How to Use Layers in Adobe Photoshop Elements 2019 Tutorial – Part 1

Watch the Photoshop Elements 2019 training video tutorial for beginners below. We will introduce you to the basics of Layers. Learn about the layers panel and how to control the visibility and opacity of a layer. Also, we will demonstrate how to add a text layer and adjustment layer. If you’re using layers in photoshop, this is the tutorial for you.

Hello again and welcome back to our course on PSE 2019. In this chapter, we’re going to look in a lot more detail at Layers. We’ve already seen Layers a few times during the course. Now is the time to add the details and to really build up your proficiency in both understanding using Layers.

If you’ve used Layers before in PSE, particularly a recent version, then you can probably skip the whole of this chapter. Although, I do suggest that you try the exercise at the end.

A very important point to mention here is that if you want to take full advantage of the power and flexibility of PSE. You do need to get to grips with Layers.

Some people find them a little bit baffling or confusing at first. But, I think if you bear with me, particularly in this first section or two of the chapter, you’re going to find that they offer you a lot of advantages. It gives you a lot of options for both fixing problems with your images and making improvements to your images as well.

In this first section, we’ll start by taking a look at the Layers panel and at the background layer. We’ll look at Layer visibility and opacity. Also, at adding a text layer, adding a fill or adjustment layer and finally I’ll explain the importance of PSD format.

The image that I’ve opened here is a JPEG image. As I pointed out earlier on in the course, if I open the Layers panel using the Layers button towards the righthand end of the task panel a JPEG image has a single layer.

By default, this is called Background. In fact, the background layer of an image has some very special properties. One or two of which we’ll return to later.

Now generally speaking, when I’m working in PSE, I tend to keep a sort of safe copy of the original background layer and that’s what I’m going to do now. I suggest that you do something similar when you’re working with layers in PSE.

To duplicate that background layer, I right click on the layer. Then, I get a little menu and one of the options is Duplicate Layer. I get a default name for the layer of Background Copy.

I’m going to stick with that name. Click on OK. Now my image has two layers. The two layers are basically the same. Although, as I say the original background layer does have some special properties.

The way that layers work is that what you see on the screen is as though you were looking down through the Layers panel from the top. From the top, what I can see at the moment is the Background Copy layer.

This layer is a completely full layer. It’s actually completely full of pixels. Some of the pixels have got the church in them. Some have got the tree in them, some have got sky in them, and so on, but it’s completely full.

Not all layers are completely full of the image. So for instance, if I added some text to this picture, that would be on a new layer. But, only the parts with words would have content.

Now, the significance of that is that as I look down from the top through the layers. The words would obscure what’s below them. But of course, the gaps that don’t have words wouldn’t. I’m going to demonstrate that to you in just a moment.

There are many different types of layers in PSE. We also have Fill Layers and Adjustment Layers. You can also put shapes onto an image. Those shapes will themselves be on their own layers.

As you build up a complex image it may have many, many layers. And the way to get used to thinking of it is as though you’re looking down through the layers. Think of each layer as a clear plastic sheet with something on it.

In the case of this picture of a church, we’ve got two layers and both layers are completely full. Whereas in the case of a text layer we’ll have a clear plastic sheet with just a few words on it.

Now, this image currently just has two layers and at any time to select a layer I just click on it. To the left of the layer tile in the Layers panel, there’s a picture of an eye. All the time, the eye looks like that.

As the tooltip there says indicates layer visibility. Both of the layers here are visible. To make a layer invisible you click on the eye. I’m going to make the background layer invisible. You see the line through the eye.

That’s made no difference to the image whatsoever. Because looking down from the top all, you can see is the background copy layer anyway. Let me select Background Copy and make that invisible and now what you have is total transparency.

There’s nothing there really, just an area of transparency which is the size that the image is. Now, if I leave the background copy layer invisible but make the background layer visible, I’m back to just seeing the picture again.

Now, generally speaking. When I’m working on an image, I tend to make the background layer invisible. Again, it’s there for safe keeping. Let me make the background copy layer visible. And let me turn my attention now to the opacity value here.

The selected layer is 100% opaque. Let me make it less opaque either by typing a value in there or using this slider. Let me make it about 50% opaque. I’ll slide it over slightly and you can see what’s happening.

We now have a sort of semi-see-through image. That’s the effect of opacity on a layer or I should say it’s the effect when the layer contains content such as an image or some text. In the case of, for example, adjustment layers the effect of opacity is to increase or decrease the intensity of the adjustment… but more on that later.

What I’m going to do now is to add some text to this image. So, first of all, let me choose the Horizontal Type tool. I’m going to choose a font and a color and a size.

Then, I’ll type in the size that I want to make that very big, 120 points. There we are. Now as soon as I click on the image to start adding the text, I automatically get a new layer.

It gets a default name of Layer 1 and it is a text layer or sometimes called a type layer. And you can tell what sort of layer it is by the T icon there. Indicating that it is a text layer. Tick.

Notice that while I’m working on the text that layer is selected. If I want to move that text over a little bit, there’s no problem. Also, I can make that layer invisible or indeed I could vary its opacity.

So, I could make the text very faint if I wanted to. When you add text you get a text layer. If you want to work on that text layer, and this is true of any sort of layer, make sure that you have the correct layer selected. Let me put the opacity there back to 100%.

Just in case anybody hasn’t quite cottoned on to how layers work yet, let me make the background copy layer invisible. What you can see now is just the text layer. Most of the text layer is in fact completely transparent.

The only bits that aren’t transparent are the letters here in the word Ramsgill Church. Everything else is transparent. So for any layers underneath this one that says Ramsgill Church you can see what’s in them apart from what’s under the words Ramsgill Church.

Even if you have dozens of layers, this is true right the way down. Look down from the top, what can you see here? Ramsgill Church. Let me make the background copy layer visible again. You can still see Ramsgill Church, the words. But, you can also now, see any parts of the image beneath, it which are not immediately under the words Ramsgill Church.

Now, in order to make what I’m going to cover next a little bit easier to see. What I’m going to do is to stick with my text layer. I’m going to go back into the Horizontal Type tool. I’m going to change the text.

Now, I’m going to select the background copy layer and insert another layer. When I insert a layer it always goes above the selected layer. The sort of layer I’m going to insert is a fill or adjustment layer.

I’m going to use one of the buttons along the top of the Layers panel. The third one along, Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer. So, I want to click on that and choose a Hue Saturation layer.

What I’m going to do is to move the Hue slider a long way over to the right. Now, when I do that, you can see the impact on the church, but note that the text hasn’t changed color at all.

The reason that happens is that when you insert an adjustment layer, it only affects the layer or layers beneath it. Now, I can change the order of the layers in the Layers panel.

What I’m going to do is to click on the newly inserted layer. Hold the mouse down, and I’m going to slide it up to be the top layer. Now, look at the words Ramsgill Church when I do this. You can see now that that adjustment has affected the words Ramsgill Church as well.

Look again at that adjustment layer. There are two icons on there. There’s one with a pair of sliders on it and there’s a big white sheet. The second one, the white sheet is what’s called a Layer Mask thumbnail.

I’m going to talk about Layer Masks later in the chapter. The one I’m interested in at the moment is the first thumbnail, Layer thumbnail. If I double click on that it brings up that Adjustment dialog again.

If you look down here. This is adjustment affects all layers below. So, this adjustment is affecting everything. Click to clip to layer. Let me check that and now the adjustment only affects the words Ramsgill Church. It doesn’t affect the picture itself. So it applies only to the layer immediately below it.

Something else you can see here is a little visibility icon. Because to switch this adjustment off, one of the options is just to click the visibility icon there. The adjustment is no longer in force. Now, I’ve left the layer there.

You can see if you look at the layer in the Layers panel that its visibility eye is now crossed through. One of the great advantages of using adjustments layers and fill layers for many of the things that we do in PSE is that it’s very easy to try things out or perhaps to apply an adjustment in one situation and not another.

And then, in order to effectively switch that adjustment on and off you just make the layer visible or invisible. Let me make it visible again so that it affects the words. And if, I hover over the little button there, this adjustment clips to the layer. Click to affect all layers. Let me click that again and it now applies to all layers.

So there we are. That’s an adjustment layer. I can also enable and disable the effect of the adjustment layer by clicking on the eye in the Layers panel in the usual way.

And one final point for this section and something that I’ve mentioned before, if you want to save an image with the layers still separate like this so you can work on them, you can add layers. You can manipulate settings and so on.

You must save an image in a suitable format. So from our point of view, that’s PSD format. There are other formats but we’re primarily here talking about PSD format. If you save this image as say a JPEG image or PNG or one of the other standard graphics formats you will lose the separation of the layers.

You’ll get the image saved just as it looks on the screen at the moment but without the separate layers. And if you opened, it again says then as a JPEG, you’d have a single background layer in the JPEG which would look just as you can see it on the screen here.

So, I’m going to save this in the course files folder. Note, that I’m saving it in PSD format. Note that I’m not including it in the Elements Organizer but I am saving the layers. Click on Save. That’s the end of this section. I’ll see you in the next one.

Adam Lacey

Adam Lacey is an Excel enthusiast and online learning expert. He combines these two passions at Simon Sez IT where he wears a number of different hats. When Adam isn't fretting about site traffic or Pivot Tables, you'll find him on the tennis court or in the kitchen cooking up a storm.