How to Use Fill Layers and Change Backgrounds in Adobe Photoshop Elements 15
During this Photoshop Elements 15 tutorial video, we will take a look at fill layers and color picker. We will show you how to insert a solid color, gradient and pattern background. We also will talk about the foreground and background color.
Welcome back to our course on PSE 15.
In this section, we’re going to look at Fill Layers and in particular at the use of the Color Picker. We’ve used the Color Picker once or twice already on the course and I think I said once or twice that I’d explain it more fully later on.
Well, this is that point where I’m going to explain the Color Picker. As I say we’re also going to do it as part of looking at Fill Layers. In order to demonstrate these, I’m going to create a completely new image.
So, I go to the File menu, New, Blank File. I’m going to leave the default name set at the moment. The document type I want is my default Photoshop Elements size.
Right at the bottom there, Background Contents. For the background, the choices I have are white background, the background color.
Don’t forget the foreground and background color blocks over on the left under the toolbox. This background color is currently set to white already anyway.
And then, I also have the option of a transparent background. For the moment I’m going to select white and I’m going to click on OKAY. And there’s my new image. Note the single layer on the right in the Layers panel.
Even in this situation, I’m going to make a copy of my background even though it’s a plain white background. I’m going to make the original invisible.
Now what I’m going to do is to create an empty layer. That’s right at the top and I’m going to paste onto that layer the sheep that I’ve used a few times already.
Now that sheep is a little bit bigger than we need it to be so let me just size it down a little.
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What I’m going to do now is to give this sheep a background. And the way that I’m going to do it is to select the layer behind the sheep, if you like the layer that’s below it in the Layers panel. That’s Background Copy. And I’m going to insert a Fill or Adjustment Layer.
On this occasion I’m going to first of all insert a solid color. So click on Solid Color. And what I see is the Color Picker. The starting point for the Color Picker is my current default foreground color which is black as you can see from the blocks on the left below the toolbox. But if I want a different color here’s my chance to pick a different color.
One thing I need to refer you to now is this link through to the Help on choosing colors. Because if you’re not familiar with some of the color concepts, I’m going to talk about now there’s some very useful background information there that it’s well worth reading.
So before we start choosing a color let’s look over at the Layers panel. Note that the Fill Layer, a Fill and Adjustment Layer where we’re using solid color is referred to as a Fill Layer.
That’s already in place and it’s currently showing the color black. If you look at this block on the Color Picker it’s actually in two parts. And the current color which has already been inserted behind the sheep is black.
If I want to change it the new color will appear in the top half. So, for instance, let’s suppose I wanted to choose a color by clicking in the large panel. Say I decided to click there.
My new color can now be seen in contrast to the old color. And of course, it’s already being previewed behind the sheep.
If I want to choose a different color I can use this little-multicolored bar to take me to different parts of the color spectrum.
And when I get to a part of the spectrum that I’m happy with I can then go for a more specific, accurate selection in here. So the Color Picker gives you a very good way of visually choosing the color that you want.
However sometimes what you’re provided with is a set of numeric codes for a color. And there are three systems supported by PSE 15.
Color codes given in the HSB system, color codes given in the RGB system or the Hash codes, the sort of codes that you get on webpages or I should say in the code of webpages.
Codes made up of six hexadecimal characters. Now the HSB code system is this set of this. The RGB code system is this set of three. And if you have a six character hexadecimal code you’d enter it in this section down here. So you have a choice of those three systems.
So for instance, if I was given an RGB code of 128, 128, 128 I could click here on the R and put the number in, do the same for G and B.
Note as I do this that the codes in the other systems are updated accordingly as well. So PSE keeps these in step. And in fact, any code in which R, G and B numbers are the same is a shade of gray.
If you want to restrict the colors that you’re using to what are called web colors, web safe colors, ones which will be visible and will look the way you intend them to on the maximum number of websites and in the maximum number of browsers what you would do is check this box here Only Web Colors.
And that restricts your choice to web colors. So whichever way you’re going to make this selection, whether you’re doing it visually, whether you’re doing it by answering codes you’ve been provided with and whether or not you’re restricting it to web colors you make the choice that you’re going to make.
On this occasion, I’m certainly not going to restrict myself and I’m certainly not going to have gray. So I think what I might do, well that looks nice doesn’t it? I’m going to choose that as my fill color.
Let’s now turn our attention to foreground and background colors because these play a very important role in PSE. Currently, I have the fill layer selected and you can see that its foreground color is gray. Its background color is black.
If I choose a different layer, say the top layer, the one that has the sheep pasted onto it, the foreground color is black and the background color is white and I want to change the foreground color.
This is the color that will be used by default by tools such as paintbrushes. And if I’m, for example, adding a shape to a layer.
If I click on Set Foreground Color that brings me up the Color Picker and I can use the Color Picker in the way I just described to choose a new foreground color.
I’m going to choose that quite rich blue color there, click on OK and you’ll see that the foreground color has changed to that blue.
Now what I’m going to do is to paint on this layer. There is a brush tool in the drawer group. We haven’t used that so far. I’ll be coming to painting later on in the course. But having chosen my brush and a size, let’s have it a little bit bigger than that. What about a 44 pixel brush like that? What I’m now going to do is to paint on this layer. And sure enough the color I get is that color as my default color.
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Apart from setting the foreground color in that way you can set the background color in that way. And like the foreground color, the background color is used in certain situations as the default color.
You also have a little control here, this double-headed arrow, and if at any time you want to switch foreground and background colors if you click on that control it enables you to very quickly interchange them.
Having shown you the basics of picking colors and using fill layers let me show you another couple of options related to fill layers.
Let me get rid of that brushstroke. And what I’m going to do is to make the fill layer that we had before invisible for the moment. And I’m going to keep that layer selected and I’m going to put something else behind the sheep.
So I’m going to go back to the new fill or adjustment layer. Let’s try Gradient. Now with gradient, I can put a gradient layer behind and the gradient layer enables me to choose all sorts of really stylish looking gradients.
So you’ve got a gallery there to choose from. Let me delete that particular one. Try something else. This time I’m going to go for a pattern. And there’s plenty there to experiment with.
That’s it for this section. I’ll see you in the next one.
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Simon Calder
Chris “Simon” Calder was working as a Project Manager in IT for one of Los Angeles’ most prestigious cultural institutions, LACMA.He taught himself to use Microsoft Project from a giant textbook and hated every moment of it. Online learning was in its infancy then, but he spotted an opportunity and made an online MS Project course - the rest, as they say, is history!
