Layers 101

Imagine software that allows you to substantially adjust part of your photo, yet also lets you go back to that adjustment when you change your mind. Imagine what it would be like to be able to make changes to your image that were never permanent so you could readjust as needed without quality loss.

All this is possible with almost every serious image-processing program, yet many photographers don’t utilize this power because they’re intimidated by (cue the dramatic music)...Layers. But this doesn’t have to be! I want you to be able to gain some of the capabilities of Layers without the pain. Welcome to Layers 101.


You Might Already Be Using Layers
If I tell you that you’re already using layers, will you give me a blank stare and scoff, “Yeah, right. I’m not using layers”? I get that response in classes all the time, but it’s true—you do use layers. Just reading this magazine, you deal with layers, lots of them. Each page is its own layer, separate from the rest, yet connected. If you have a stack of prints, you have a layer stack.

Layers act just like a stack of prints. The stack of “photos” seen in the group of images of UCLA softball is, indeed, a set of layers. You always see what’s on top first, top layers block lower layers from being seen (even though everything is still there), and moving one layer will affect what’s seen below it.