Adobe Photoshop CS6 Top 100 Simplified Tips and Tricks by Lynette Kent

Edit an image with ADDED LAYERS AND BLENDING MODES
Layers are one of Photoshop’s most powerful features
and essential to editing any image. Layers let you edit
nondestructively — that is, work on your images
without damaging existing pixels. You can add layers
by clicking the New Layer button in the Layers panel
or by dragging a layer from another open document;
you can also add layers by adding a special type of
layer such as a vector layer, type layer, or
adjustment layer, or by duplicating another layer. You
can even turn on and off the visibility of individual
layers to quickly compare your modified image with
the original.
By editing a duplicated layer you avoid changing the
original, and by applying adjustment layers you not
only preserve the original pixels but also keep the
overall file size lower. With multiple layers, you can
apply different layer blending modes, which control
the way the colors in one layer interact with the rest
of the colors in the image, without permanently
affecting the original image. In addition, you can
change the effects of one layer on another by
changing the opacity of any layer, or by clicking and
dragging layers into different positions in the Layers
panel to change their stacking order.
1
2
1 Open an overexposed image.
Note: This task is intended to help
you understand layers. In this
example, the exposure in an
overexposed photo is adjusted with
an adjustment layer and a layer
blend mode change. You can
accomplish the same effect or the
reverse effect in various ways.
2 Click Exposure or another
adjustment layer.
Note: You can select any of the
adjustment layers for this task,
because you are only using the
layer and not actually applying the
adjustment.
A
3
4
A
A Photoshop places an adjustment
layer above the Background layer
and opens the Properties panel.
3 Click here to close the Properties
panel if necessary to see the
photo.
4 Click the drop-down menu and
change the blend mode to
Multiply.
36