Photoshop Script - New layer below current layer - photoshop

Question

I am a Photoshop beginner and currently use version Photoshop CS3. I use keyboard shortcut all the time to speed up the design process such as creation of new layers etc.
However, one command I feel Photoshop must have is to create a new layer below the current working layer and therefore I cannot assign it via a shortcut.
I have to create a new layer above the current layer and then manually drag it below the current layer which I feel can be automated using action or scripting, both of which are difficult for me being a beginner.
Can anybody help me in this regard.
Thanks
dkj

Answer 1

It can be scripted with the following:
I've simplified my answer - you don't need to find the index, you can use the active layer instead.
create_new_layer("Gwen!");
// function CREATE NEW LAYER (layername)
// --------------------------------------------------------
function create_new_layer(layername)
{
if (layername == undefined) layername = "Layer";
// create new layer at top of layers
var originalLayer = app.activeDocument.activeLayer;
var layerRef = app.activeDocument.artLayers.add();
// name it & set blend mode to normal
layerRef.name = layername;
layerRef.blendMode = BlendMode.NORMAL;
// Move the layer below
layerRef.moveAfter(originalLayer);
// Move the layer above if you desire
// layerRef.moveBefore(originalLayer);
}
You can then record this script as an action and put on a keyboard short cut.

Answer 2

Few years ago i thought that native PS API working with DOM is cool and should work faster, but actually under the hood it's callstack often even bigger than same commands performed via actions. + Also sometimes DOM functions consist of multiple underlying calls, like artLayers.add() for example which is actually make layer + move it to top of the document. So here's action version of that functionality from my PS scripting library:
// get current layer number
function curLyrN(){
if(app.activeDocument.artLayers.length<2) return 1;
var idLyr = charIDToTypeID("Lyr ");
var idItmI = charIDToTypeID("ItmI");
var aref = new ActionReference();
aref.putEnumerated(idLyr, charIDToTypeID("Ordn"), charIDToTypeID("Trgt"));
var id = executeActionGet(aref).getInteger(charIDToTypeID("LyrI"));
aref = new ActionReference();
aref.putProperty(charIDToTypeID("Prpr"), idItmI);
aref.putIdentifier(idLyr, id);
id = executeActionGet(aref).getInteger(idItmI);
if(id) return id;
return 0;
}
// select [LayerNum], optionally [add] to selection (if add=2: with inclusion)
function selLyr(LyrN,add){
var adesc = new ActionDescriptor();
var aref = new ActionReference();
aref.putIndex(charIDToTypeID("Lyr "), LyrN);
adesc.putReference(charIDToTypeID("null"), aref);
if(add){
add = (add==2) ? stringIDToTypeID("addToSelectionContinuous") : stringIDToTypeID("addToSelection");
adesc.putEnumerated(stringIDToTypeID("selectionModifier"),stringIDToTypeID("selectionModifierType"),add);
}
adesc.putBoolean(charIDToTypeID("MkVs"), false);
return executeAction(charIDToTypeID("slct"), adesc, DialogModes.NO);
}
// move current layer to [LayerNum]
function movLyr(LyrN){
var idLyr = charIDToTypeID("Lyr ");
var adesc = new ActionDescriptor();
var aref = new ActionReference();
aref.putEnumerated(idLyr, charIDToTypeID("Ordn"), charIDToTypeID("Trgt"));
adesc.putReference(charIDToTypeID("null"), aref);
aref = new ActionReference();
aref.putIndex(idLyr, LyrN);
adesc.putReference(charIDToTypeID("T "), aref);
adesc.putBoolean(charIDToTypeID("Adjs"), false);
return executeAction(charIDToTypeID("move"), adesc, DialogModes.NO);
}
// create new empty layer
function mkLyr(){
var aref = new ActionReference();
aref.putClass(charIDToTypeID("Lyr "));
var adesc = new ActionDescriptor();
adesc.putReference(charIDToTypeID("null"), aref);
return executeAction(charIDToTypeID("Mk "), adesc, DialogModes.NO);
}
// count all inner layers from layer-set (group)
function cntLyrS(lyrs,c){
if(!c){
if(lyrs.typename!='LayerSet') return 0;
c = 0;
}
var ls = lyrs.layers.length;
var i = 0;
while(i<ls){
c++;
if(lyrs.layers[i].typename=='LayerSet') c=cntLyrS(lyrs.layers[i],c);
i++;
}
return c+1;
}
// make new layer below current or [LayerNum], optionally [ignoreGroups]
function mkLyrBelow(LyrN,noGr){
var doc = app.activeDocument;
if(!doc) return false;
if(LyrN){
selLyr(LyrN);
}else{
LyrN = curLyrN();
if(!LyrN) return false;
}
var actv = doc.activeLayer;
if(actv.isBackgroundLayer) actv.isBackgroundLayer=false;
mkLyr();
if(curLyrN()==LyrN) return true;
if(!noGr){
var lc = cntLyrS(actv);
if(lc && lc<LyrN-1) LyrN -= lc;
}
return movLyr(LyrN-1);
}
And even tho it looks pretty cumbersome and scary - i doubt that it will perform much slower. And as a bonus it will create minimal amount of actions in the history (no unnecessary layer moves) + it will correctly work with background layer + it will work properly with the groups (layer-sets): if group is opened - it will create new layer inside of it, and if group is closed it will correctly move layer under the whole group-structure including other possible groups inside the selected one.
Use it like that: mkLyrBelow(); to create new layer under selected one, or mkLyrBelow(LayerNumber); to create layer under another one via it's number, also u can optionally add 2d parameter to ignore groups (it will move new layer inside the group even if it's closed): mkLyrBelow(LayerNumber,true); or mkLyrBelow(0,1);...
P.S. don't get me wrong about ActionRefs - they're not the silver bullet, just oftenly have some more convenience in the end, but ofc best results obtained when u combine ARef's with native API. Just believe me on that, i've coded my first PS script like 8 years ago, so i've tried pretty much everything =)

Answer 3

If I understand your question correctly, Photoshop already has these shortcuts
Ctrl+Shift+N (Creating New Layer)
Ctrl+] (To move the layer up)
Ctrl+[ (To move the layer down)