Basic Layers
page oneThis tutorial will walk you through the making of a composite photo image, using a variety of Layers palette features. It touches on the basics of adjustment layers, layer masks, and briefly at the end, layer effects.
If you wish to use the images provided, download them, and then open and save them in Photoshop as psd files. JPEG files do not allow layers.
It is hard to explain what layers do, and how they work, but they are really very simple to understand if you simply dive in and use them. Therefore, let's get started. Below is the image I used.
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I almost always rename my background layer as soon as I open a file. Background layers do not allow transparency, and cannot have layer effects added to them. Renaming the background layer turns it into a regular layer. You don't even need to choose a name; you can simply accept Adobe's default name of Layer 0 and click OK.
Next, click on the little arrow in the upper right corner of the Layers palette to access the palette menu. Choose Duplicate Layer. This places a copy of the first layer directly above the First layer. Press Alt, and double click this new layer. Rename it to be called “Second”.
With the Second layer selected (select a layer by clicking on its name; its color will change to dark blue), choose Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal. With the Second layer still selected, lower the layer's opacity to 50 %. Access the opacity slider by clicking on the little arrow to the right of the Opacity percentage a the top of the Layers palette.
Click on the First layer (the bottom layer) to make it active (selected). Click on the New Adjustment Layer button at the bottom of the Layers palette, and choose Hue/Saturation from the menu that appears.
Or you can choose Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation from the menu bar.
In the first dialog box that appears, the New Layer box, shown at the bottom of this page, I checked the Group with Previous Layer option, even though it wasn't necessary. I wanted you to see what it looks like in the Layers palette.
Below you see what the new adjustment layer looks like in the Layers palette. The thumbnail on the left is for the adjustment. If, at any time, you want to edit the adjustment, simply double click on that thumbnail, and you can change the Hue/Saturation settings.
The little downward pointing arrow at the left end of the layer indicates that this layer is grouped with the layer below it. This is what happens when you check the Group with Previous Layer box, already mentioned. What this does, when checked, is limit the adjustment layer's effects to only the layer directly below it. If the adjustment layer is not grouped like this, it will affect all layers below it in the Layers palette. Since the First layer is the bottom layer, there isn't any point in using this, here. There are no other layers to be effected.
The white thumbnail which the cursor is shown pointing to, is the layer mask which will be explained on the next page.
In the Hue/Saturation dialog box, use the settings shown below. Hue is set to 36, Saturation is set to 47, and Lightness is set to plus 20. Make sure the Colorize checkbox is selected.
continue of page two
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