How to get layer to top

. . .  and just to add to what has already been said, drag and dropping a layer from the photo bin will place the image on the visible layer upon which it is dropped.  So, if you have a complex scrapping image and always want to drop the new layer at the top of the layer panel, another way to do it is to turn off all layers  except the top layer (by click and dragging over the eyeballs).  The top layer will then be the only visible layer and any new image dragged from the Photo Bin will be placed above it.

To add to @Phil Pickering  correct answer, it's very important that you have a look at the tools option for the move tool.

By default, the first option 'Auto select layer' is enabled and works as described by Phil. That means that the location of your cursor on the canvas determines which layer is the reference for any action including being the layer where the dragging will end.

A common situation in scrapbooking is that on that spot, you are seeing a layer in the middle of your layer palette, the layers above it beeing transparent over it. You can check which layer level is checked in the layer palette before starting the dragging.

If you disable that auto option, the dragged layer will land over the layer highlighted on your layer palette, independently from the location of your cursor on the canvas.

Also note that the new behaviour of dragging is very different from dragging a given layer from an image directly over the layers in the destination file. You are working with a preview of a layer, not a pixel layer. The 'smart layer' shows you a preview of what your layer will look like depending on your choices in dragging: the size of the image, its location, its straightening angle. The quality of your layer is always optimal since every change you make for those choices is recalculated each time from the original file (more precisely a full size composite of the original stored in your working file). By the way that explains why smart layers make huge psd or tiff files.

So, when you are happy with the preview, 'simplify' the layer into a normal one to be able to apply a number of layer effects not available to smart layers (and to save space for your final version).

Hi,

When you drag an image from the Photo Bin onto the active image area, the image will be added as a new layer directly above the layer your cursor is pointing at when you release the mouse button (or take your finger off the trackpad). So where the new layer is created in the layer stacking order is all dependent on where you drag the image to on the screen.

If after dragging the image onto the active image area you realize that the layer hasn't been placed in the stacking order that you wished, you can use the Shift+Ctrl+] keyboard shortcut to move the layer to the top. If you just want to nudge it up or down one layer, then you can use the Ctrl+] and Ctrl+[ keyboard shortcuts respectively.

This is the default behavior for dragging images from the Photo Bin, and as far as I'm aware there is no way of changing it.

Are dragging and dropping from your photo bin?  I've never had one not appear as the top layer, with one excpetion:  If the top most layer has an adjustment layer added to it- the drag and dropped image appears just below the adjustment.