after you have executed the screen capture. Click the image below to see it at twice the size.

I was just munching my way through my RSS feeds and came across this detailed review of Layers (along with an overview of what a Photoshop psd file is) by Dan Frakes of Macworld.com posted on Friday, February 6, 2009, at 1:49pm and thought I would add it to the end of this post.