Working with the layers are not essential for basic images editing, but for those
photographers who want to take their images to the next level, they are the fundamental part of your editing workflow.
Layers are the building blocks of non-destructive image editing, giving you the opportunity to construct an image in stages and flexibility to make any edits at any time. With this in mind, hopefully, by the end of this feature, you will have a better understanding of how to get the most from layers so your editing can become more selective and sophisticated whether using elements or CS.
When you open an image in photoshop, your image automatically becomes the background layer in the
layers palette (accessible via
Window>Layer ), which is located via the
Tools menu. You cannot layer edit the background layer as it's locked, but you can make it editable by double-clicking on the padlock symbol. Most of the time it's advisable to keep the background layer locked and, instead, create a duplicate layer (
Layer>Duplicate Layer ) to work on.
By doing this, it means at least one layer of your image still retains the unedited, original pixels, so if you make a mistake and want to start again, all you need to do is delete the extra layer and you are back where you started. it's best to think of layers as clear sheets of acetate stacked on top of each other, each featuring a part of your image(object or effect) that when merged together create your final picture.
The Three types of the layer we will be covering here are a transparent layer (layers without pixels) that you can add a pixel to, image layer that contains duplicate pixels from the original image or parts of a different photo, and adjustment layers, which we will cover in depth later on. Layers allow you to combine parts of different photos, but for basic photo editing, this usually doesn't stretch further than replacing a sky in the dull landscape, adding a few extra people to street scenes or switching frowning faces in a group shot for smiles.
However, There are some photographers and digital artists that take it to a higher level, using multiple layers and objects from different images to literally construct their picture from scratch. we will only cover the basics here, but the internet and Adobe's website is bursting with more advanced techniques if you wish to delve into this realm called compositing.