Photoshop LAYERS Tutorial: What is Layer? How to Add

What are Layers in Photoshop?

Layers in Photoshop allow you to work non-destructively by stacking images on top of other images without interacting and mixing the pixels of images. “Layer” is the only thing that makes Photoshop an amazing photo editing and compositing tool. Layers can be used to stack multiple images, add text to an image, add vector graphics, and more.

Now in this Photoshop Layers tutorial, we will explain the use of layers in Photoshop and learn how to add a layer in Photoshop. We can add them or delete them at any time we want.

Step 1) Invisible Layer

Now when you create an image or open an image in Photoshop, it is visible in the layer panel.

Let me drag out the layer panel.

You can see by default a background layer.

Step 2) Unlock Layer

You can notice a lock symbol on it, so the layer is locked. It means you cannot move or do anything like that, because the layer is locked.

So to unlock a layer we have different options. One of them is to double click on the locked layer. It will show you a popup where you can change the name of that locked layer and then press OK.

Now you can see our Photoshop layer is unlocked and its name is also changed. Now you can easily move the layer, and when you move it you will see the transparency checker pattern behind the layer.

This all indicates a transparent background. You can customize it in the preferences.

Now let us see another option to unlock the Photoshop layers. You just need to grab that lock symbol and drag it to the trash, and it simply unlocks the layer.

Now this is the background layer. To add more images, press the shift key and drag and drop the image to the center.

Step 3) New Layer Created

You can see what happened in the layer panel. It has created a new layer on top of the layer panel instead of adding or mixing the pixels with the Photoshop background layer.

Step 4) Turn off Layer with Eye Symbol

In the layer panel you can see each layer has an eye symbol. By clicking on the eye symbol you can turn the layer on or off.

These are two “images”, but now let us check about “text”. Add some text and then look into the layer panel; a new text layer is created on the top.

So the main thing about the Photoshop layers system is to keep every single item in a different layer and not let any of them destroy or mix with each other.

Step 5) Layer Mask

Now let us talk about one of the greatest features of a layer, the “layer mask”. A Photoshop layer mask can hide or reveal pixels of a layer without deleting them. Without the help of a mask, if we want to hide some part of the image then we have to delete that part by using the eraser tool in the tools panel. A layer mask is another image attached to the layer.

You can take a layer mask by clicking on this icon, or another option is to select the layer, open the “layer” menu, go to layer mask, and choose “reveal all”.

You noticed it adds a new layer filled with white color, and white color will reveal everything on the image.

Step 6) Hide part of image with Layer Mask

Now I want to hide some part of the image, so for that, instead of using the eraser tool, you have to choose the brush tool. We can see that the layer mask is filled with white color, so I am going to paint with black color. You can notice that I am doing the same thing that I did before when using the eraser tool.

But in this case I have not deleted anything; I am just hiding those pixels with the use of the layer masking in Photoshop.

Look at the layer mask. It has painted this area with black color, and that black color is hiding what is on the layer.

If I press the shift key and click on that layer mask, then the mask will be disabled and it reveals everything on that layer. That means I have deleted nothing.

So this was the basic concept of the Photoshop layer mask.

Step 7) Blending Modes

Blending mode allows you to blend any layer with another below it. For example, if I select this layer and go to blending mode and change it to Overlay from Normal.

Look how it blends with the background image. You can try different blend modes. But the good thing is the layer is not mixing up with the other layer; it is still separated. If I change the blend mode to Normal, then I can get my original image back as it was before.

These were all the basic concepts of the layer system in Photoshop. We can add different things using layers in Photoshop, whether it is text, images, shapes, or, in the latest version of Photoshop, even a 3D model in the layer panel to work on it.

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