Here it gets fun. Understand that all layers I'd created so far were black lines or words on transparent fields or, in the case of the water level, a translucent gray through which we could see anything underneath.
I opened one of my many existing files of "old parchment," saving it as a new file. I then dragged all of the layers of my B&W map over to the new parchment file.
(Hint: to copy multiple layers from one file to another without having them splay out of orientation to each other when you paste them in the new file, don't copy them one-by-one. Hell, don't "copy" them at all! Drag them.
Open both files side by side on your screen. Go to the Layers Palette of the file whose layers you want to copy over. (If it's not open, click Window/Layers.)
Next, select ALL of the layers you want to copy over. To do this, first move the layers up or down in the Layers Palette (by clicking and dragging them up and down across the Palette's drop-down window) until all of the layers that you want to copy to the other file are oriented on top of each other in the Layers Palette. When they're all together in a stack, click on the top layer in the Layers Palette you want to copy. Hold the Shift key down and click on the lowest layer in the Layers Palette you want to copy. This will select (highlight in blue) the entire block of layers for transfer.
Now just click on any one of the selected layers and drag your cursor over to the open window showing the OTHER file into which you want to copy them. Release the clicker. The dragged layers will drop into the OTHER file. Once dropped, they remain all selected (and thus move together) in the other file, so you can use the Move Tool from the toolbox to slide the set of layers around to where you want them.
Note that, at any time, you can Link any layers together with the Link icon that looks like a three chain links at the bottom of the Layers Palette. This locks them together with respect to their position in the picture plane. Once linked, if you move one layer, all layers linked too it also move. I usually link layers I'm dragging into another document before I drag them to the new file. You can unlink them after you drag, drop, and orient them.)
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