The use of Layers is consistently the most feared part of Photoshop. I’ve had photographers tell me that they just can’t deal with Layers, and I know very good photographers who do excellent Photoshop work, but still believe they “aren’t ready for Layers,” or “don’t really need Layers” or even “just can’t do Layers.”
Additionally, Layers offers the chance for the photographer to isolate key parts of the adjustment of an image. That means you can change one element without affecting anything else, plus you can put layers together in such a way that they interact with each other for even more control.
Keys To Understanding Layers
Every photographer really has seen layers at work. Your mouse on a mouse pad over the desk is a set of three layers: the mouse, the mouse pad and the desktop. You can’t see the desktop under the mouse pad, nor the part of the mouse pad that’s under the mouse. You look from top down and see whatever is on top first.
Or consider a pile of photos. It’s another set of layers. You know you can move each photo separately, move them up or down in the stack, rotate them and so forth. You can remove any or all, add new ones and play with the group.
This is exactly how Layers works, and I used Photoshop with actual Layers to create the “pile” of photos seen here. The layers act like real life, too—the top photo of the stack is the top of the Layers palette. The bottom surface is the bottom or background layer for Photoshop. You view the Layers palette just like you’d view a real-life stack of stuff, from the top down. The top layer blocks the view of things under it just as a top photo would. A transparent colored filter on top would add its color to everything underneath.
Adjustment Layers: Easing Into Layers
Adjustment layers are a tremendous asset to the photographer and one of the most important features in Photoshop that a photographer must learn. They allow you to make changes to a photograph without affecting the image file’s pixels. You can readjust any adjustment layer as much as you want with no degradation of the underlying image.
Adjustment layers can do this because they’re simply instructions that sit over the photo. They’re like a filter over your lens. The filter doesn’t change the actual scene being photographed, but it does affect how the scene looks in the photograph. Since you always look at Photoshop Layers from top down, any adjustment layer will affect whatever is below it.
Photoshop offers a whole set of controls in adjustment layers, including Levels, Curves and Hue/Saturation. They work exactly the same as they do without Layers.
Adjustment layers can be found in two places: in the Layer menu (Layer > New Adjustment Layer) and at the bottom of the Layers palette when you click on the adjustment layer icon. If you go the Layers menu route, you’ll get an additional dialog box; at this point, you can just click OK and ignore the choices.
An important thing to know about all adjustment layers is that you can always reopen them at any time and readjust them. As long as you’ve saved a layered file (the best way to do this is with the Photoshop .psd file), you can even close the file and reopen it with complete access to the layers. To readjust an adjustment layer, double-click the adjustment icon at the left side of the layer in the Layers palette. This reopens the exact adjustment you used before and you can change it at will with no ill effects on the image.
Adjustment Layers Get Even Better With Layer Masks
A white empty box can be seen in each adjustment layer to the right of the adjustment icon box. This represents an important and useful tool, a layer mask. A layer mask allows you to selectively turn the effects of a layer on and off. White is on, black is off (and grays fit in between). When an adjustment layer is in full control, the layer mask box is white. Its effects are blocked when black fills that box.
The big advantage of layer masks is that you can isolate different parts of the photo to turn the layer on or off just for that specific part of the image by painting in black or white. You need to select a soft-edged brush appropriate in size to the area you’re dealing with, then be sure the layer mask is active (it gains a line around it, but you can always be sure by clicking on that mask).
Then choose white or black for the foreground colors at the bottom of the Toolbox palette and paint over the image. If white, black or even a color shows up on the photo, it means you’re not in the layer mask.
Remembering what black and white do to a layer mask can be hard at first. Keep in mind that with Photoshop you can always try something and see what it does if you aren’t sure. Some people like the saying, “White reveals, black conceals.” Another thing that helps is to compare the layer mask to a light in a room. If the light is off, the room is black, and you can’t see anything in it. Turn the light on and white light helps you see what’s in the room.
One Step At A Time
You can accomplish a great deal with a photograph by using adjustment layers, one adjustment, one step, at a time. If you look at the Layers palette and compare the adjustments to the actual image, you can see exactly what was done and the order in which it was done. You can keep each step in the layers. The whole effect is seen because we see effects from the top of the layer stack on down.
This is an important concept. Take your adjustments one step at a time, putting each change into a different layer. Layer masks allow effects to be painted in or out at will, and this gives you a great advantage in working your own images.
Layers Management
There are some things you should know about Layers management to make it work its best for you:
Naming Layers. Name your layers so you better remember what they’re doing for your photo. In Photoshop CS2, double-click the name and type in a new name.
Active Layer. This is the layer that you can work on and is selected simply by clicking on it.
Turning Layers On And Off. Just click the Eye icon at the left side of any layer in the Layers palette to turn it on or off.
Opacity. A layer can be dense, with full 100% in the Opacity box, or somewhat see-through by reducing that number. This allows you to affect the strength of the layer effect.
Deleting Layers. Layers are easily deleted in the Layers palette by dragging them to the trashcan icon at the bottom of the palette, farthest to the right.
Moving Layers. You can move any layer (except Background) up or down in the layer stack by clicking on the layer and dragging it into place.
Saving Layers. Whenever you save a file in the Photoshop .psd file format, you automatically save all of your layers.
Flattening Layers. To flatten all your layers (to save your file as a TIFF or JPEG, for example), use the drop-down menu that appears when you click the arrow/circle at the top right of the Layers palette; Flatten Image is at the bottom. Merge Down and Merge Visible also can be used to flatten only part of the image to simplify it. Merge Down merges the active layer with the one under it; Merge Visible merges all the layers that are turned on.
The text for this article is abridged from the chapter “Layers 101” in Editor Rob Sheppard’s new book, Outdoor Photographer Landscape and Nature Photography with Photoshop CS2 (Wiley, 2024). Visit www.robsheppardphoto.com.
| Selections And Layer Masks |
| If you understand selections, you can use them to help you create a layer mask. Photoshop will automatically make a layer mask based on a selection when you add an adjustment layer. Selection tools are at the top of the Photoshop toolbox. The Marquee Selection or Shape tools allow you to select areas based on specific shapes such as a rectangle or an ellipse. Use them by clicking and dragging your cursor over an area in the photo. The Freehand tools are below (click and hold to see the Lasso, Polygonal Lasso and Magnetic Lasso tools), which allow you to freely move your cursor over the photo to select whatever you want. The Polygonal Lasso is easiest to use because you click each point along the line you’re selecting (do curves by using short distances between clicks); double-click to complete the selection. These tools definitely require practice to use well. Double-click to complete the selection; use Backspace to back up. The Magic Wand (to the right of the Lasso tools) is another automated tool. With it, you select areas with similar tone (commonly a sky in nature photographs) by clicking in the area and the tool finds all the surrounding pixels that are similar to where you clicked. Selection tools work well when combined. All tools will add to a selection when the Shift key is pressed and subtract from a selection when the Alt/Option key is pressed. Add and subtract from a selection, changing tools as needed, until you have the right area selected. |
