Layers - Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 for Photographers - page 290

Altering the opacity of a
layer allows the color, tex-
ture and tone of the im-
age beneath to show
through.
Layer transparency
Until this point we have assumed that the contents of each layer were solid. When a layer is
placed on top, and in front, of the contents of another layer, it obscures the objects under-
neath completely. And for most imaging scenarios this is exactly the way that we would
expect the layers to perform, but occasionally it is desirable to allow some of the detail, color
and texture of what is beneath to show through. To achieve this effect, the Transparency of
each layer can be interactively adjusted via the Opacity slider control in the top right-hand
corner of the palette. Keep in mind that making the selected layer less opaque will result in it
being more transparent.
The Difference and Hard
Mix blending modes are
just a couple of the 23 dif-
ferent blend modes avail-
able in Elements that alter
the way that two layers in-
teract.