The basics

Blending modes and opacity
ADVANCED PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 5.0 FOR DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHERS
As well as layer styles, or effects, the opacity (how transparent a layer is) of each layer can be
altered by dragging the Opacity slider down from 100% to the desired level of translucency.
The lower the number the more detail will show through from the layers below. The Opacity
slider is located at the top of the Layers palette and changes the selected layer only. On the left
of the Opacity control is a drop-down menu containing a range of blending modes. The default
selection is ‘normal’, which means that the detail in upper layers obscures the layers beneath.
Switching to a different blending mode will alter the way in which the layers interact. For more
details see the full blending mode example in the Appendix.
• To display Layers palette – Choose
Window>Layers
• To access Layers options – Click More button in
the upper right-hand corner of the Layers palette
• To change the size of layer thumbnails – Choose
Palette options from the Layers Palette menu and
select a thumbnail size
Blending modes >>
Changing the blending
mode of upper layers will
cause them to interact
differently with the layers
beneath. The example
above shows how altering
the blending mode of the
text layer changes the way
that it interacts with the
image and background
layers.
(a) Normal mode.
(b) Color Burn mode.
(c) Difference mode.
(d) Overlay mode.
(e) Luminosity mode.
(f) Color Dodge mode.
(g) Exclusion mode.
(h) Hue mode.
(h) linear mode.
Book resources at: www.adv-elements.com
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IMAGE CHANGES –
BEYOND THE BASICS
Layer shortcuts
• To make a new layer – Choose Layer>New>Layer
• To create a new adjustment layer – Choose
Layer>New Adjustment Layer and select the layer
type
• To add a style or effect to a layer – Select the
layer and choose a style from those listed in the Layer
Styles section of the Artwork and Effects palette.