Adobe 65045315 Photoshop Elements Manual - Page 80

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 10 74 Using layers Flatten an image When you flatten an image, Photoshop Elements merges all visible layers into the background, greatly reducing the file size. Flattening an image discards all hidden layers, and fills any transparent areas with white. In most cases, you won't want to flatten a file until you've finished editing individual layers. 1 Make sure that the layers you want to keep in your image are visible. 2 Choose Flatten Image from either the Layer menu or the Layers panel More menu. You can see the difference between your image's layered file size and its flattened file size by choosing Document Sizes from the status bar pop-up menu at the bottom of the image window. More Help topics "Understanding layers" on page 62 Opacity and blending modes About opacity and blending options in layers A layer's opacity determines the degree to which it obscures or reveals the layer beneath it. A layer with 1% opacity is nearly transparent, while a layer with 100% opacity is opaque. Transparent areas remain transparent regardless of the opacity setting. You use layer blending modes to determine how a layer blends with the pixels in layers beneath it. Using blending modes, you can create various special effects. A layer's opacity and blending mode interact with the opacity and blending mode of painting tools. For example, a layer uses Dissolve mode at 50% opacity. You paint on this layer with the Paintbrush tool set to Normal mode at 100% opacity. The paint appears in Dissolve mode at 50% opacity. Similarly, if a layer uses Normal mode at 100% opacity, and you use the Eraser tool at 50% opacity, only 50% of the paint disappears from the layer as you erase. A B C Blending layers. A. Bamboo layer and Borders layer B. Bamboo layer with 100% opacity and Color Burn mode C. Bamboo layer with 50% opacity and Color Burn mode Last updated 1/2/2012