Photoshop Know-How – Adjusting your Layers
Photoshop is an excellent tool to use if you are interested in enhancing your photos and creating wonderful prints. You could spend hours in front of your computer tidying up your memories and turning them into a whole new creation. You can only do these things of course, if you know your way around the program. Otherwise, you could be missing out on some wonderful techniques that could give you the results you’ve been looking for.
Knowing how to adjust layers is critical if you want to get the most out of Photoshop. While this may sound like a really technical, Photoshop savvy thing to do, adjusting layers really isn’t that difficult. First of all, for those of you that need to start from the beginning, what the heck is a layer? Well, you will want to think of layers as overhead transparencies, like the ones teachers used before Power Point came along. As layers are stacked a complete image is created. As layers are stacked, graphic information is increased and a complete image is created. The layers are listed in the Layer Palette from top to bottom and can be altered on an individual basis. Whenever you create a new image with a white or colored background, another background will be spontaneously created.
Within each layer there is visual information, such as text or images. Every object in a document resides on a layer. Layers can be added as you go along or you can make them before you draw. Layers are stacked on top of one another and the stacking order determines how the objects are laid out. You can change the order of the layers and the images in them.
Now to the adjusting part. There are actually several ways to go about this and the one you choose is up to you. Photoshop tells us to go to the Contents portion of the New Image dialogue box, which will give you the choice of Transparent, White or Background Color. If you pick Transparent a new layer will be made and it will be at the very bottom of the Layer Palette. If you pick White or Background Color, you will have a background, not a layer and you will be unable to alter the stacking order. However, you can transform a background into a layer by double-clicking the background while still in the Layer Palette. Then you will need to enter a new name for the layer. If you want to you can change the Color, Mode and Opacity settings. After that, click OK and you have your layer.
Most Photoshop documents have multiple layers because when images or text are created, a new layer spontaneously appears. When you want to adjust a specific layer, you have to select that one, or else the changes will affect all of the layers. To select the layer you want to change go into the Layer Palette and click on the Move Tool and put a check in the box next to Auto Select Layer in the Option Palette. Then put the cursor above the spot in the document in which the pixels are associated and click to choose the layer.
When it comes to Layer Opacity, you can choose between 0% and 100%. 0% will provide you with a completely transparent layer while 100% will give you a layer that is so dark you cannot see through it. Your best bet is to go with Opacity that is somewhere in the middle. You will find this in the Layer Palette as well. Choose the best Opacity for your layer.
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