Intro to Photoshop Basics Part II

[E.r.o.s]

Welcome to my second discussion on photoshop basics. I am assuming you have either already read the previous discussions, or already know how to use most of the tools in photoshop beforehand. This time, I want to focus on layers. We will be discussing all the different kind of layers there is, and how we can make full use of them.

 

Things we will be discussing:

 

- What are layers? Why are they important in photoshop? Where can you locate them?

- Making a transparent background using the layer visibility button.

- The different kinds of layers and how you use them?

- Styles of layers and their uses.

- Merging options/Clipping layers/Blending Options

 

LAYERS

 

Layers are found on the right side of your workspace under the tab labeled "layers". Layers are like "blank pages piled one on top of the other". We use layers to divide parts of our creation. For example, if I want to differentiate between the background of my work and the outline of my work, I would make a layer called "background" and another which I would labeled "outline". This will allow me to work ONLY on the one layer I click on. In other words, if I choose the "outline layer", anything I do while in that layer won't affect my background layer. This is very important to have in mind, for when we are working with signatures or digital art, you won't want to mess up parts of your work while fixing other parts.

 

How to create a new layer?

 

When you first open a new file, the only layer on your panel would be labeled "background". You can change the color of your background by using the paint bucket tool, or using the gradient tool, however, most of the time, other than that you won't want to work on that layer. Instead, we will be creating new layers to work with. I will show you a video explaining how to create a new layer, and also where it explains the difference between the background and the layers bellow.

 

Something that the video explains is transparency, so let me explain this real quick before you watch the video.

 

There is a little "eye symbol" next to each layer. This symbol what it does is to "hide" the layer, as if the layer wasn't there in the first place. Now, we can use this to make a transparent background. We do this by clicking the "eye symbol" of the "background layer". Now the background will become "transparent". This is specially useful if you are to make free style signatures with transparency.

 

VIDEO (Credits to its creator Infinite Skills - Video Training)

 

 

Discussion will be continued...(text is too long, won't let me post it, so I will open a new discussion to continue this tutorial)