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Layers basics


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SkiGuy401

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First of all I want to say hi and I think this is one of the best Photoshop web sites.
I am a newbie to Photoshop so I know very little. I think what holds me back from going on is that, even though I can grasp the concept of layers, I can't seem to use it correctly. Is there a web site or can someone here tell me the basic how to's of layers (how to make a layer active, etc)?
I apologize if this has been posted here already, I just started and haven't read all that much yet?
 
SkiGuy401 .. firstly welcome, now for your question on layers .. probably the best answer is have a look at the Keepers site and tackle the tutorials he has at beginner level and intermediate ... and if you get stuck on any part of the tutes post the problem here 'cos there's a heap of help available ... that's the way I solved my problems of confusion with the differences of Photoshop and hopefully it helps you :) ... btw, just in case you came straight to PSG and not through the Keepers site here is the url ... http://www.photoshopgurus.info/
 
You can also get straight to the site by clicking the header logo on any Forum page. ;)

Welcome SkiGuy, hope you enjoy your stay. :perfect:
 
duh!! [oops] ... I learnt something :) ... so much to know and so little time [innocent]
 
Welcome SkiGuy401

I think the best way to tackle the concept and use of layers is as Namvet says, by trying out different tutorials. You can find tutorials all over the web. They can help you understand how to use layers for different purposes and effects.

I hope to see some of you work in the future.

Sanby
 
Welcome aboard SkiGuy
to make a layer active? click on the layer in the layers pallet.... can't see the layers pallet?.... click on window look down the list and you will see layers click on that and it will bring that pallet to the front
here I have done a screen shot of the layers pallet for you........ have fun doing Marks tutes and remember we are here to help
sfm
 
Welcome aboard SkiGuy401! :D

It's good to see that you got some great timely replies to your query! What a bunch we have here!!!! :perfect: :perfect: :perfect:
 
Thanks

Hey, thanks all for the help and info. I was just messing around with layers a little and think (stress think!!) that I am getting a handle on it. Here's some things I was able to do: put 2 pictures together..was even able to "erase" (?) some of the layer so the background shows through. One question about this, I read somewhere you can use black and white (from the color squares near the bottom of the tool pallet..forgot what that's called) to do this..but I wasn't able to. I used the eraser itself.
And I was also able to make a 2 pic panorama (without using Panotools or any panorama actions!!). Came out fairly decent in my opinion (I still need some blending practice). I would post them, but the files are rather large (300-700 k). Is that still OK to post? And I made a sky background to fix the crappy looking sky in another pic. With that, do I have to make sure the width of the sky is the same as the original pic? Or is there a way to stretch the sky layer once you moved it onto the background? (is that what Transform is for?) Sorry for all the questions at once, but I just ask as they come to mind.
[honesty]
 
sorry the file is too big to post here but if you made it smaller you could post here
for the sky question....... by using the transform tool you are stretching the image to fit the area so the image will looked stretched....... if this is okay then sure go ahead and do that if not then I would get a full width image and put it into there
sfm
 
You can indeed use Edit>Transform when the sky is on its layer.

If the images are still separate, you can open the one you want to change the sky of, note its width, then open the sky one and use Image>Image size and change the width with resample on so tha Photoshop recalculates the width.
 
Welcome, SkyGuy!

Layers happen to be one of my favorite subjects :) You can do so much with them! And it sounds like you're off to a terrific start

To answer your question about "using black and white" to blend, that's most easily done by a layer mask. You can apply a gradient, use a brush, even use some filters on the mask...just make sure the mask thumbnail is active. When you click the mask icon (see image below) your colors should change to black & white automatically, unless you had a shade of grey for one of your colors. (Tip: to get the default b&w, type the letter "d")

The image below is certainly nothing fancy, but just something to show you a very small part of what you can do with layers. (It's a low-quality jpg to boot, but I wanted to keep file size down.) It started life as two layers, one black, one light grey. The circle on the right is the result of playing with blending modes, opacities, color fills, layer effects, and a layer mask.
 
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