Pixalo Photography Community - View Single Post - Layers Tutorial

Rob Barron · 21-09-2007, 23:58

I was going to simply edit the Layers Tutorial to include this part but the Edit button isn't showing so I'll do it as a separate part, hope that's ok.

For the introduction to layers and initial tutorial, please see here: Layers Tutorial

Opacity adjustments.

If you put a layer on top of another, it will completely hide everything underneath it (assuming it is the same size) but you might want to let some of what is underneath show through the top layer, blending the two together. We are going to use that in two ways here, first as a simple combination and secondly in conjunction with blending modes.

Reducing the opacity of a layer means that instead of it being opaque, you can make it semi transparent but with great control as you can decide how transparent you want it to be. To show two layers roughly equally, just lower the opacity of the top layer to 50%. Here's how:

As a simple shortcut, if you just highlight the layer you want to adjust, you can then use the number keys to get the percentage you want. If you hit 5, this adjusts it to 50%, hit 8 and it selects 80% etc. If you hit 5 and 7 straight after each other, it will do 57% so you have total control. Alternatively, just click the little triangle to the right of the opacity window and you'll get a real-time slider allowing you to drag it and see the adjustment happening as you do it so you can select by eye.

To show this in action in a very simple way, here is a shot I have called 'Old Man and the Sea.' The picture of the sea is the bottom layer, the picture of the old man is the top layer. I reduced the top layer down to 60% to show the man and the sea together:

I must add some credits here, this 'old man' is actually my late father-in-law, a lovely man who is much missed. This picture was used with my wife's permission.

Blending modes

Ok, let's move on to use layers in a totally different way. Blending modes is a huge subject and I could easily do a whole tutorial looking at this subject but here we are just going to get a taster and see how useful they can be.

Blending modes allow you to combine (blend) two layers in all manner of different ways to get a huge range of effects. Some can create outlandish results more reminiscent of modern art than a photograph while others can be used for photo enhancement and that is what we will do here. I am also going to include another example of opacity adjustment in this example.

Ok, here is the starting picture. It is a compeltely uninspiring picture, we are not interested in it as a subject per se. However, even if it was a good subject, it would be very flat, lacking in tonal range:

Now obviously there are various ways to adjust contrast like Curves and so forth but this is a very simple yet effective method that is well worth knowing.

First we copy the picture as it is to make a duplicate layer. Simply press Ctrl+J in Photoshop to do this (keyboard shortcuts will differ in other progs like Paint Shop Pro etc). You will now see on the Layers Pallet two layers but if you look at the little thumbnail pictures, you will see they are identical. If you want to check, just click on the 'eye' on the top layer to hide that layer. You should see no difference at all to the picture because you are simply hiding one copy and revealing the same image underneath. Remember to turn the layer back on again by clicking in the same space!

Ok, now we are going to change the blending mode of this top layer so select this layer by clicking on it in the layers pallet. You can see it is selected because it is highlighted, usually in blue. Ok, now look at the top of the Layers Pallet and you'll see two drop down menus. The one on the right is the Opacity adjuster as we talked about above. The one on the left is the Blending Mode. It will show 'Normal' by default.

Ok, we are going to click this menu and we will see a drop down with loads of different options available. Look for the blending mode called 'Overlay', as in this screenshot:

You should now find that the picture has changed to one with much greater contrast. It is very likely that in fact it will have too much contrast now. I don't know, one minute it's too flat and the next it's too contrasty, what to do eh?....

Simple, just click on the Opacity adjuster and reduce the opacity of the top layer. Choose the setting that gives you the contrast just how you like it. In this case I used about 40% opacity to give the follwoing result. I'll put the first picture again here on top of the second one so you can compare the two more easily:

As you can see, the second one has much better contrast. This is an extremely useful technique when trying to restore old photos that are very faded. Trying to get this level of contrast with Curves alone can be very hard but with this method you can get it looking much better.

If you get more contrast but still not as much as you want, here's what to do:

After adjusting the top layer's blending mode to 'Overlay', Press Ctrl+E to flatten these two layers (again, see your progs instructions for shortcuts with other progs).
Now you have one layer. Duplicate this layer again (Ctrl+J)
Repeat the process above, select top layer and change to Overlay mode.
If that is enough, great. If it is too much, reduce the opacity.
If it is still not enough, you can repeat this process as many times as you want.... but you are unlikely to need to do it more than a couple of times.

Summary:

So, we have now seen how to use layers in order to:

Combine elements from different pictures into one picture.
Combine two images so that one shows through the other by reducing the opacity of different layers.
Increase contrast using Overlay blending mode.

If people would like me to, I will gladly continue this little series and show further uses of Layers. I'll monitor your feedback to see if this is wanted or not. If so, I'll do it shortly, if not, thanks for reading these two and I hope you have found them helpful as a starting point for getting to know this very important and useful tool in Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro and other graphics programs.

Cheers,
Rob

21-09-2007, 23:58	#1 (permalink)
Rob Barron Loves the place Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Poole, Dorset Posts: 5,386	Layers Tutorial - part two I was going to simply edit the Layers Tutorial to include this part but the Edit button isn't showing so I'll do it as a separate part, hope that's ok. For the introduction to layers and initial tutorial, please see here: Layers Tutorial Opacity adjustments. If you put a layer on top of another, it will completely hide everything underneath it (assuming it is the same size) but you might want to let some of what is underneath show through the top layer, blending the two together. We are going to use that in two ways here, first as a simple combination and secondly in conjunction with blending modes. Reducing the opacity of a layer means that instead of it being opaque, you can make it semi transparent but with great control as you can decide how transparent you want it to be. To show two layers roughly equally, just lower the opacity of the top layer to 50%. Here's how: As a simple shortcut, if you just highlight the layer you want to adjust, you can then use the number keys to get the percentage you want. If you hit 5, this adjusts it to 50%, hit 8 and it selects 80% etc. If you hit 5 and 7 straight after each other, it will do 57% so you have total control. Alternatively, just click the little triangle to the right of the opacity window and you'll get a real-time slider allowing you to drag it and see the adjustment happening as you do it so you can select by eye. To show this in action in a very simple way, here is a shot I have called 'Old Man and the Sea.' The picture of the sea is the bottom layer, the picture of the old man is the top layer. I reduced the top layer down to 60% to show the man and the sea together: I must add some credits here, this 'old man' is actually my late father-in-law, a lovely man who is much missed. This picture was used with my wife's permission. Blending modes Ok, let's move on to use layers in a totally different way. Blending modes is a huge subject and I could easily do a whole tutorial looking at this subject but here we are just going to get a taster and see how useful they can be. Blending modes allow you to combine (blend) two layers in all manner of different ways to get a huge range of effects. Some can create outlandish results more reminiscent of modern art than a photograph while others can be used for photo enhancement and that is what we will do here. I am also going to include another example of opacity adjustment in this example. Ok, here is the starting picture. It is a compeltely uninspiring picture, we are not interested in it as a subject per se. However, even if it was a good subject, it would be very flat, lacking in tonal range: Now obviously there are various ways to adjust contrast like Curves and so forth but this is a very simple yet effective method that is well worth knowing. First we copy the picture as it is to make a duplicate layer. Simply press Ctrl+J in Photoshop to do this (keyboard shortcuts will differ in other progs like Paint Shop Pro etc). You will now see on the Layers Pallet two layers but if you look at the little thumbnail pictures, you will see they are identical. If you want to check, just click on the 'eye' on the top layer to hide that layer. You should see no difference at all to the picture because you are simply hiding one copy and revealing the same image underneath. Remember to turn the layer back on again by clicking in the same space! Ok, now we are going to change the blending mode of this top layer so select this layer by clicking on it in the layers pallet. You can see it is selected because it is highlighted, usually in blue. Ok, now look at the top of the Layers Pallet and you'll see two drop down menus. The one on the right is the Opacity adjuster as we talked about above. The one on the left is the Blending Mode. It will show 'Normal' by default. Ok, we are going to click this menu and we will see a drop down with loads of different options available. Look for the blending mode called 'Overlay', as in this screenshot: You should now find that the picture has changed to one with much greater contrast. It is very likely that in fact it will have too much contrast now. I don't know, one minute it's too flat and the next it's too contrasty, what to do eh?.... Simple, just click on the Opacity adjuster and reduce the opacity of the top layer. Choose the setting that gives you the contrast just how you like it. In this case I used about 40% opacity to give the follwoing result. I'll put the first picture again here on top of the second one so you can compare the two more easily: As you can see, the second one has much better contrast. This is an extremely useful technique when trying to restore old photos that are very faded. Trying to get this level of contrast with Curves alone can be very hard but with this method you can get it looking much better. If you get more contrast but still not as much as you want, here's what to do: After adjusting the top layer's blending mode to 'Overlay', Press Ctrl+E to flatten these two layers (again, see your progs instructions for shortcuts with other progs). Now you have one layer. Duplicate this layer again (Ctrl+J) Repeat the process above, select top layer and change to Overlay mode. If that is enough, great. If it is too much, reduce the opacity. If it is still not enough, you can repeat this process as many times as you want.... but you are unlikely to need to do it more than a couple of times. Summary: So, we have now seen how to use layers in order to: Combine elements from different pictures into one picture. Combine two images so that one shows through the other by reducing the opacity of different layers. Increase contrast using Overlay blending mode. If people would like me to, I will gladly continue this little series and show further uses of Layers. I'll monitor your feedback to see if this is wanted or not. If so, I'll do it shortly, if not, thanks for reading these two and I hope you have found them helpful as a starting point for getting to know this very important and useful tool in Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro and other graphics programs. Cheers, Rob __________________ Rob Barron robbarron@aol.com If you look down on other people, don't expect them to look up to you!