Working with Layers in Photoshop
In Photoshop, layers are used to work on individual parts of an image while not affecting other parts. You might say that layers are like transparency papers stacked on top of one another which can be repositioned and separately drawn on without disturbing each other.
Explaining Layers
Consider the following Graphic created in Adobe Photoshop:
To the viewer, this is simply one flat graphic. However, in Photoshop, it is actually 4 separate layers (graphics if you will) stacked on top of one another. There is a Blue Background layer, two separate layers with a T9 Cloud, and a top layer with the “Tutorial9″ text.
As you can see, layers are more like transparencies stacked on top of one another, each with something different sketched onto them.
Let’s put this knowledge to use now!
How to use Layers in Photoshop
You may have an easier time understanding how to use layers if we take on a simple task in Photoshop that allows you to play with them yourself. Go ahead and Create a New Document (File > New). Set it up to be 400 x 400px, with a resolution of 72px/inch.
We’re going to create the following graphic using layers:
Filling the Background
Typically, when I’m working in Photoshop, I like to work from the background to the top (probably because that’s how the graphic is seen by viewers), so to start things off we are going to fill our background layer with a nice dull green.
Select a Dull Green Foreground Color. To do this, click your foreground color, and use the color sliders to find a suitable color. Alternatively, you can enter the HEX value 36442a next to the “#” symbol on the lower right side.
Click OK to confirm the color value you’ve picked. Now grab the Fill Tool from the Toolbox, and click anywhere in your working image area. Upon clicking the mouse button, your entire background layer should be filled with the foreground color.
Create a New Layer
Let’s take a quick peek at the Layers Palette, and examine some of it’s more basic functions:
To create a new layer, Click the “New Layer” icon shown above.
As you can see, a new layer “Layer 1” has been created. You can rename this layer by clicking the name of it twice, and entering whatever name you desire. While this layer is selected (highlighted) you will be working on this layer alone in the photoshop document!
Drawing the Grass
Select the Brush Tool from the toolbox. Adobe Photoshop already has a preset brush called “Dune Grass” which we are going to use to create the grass in our graphic.
In the brush tool’s Option Bar, open the Brush Preset Picker (Small down arrow to the right of the currently selected “Brush”). Scroll a ways down the list, and select the Dune Grass Brush.
We’re not going to go over brushes in great detail in the tutorial, but you do need to know that this brush is setup to alternate between foreground and background colors. Because of this, we need to select a background color with a similar green value (Such as #19250f).
Once you have a good foreground and background color selected, start painting with your brush in the working image area on your new layer. Hold down the Mouse Button to use the brush tool.
Let’s add some text now!
The Type Tool
Select the Horizontal Type Tool from the toolbox. Set your Foreground Color to White. Click anywhere in your working image area to begin typing.
Once you’ve typed something, select all of the text with your cursor (hold down the mouse button, and drag over the text to select). We’re going to adjust some of the type attributes in the Type Options Bar.
Set the Font to Arial, the font weight to Bold, the text size to 60 pt, and the anti-aliasing to Crisp.
As you can see, the Type Tool has created a new Type Layer in your layers palette for the text. To apply the text, click this new layer (Or click Ctrl + Enter).
Great! Now let’s position our new type tool so that it appears to be emerging from the grass.
Moving Layers
The first thing we need to do is position our Type Layer below the Grass Layer so that the Grass will appear in front of it. In your layers palette, click and drag your Type Layer below the Grass layer.
Now we can use the Move Tool to reposition our layer in the working image area. While the Type Layer is selected,get the Move Tool from the toolbox, and drag the text in the working image area to where the grass starts to end.
Pretty Simple, eh? Now that you have the general idea of layers down, let’s create a few more and play with some of their options.
Opacity, Blending Modes & Filling Selections
Create a New Layer just above the background (below the type and grass layers), and drag out an elliptical selection using the Elliptical Marquee Tool (this tool may be hidden behind another marquee selection tool).
Using the Fill Tool, fill this selection (on your new layer) with White. Once filled, Deselect everything (Select > Deselect, or Ctrl + D).
You should have a large, white circle in your document now. Set this layers Blending Mode to Overlay in the layers palette:
Setting the blending mode is that easy! I won’t go into details about blending modes in this tutorial, but please experiment with them to get an idea of what they do.
Now set the Opacity to something like 15-20%.
Simple! Now right click this new layer, and select Duplicate Layer. This will create an exact copy of this layer (retaining layer opacity and blending mode). Using the Move Tool reposition this layer so that you can clearly see the two different circle edges.
See how you can see through the top circle to see the circle behind it? This is because our circle layers are somewhat transparent, otherwise known as less opaque. By setting the opacity to something below 100%, we are able to see through objects.
Finally, let’s take a look at one more useful feature in the layers palette. Click the New Group icon at the bottom of the layers palette (the one shaped like a folder).
Groups function in a similar manner to a folder. You can put multiple layers inside of a group, and then when you select the group (versus an individual layer), you’re able to adjust the opacity, blending mode, and position of all those layers at the same time (as well as several other things).
Let’s give it a try! Drag your two circle layers inside of the group.
Once both layers have been placed in the group (they should appear indented from the other layers), Select the Group in the layers palette. Using the Move Tool, drag inside of your working image area. Both your circle layers should move at the exact same time, yet they still retain their individual layer attributes!
Now that you have a better understanding of layers, learning some of Photoshop’s more interesting features should be a breeze!
153 Comments
Great tutorial for beginners like me. Someone mentioned this site name on PSD+tuts site and I was remembering the 99 name, googled it and so glad to have found this site, thanks!
Flag as inappropriateSay what?…What…..I Just woke up
Flag as inappropriatethis is very useful for beginners,thanks.
Flag as inappropriateGood Guide! Thanks!
Flag as inappropriateGreat! I am a newcomer to Photoshop, and this has been a great help. The instructions are clear and concise. Thank you.
Flag as inappropriateThanks. This tutorial was very helpful. Really appreciate it.
Flag as inappropriateEasy to follow. Thanks!
Flag as inappropriateExcellent explaination,I really appreciate your help and work.
Flag as inappropriateA great and very easy to follow tutorial. Best tutorial available online.
Flag as inappropriatevery good and helpful. writen so beginners can understand
Flag as inappropriatebest i’ve found so far.
very nice i learned a lot from this tutorial :)
Flag as inappropriatevist for basic training of photoshop
Flag as inappropriatehttp://training4free.co.cc/Basic%20training/Basic%20training.html
Thanks. I’ve tried various tutorials on the web, but these are the easiest to follow..
Flag as inappropriateif you can teach me how to use photoshop you can teach anyone! thanks for making these tutorials, it is much appreciated. are you coming out with any for CS5?
Flag as inappropriateafter 20 years teaching analogue photography, it is two years I am forced to teach digital.
Flag as inappropriateMany thanks, tutorial was really helpfull.
<3
Flag as inappropriatehiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii :)
Flag as inappropriateWow, this really helped. Very easy to understand.
Flag as inappropriateu made it so easy to understand……………thanks……
Flag as inappropriateBest Photoshop site around, be it for begginers
Flag as inappropriatereally a gr8 tutorial on layers…thank u very much..really :)
Flag as inappropriateThanks a lot for sharing your knowledge about photoshop
Flag as inappropriateit’s really clear and good explanation for me, since i never learn Photoshop before, so it is REALLY REALLY useful and helpful to me!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!
Flag as inappropriateGreat Tutorial! Keep up the good work! It really helps me. Hope to post another layer on both images combining each other.
Flag as inappropriateSo helpful! I’ll definitely be going through all the tutorials! Thanks
Flag as inappropriatethanks very much for launching this page.
Flag as inappropriateBrilliant tutorial, easy to understand. I am a biginner and this tut is like a breath of fresh air to me. Thank You
Flag as inappropriateI’ve just come across your tutorials, and am loving it!! I especially like the layers one, and it was nice to do some hands on learning, I’m looking forward to the rest of the lessons. Thankyou for such a great resource :D
Flag as inappropriatethanks, thanks a lot, it is very help full for the beginers like me thank you again
Flag as inappropriateThese tutorials are sooooooo helpful! I had been bumbling around in Photoshop on my own and getting nowhere. Now I am really moving along. Thanks so much!
Flag as inappropriategreat tutorial. it is the best I have found so far online, better than Photoshop books for dummies or video tutorials. I regret it is very late now and I should go to bed.
Flag as inappropriatemany thanks.
Where have you been all my life???? This tutorial is great!
Flag as inappropriateI am “teaching” (I say that loosely) beginning photoshop. I have had very little instruction, mostly what I can figure out myself. I’m so excited about this tutorial, I hate to leave it, but it is Friday evening, I’m going out of town with no computer. Sunday, can’t come soon enough. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. Is this, by any chance, on a CD? I’m afraid you’ll disappear off line before I’m ready.
very nice! thank you so much.
Flag as inappropriatethanks! i need this for my report!!
Flag as inappropriateIs there a way to take off the URL from displaying the image path on the address bar?
Flag as inappropriateThank i like it ,this you share
Flag as inappropriateit realy helped
Flag as inappropriateHow do I make adjustments to something I’ve created in photoshop, saved and closed. When I reopen it, all the layers become just one. How do I make it “workable” again?
Flag as inappropriateThis Tuturial Sucked, It Didn’t Work At All.
Flag as inappropriateThank you! It was very clear and easy to follow!!
Flag as inappropriatewow thanks so much.166
Flag as inappropriatewow thanks so much.153
Flag as inappropriateReally well done. I have never used Photoshop before but now feel so much more confident. Sincere thanks
Flag as inappropriateReally well done. I have never used Photoshop before but now feel so much more confident. Sincere thanks
Flag as inappropriateNice, clear and simple tutorials. Thanks.
Flag as inappropriatewow thanks so much.148
Flag as inappropriateThanks for these awesome lessons! I’m so glad I found a website that takes an approach of “So…you just got Photoshop. Now what?” as opposed to the usual “Instructions on how to do xyz”. They’re very, very helpful!
Flag as inappropriategreat tutorial . Thanks
Flag as inappropriateGreat article. Thank you.
Flag as inappropriatei think that this is the best thing to
Flag as inappropriateuse for brushes thanks
Thank i like it ,this you share
been on your site for just a few minutes and am already learning things that I have been struggling with for ages
Flag as inappropriatebrilliant. thanks.
Flag as inappropriatei think that this is the best thing to use for brushes thanks :)
Flag as inappropriateawsome
Flag as inappropriateThank you for good information
great tutorial…
Flag as inappropriatei really appreciate the help. thank u so much. layers are definitely a important part of PS.
Flag as inappropriateBrilliant!! By far the best set of tutorials I’ve come across…thankyou.
Flag as inappropriatethank’s
Flag as inappropriategreat tutorial…
Thank you for good information
Flag as inappropriateU r awesome for teach ppl. how to do stuff…lol :)
Flag as inappropriateur beginners tuts r so simple i am not a beginner
Flag as inappropriatebut i love the different ways ppl do thing’s…. in fact ALL the tuts here are so clear thx a lot!
A different favorite techniques
Flag as inappropriateThanks for your crystal-clear tutorials!
Flag as inappropriatedamn, thank you very much for these awesome tuts! props!
Flag as inappropriateThanks for the great tutorial, I now understand Photoshop layers. Your tutorial was easier then others I tried, I believe it was the way you used different tools on each layer. Very beneficial.
Flag as inappropriateone of the best ever Thanks alot
Flag as inappropriatei wonder if i can translate this tutorial to my language and share with our people?
this is really good for beginner of PS, and you are very good at make tutorials.
any way, thanks very much!
Flag as inappropriatei am new and when i was going trough this i cnt stop thanking you.this wat we call step by step tuturial.thank you guys
Flag as inappropriateThanks for the tutorial
Flag as inappropriatethis is great i found this as well
Flag as inappropriatehttp://www.mutinydesign.co.uk/web-design-resources/how-to-group-layers-in-photoshop/
lol, i’m new to photoshop and this helped me a lot in understanding the function of layers, thanx a lot, gonna go take some more practice
Flag as inappropriateGeeeeeeez! now i get it! hahaha great explanation! great just great! cant say anymore thanks a lot for explaining it…
Flag as inappropriatethanx for this tutorial
Flag as inappropriateits very intersting
David, Thank you!! This tutorial has been the best. You’ve done a great job explaining layers. I too am looking forward to more lessons from you.
Flag as inappropriateI went through different websites, and Photoshop tutorials, and ‘Photoshop for dummies’…
Flag as inappropriateit’s the best lesson i had so far. it has what all beginners need – step by step explanation.
Thank you, thank you, thank you…
i am looking forward to your new lessons
Can’t get over how easy you made that, I’ve also tryed other places and some cost alot, they didn’t make it that easy. Thanks, U DA MAN.
Flag as inappropriateGreat job. I find this site to be very, very helpful. Thanks!
Flag as inappropriateWow! I can’t even tell you how thankful I am for this site! I aquired an old computer with photoshop on it and I didn’t even know how to open it up.
I have the grass, text, and a marquee…however, my version must be older because I can only make a rectangle. To give you an idea of what version I have it just says C2 and I don’t have a fill option in the toolbar on the side.
Do you have any idea how I would make a circle in this excercise?
I can’t wait to learn how to insert a photo LOL!
Flag as inappropriateThanks a million for teaching Photoshop very patiently to newbie lik me! This is THE tutorial site, wonder how much time I have wasted so far in search for something easy like this! Keep up the good work.
Flag as inappropriateJust when I think iv found just about all the resources I could possibly want to learn more in Photoshop, I come across this! Many thanks. Having been playing with PS only a couple of weeks I’m still getting to grips with the basic controls and this was very helpful. Sometimes you need tutorials this simple just to get you going, so many thanks! Keep it up o/
Flag as inappropriatethanks very much
Flag as inappropriateI am new to photoshop and have struggled to understand anything until I found this tutorial and for the first time ever am beginning to think there is hope even for me!!
Flag as inappropriateMany thanks for this and I look forward to the next one
I am a newbie to Photoshop. Searched for ages for “how to’s” then found all I needed right here on your site. Thanks a lot – keep up the good work.
Flag as inappropriateYou are officially my hero. I just downloaded Photoshop for the first time, and I was having SO much trouble understanding it, but this tutorial really helped to clear up a lot of the problems I had been having. The walk-through was exactly what I needed to understand it. Thanks!
Flag as inappropriateThis tuturial is very nice, simple to understand for someone who have not touch photoshop before, couldnt thank you more enough, good job!
Flag as inappropriateIt work great the layers,I have a lot learned and play with this stuff. It make me a happy artist. And taught that it was so difficult.
Flag as inappropriateThank you so much for the great tutorial!
Flag as inappropriate@Joe Busuttil: Yup, every single one! We have a tutorial for the Retouch and Healing tools in Photoshop, which is probably what you’re looking for.
You might be interested in all the tutorials from our “School of Photoshop” series.
Flag as inappropriateAre all your tutorials free?
Is there a tutorial on cloning that I can access?
Flag as inappropriatethank you so much, I am very new to photoshop and always wanted to learn layers. This is great!!
Flag as inappropriateWell done. You are a very good instructor, I look forward to seeing other applications and tutorials in the future.
Flag as inappropriateWow….this was awesome. I had to look up a chart of the tools separately, since I did not realize some tools ‘hide’ behind others…but once I did that, this was great!
You may want to add graphics of the main tools and the hidden tools somehow!
Thanks so much for this.
Flag as inappropriateBest Photoshop site around, be it for begginers or pro’s. =D
Flag as inappropriateThanks a lot for such an interesting lessons!
Flag as inappropriateI’ve tried studing Photoshop with help of different other resourses, but this one is the most effective!
I’M NOT LAZY!
It’s a miracle!
My man David, i salute u…. u have taken so much pain to reduce ours… hats off to u!!!!
I never thought layers could be this easy….
Cant waste time…. I am going to the next lesson!!!
Thanx again!!!
Flag as inappropriateWow. i just practise this and i made it! but your grass is more pretty than mine :D
Flag as inappropriatethanks alot! u helped peoples beginner like me.
Thanks.I thing it is the best for beginer.Keep going.
Flag as inappropriateThanks man! Ive bought many books to help me work out this PS, but they all seem to think people have enough knowledge to get through without showing what the icons look like (very frustrating), you’ve opened up a whole new interest! Many thanks.
Jonathan
Flag as inappropriateLove it! Excellent tutorial, I understand layers a lot better now.
Flag as inappropriateThanks so much Josh =) We wanted to make sure we had an easy way to reference basic steps in Photoshop, that way we never left anyone out, and at the same time introduce ANYONE into software like Photoshop without the need to shell out tons of money. The School of Photoshop solves both problems, and I think a lot of people are finding it to be very useful so far!
Again, thanks for your feedback! Really appreciate it mate!
Flag as inappropriateI have at least 12 sites with tutorials saved on my PC, but
it seems every one I go to, I always run into some kind of
problems, because most of them assume you know how to do a
specific step & just pass it by.
But your site, is fabulous, thus far. Super easy to follow,
especially for beginners like myself. And I appreciate you
putting forth the time & effort to help out people interested
in the Photoshop world.
Thanks a ton, & I hope your site only
Flag as inappropriatecontinues to grow!
Thanks for this tutorial it was exactly what I needed, its so clear and easy to follow thank you so much!!
Flag as inappropriateoh.. yup! haha.. very funny I didn’t know it was hidden there! hehe..
Flag as inappropriateThanks so much! your page is my num 1 psd reference! ^^
@ ladyheart – Very happy to hear you found this tutorial useful! To get to the additional selection tools, press and Hold the mouse button on the rectangular marquee tool to reveal the others.
Hope that helps!
@ Jana & benisbob – Thanks for the feedback folks =)
Flag as inappropriatethanks so much for the tutorial! I am, now able to make my own touched with psd! ^^ But, I have a slight problem. I noticed that I only have a rectangular Marquee tool 1. — I can’t using any circle or oval marquee tool.. huhu. I really hope you can help where I can found the tool? For an info, I am currently using Photoshop CS3.
Thanks in advance!
Flag as inappropriatethis is a very useful tutorial thanks for making it !!
Flag as inappropriateoh! thank you so much!
Flag as inappropriate@ Jana – Make sure you drag the two circle layers into that Group. When they are inside of the group, they will appear indented from the rest of the layers.
Flag as inappropriateEverything was fin euntil I had to move the group. Because the circles just won’t move! I selected the group (my layers palette looks the same), picked the move tool, but they just won’t move!
Flag as inappropriateThank you for this tutorial, it is my first time doing a “real” Photoshop tutorial and I was really nervous. Thank you it’s brilliant :D
Flag as inappropriateman thank you soooo much this is what i need some simple photoshop tuts you make photoshop a breeeze thnx :)
Flag as inappropriateThanks for sharing this! It’s the one I’ve been looking for! With this, I made my own Tutorials similar to yours. I extend my credits to you!
Flag as inappropriateVery good, well detailed explanations with excellent accompanying graphics. Much better than even some explanations in some photoshop books.
Keep up the good work.
Even though I’m not a noob, I still find it helpful to get as much info as I can on PS. You never know what new insight, or tip, you might gleam.
Flag as inappropriateThanks!! Great tutorial, exactly what I needed.
Flag as inappropriateusefull website
Flag as inappropriateThank you!
Flag as inappropriateFor taking the time out of your day just to help us noobs at this PS stuff. this helped out very much, Amazing!
Another excellent tutorial. Thank you!
Flag as inappropriateThanks! This is exactly the kind of tutorial I’ve been looking for. I made it through with no problems!
Flag as inappropriateGreat tut man, all your tuts are great. very easy and fast explanations. Congratz! Keep working like this! you’re helping a lot of people to improve! Way to go!
Flag as inappropriateCheers!
Thanks Marcus, I appreciate it mate!
And to answer your question, yes, I will be covering adjustment layers, and other types of layers in future tutorials, so stick around ;)
Flag as inappropriateWhoa! Thats a really nice 3D diagram you did for layers. Once again, very good explanations on something that is very important to designers like us! Are you going to explain the other kinds of layers sometime soon?
Flag as inappropriateNo problem mate! Hope you enjoy the rest of our School of Photoshop series. It’s specifically targeted to people like you ;)
Flag as inappropriatethis website is very helpful to the beginners like me!
thank you so much for this tutorials.. :D
Flag as inappropriateKeep up the Good work!
thank you prof
Flag as inappropriateMan, you’re really great, every day another Tutorial xD. Thank you man, they’re great, though I don’t need them. But I think there are many people out there who really, really need them.
Flag as inappropriate