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Opacity and blending modes

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Photoshop Elements

Photoshop Elements

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  1. Get to know Photoshop Elements
  2. Photoshop Elements User Guide
  3. Introduction to Photoshop Elements
    1. What's new in Photoshop Elements
    2. System requirements | Photoshop Elements
    3. Workspace basics
    4. Guided mode
    5. Making photo projects
  4. Workspace and environment
    1. Get to know the Home screen
    2. Workspace basics
    3. Preferences
    4. Tools
    5. Contextual task bar
    6. Panels and bins
    7. Open files
    8. Rulers, grids, and guides
    9. Enhanced Quick Mode
    10. File information
    11. Presets and libraries
    12. Multitouch support
    13. Scratch disks, plug-ins, and application updates
    14. Undo, redo, and cancel actions
    15. Viewing images
    16. Importing Files
  5. Fixing and enhancing photos
    1. Resize images
    2. Cropping
    3. Process camera raw image files
    4. Add blur, replace colors, and clone image areas
    5. Adjust shadows and light
    6. Retouch and correct photos
    7. Restore Photos
    8. Combine Photos
    9. Sharpen photos
    10. Transforming
    11. Auto Smart Tone
    12. Recomposing
    13. Using actions to process photos
    14. Photomerge Compose
    15. Create a panorama
    16. Moving Overlays
    17. Moving Elements
    18. Moving Photos
  6. Adding shapes and text
    1. Add text
    2. Edit text
    3. Spell Checker
    4. Create shapes
    5. Editing shapes
    6. Painting overview
    7. Painting tools
    8. Set up brushes
    9. Patterns
    10. Fills and strokes
    11. Gradients
    12. Work with Asian type
  7. Quick Actions
  8. Generative AI
    1. Generate Image
    2. Insert Object
  9. Guided edits, effects, and filters
    1. Guided mode
    2. Filters
    3. Guided mode Photomerge edits
    4. Guided mode Basic edits
    5. Adjustment filters
    6. Effects
    7. Guided mode Fun edits
    8. Guided mode Special edits
    9. Artistic filters
    10. Guided mode Color edits
    11. Guided mode Black & White edits
    12. Blur filters
    13. Brush Stroke filters
    14. Distort filters
    15. Other filters
    16. Noise filters
    17. Render filters
    18. Sketch filters
    19. Stylize filters
    20. Texture filters
    21. Pixelate filters
  10. Working with colors
    1. Understanding color
    2. Set up color management
    3. Color and tonal correction basics
    4. Choose colors
    5. Adjust color, saturation, and hue
    6. Fix color casts
    7. Using image modes and color tables
    8. Color and camera raw
  11. Working with selections
    1. Make selections in Photoshop Elements
    2. Saving selections
    3. Modifying selections
    4. Move and copy selections
    5. Edit and refine selections
    6. Smooth selection edges with anti-aliasing and feathering
  12. Working with layers
    1. Create layers
    2. Edit layers
    3. Copy and arrange layers
    4. Adjustment and fill layers
    5. Clipping masks
    6. Layer masks
    7. Layer styles
    8. Opacity and blending modes
  13. Creating photo projects
    1. Project basics
    2. Making photo projects
    3. Editing photo projects
    4. Creating Photo Reels
  14. Saving, printing, and sharing photos
    1. Save images
    2. Printing photos
    3. Share photos online
    4. Optimizing images
    5. Optimizing images for the JPEG format
    6. Dithering in web images
    7. Guided Edits - Share panel
    8. Previewing web images
    9. Use transparency and mattes
    10. Optimizing images for the GIF or PNG-8 format
    11. Optimizing images for the PNG-24 format
  15. Keyboard shortcuts
    1. Keys for selecting tools
    2. Keys for selecting and moving objects
    3. Keys for the Layers panel
    4. Keys for showing or hiding panels (expert mode)
    5. Keys for painting and brushes
    6. Keys for using text
    7. Keys for the Liquify filter
    8. Keys for transforming selections
    9. Keys for the Color Swatches panel
    10. Keys for the Camera Raw dialog box
    11. Keys for the Filter Gallery
    12. Keys for using blending modes
    13. Keys for viewing images (expertmode)

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.

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 

Specify the opacity of a layer

  1. Select the layer in the Layers panel.
  2. In the Layers panel, enter a value between 0 and 100 for Opacity, or click the arrow at the right of the Opacity box and drag the Opacity slider that appears.

Specify a blending mode for a layer

When you hover over blend modes in the Layers panel, the image updates in real-time to show how each mode affects your layer. This instant visual feedback removes the guesswork, making it easier to choose the right effect. It’s especially useful when layering textures, playing with lighting effects like leaks or flares, or refining how text sits over an image

  1. Select a layer that you have added, in the Layers panel.

  2. Expand the Blending mode menu dropdown.

  3. Hover over different blend modes to preview the output.

    Note

    Introduced in Photoshop Elements 2026.

  4. Click to apply the mode you like.

Select all opaque areas in a layer

You can quickly select all the opaque areas in a layer. This procedure is useful when you want to exclude transparent areas from a selection.

  1. In the Layers panel, Ctrl-click (Command-click in Mac OS) the layer thumbnail:
  2. To add the pixels to an existing selection, press Ctrl+Shift (Command+Shift in Mac OS) and click the layer thumbnail in the Layers panel.
  3. To remove the pixels from an existing selection, press Ctrl+Alt (Command+Option in Mac OS) and click the layer thumbnail in the Layers panel.
  4. To load the intersection of the pixels and an existing selection, press Ctrl+Alt+Shift (Command+Option+Shift in Mac OS) and click the layer thumbnail in the Layers panel.

Customize the transparency grid

The checkerboard grid identifies transparency in a layer. You can change the appearance of this grid; however, do not change it to solid white because you’ll eliminate the visual distinction between opaque (white) and transparent (checkerboard).

  1. In Windows, choose Edit > Preferences > Transparency. In Mac, choose Photoshop Elements > Preferences > Transparency.
  2. Choose a pattern size from the Grid Size menu.
  3. Choose a pattern color from the Grid Colors menu. To choose a custom color instead, click one of the two boxes below the Grid Colors menu and select a color from the Color Picker.

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