Today I’m going to be looking at what I consider to be the foundation of Photoshop; Layers. Understanding layers is an essential skill as a photographer. It will not only help you with your editing process, but it’ll also influence your shooting style and technique in ways you would have never imagined.
So what is a layer?
Think of a layer as a transparent slide that sits on top of an image. Slides, or layers are used to separate editing elements from our original file.
Elements can be a brightness adjustment, color overlay, a border/frame, blur effects or even text overlays.
Why do we want to separate editing elements onto layers?
When we separate the editing elements from the source image, we’re able to more effectively edit our image. It’s this separation that gives the photographer more control over his/her post processing techniques.
I’ll demonstrate this concept with three simple Photoshop editing processes; moving, cropping and an exposure adjustment to show you the advantage of using layers.
In part II of my Layer’s Tutorial, I’ll show you how to use the power of masking and layers to edit and process your photos.
