Working with Layers

Preparation

Review these pages or Photoshop help files for information about:

Check the dimensions of the fishbowl (554 px wide by 549 high)
Since we will merge the fish and fishbowl images, we need to adjust the size of the fish image to a little larger than the fishbowl image
Select the crop tool in the toolbox
In the crop options bar, type 600 px wide and 600 px high, and set the DPI to 72
Drag the crop tool across the image and select the part with the fish.
Double click to do the crop
Save the image with a new name

Select the fish.jpg image.
Zoom the image to make it larger and easier to draw with the marquee tool.
Click the marquee tool and select the magnetic lasoo tool farthest to the right.
When you draw with this one, you only need to click on various points around the image and Photoshop will fill in the lines based on the contrast between light and dark along the line you are defining (gets easier once you get used to it.)
Draw with this tool around the blue fish to select it. Be sure to connnect the end of the line with the beginning.
Save the layer selection in the channels palette just in case you make a mistate later and want to reuse it (Layer>save selection).
Show the layers palette, if it's not already open.
There is one layer, Background (layer 0).
We are going to alter this photo using layers, so that we can delete changes we don't like without losing the original image or the changes we do like.
Create a new layer (Layers>new>layer via copy) for the blue fish selection. Name it bluefish-- notice that only the selection is in the new layer.

Select the new layer in the layers palette (the paintbrush shows in the rightmost checkbox on the selected layer).
Click the move tool in the toolbox
Drag the fish to a different place in the fish.psd photo.
The eye shows next to the layers that are displayed.
If you don't like how a layer works, you can delete it by highlighting it and clicking on the garbage can in the lower corner of the palette.
Select the fish in its new location
Click the magic wand and select the transparent part of the layer
Click Select>Inverse to change the selection to the fish

Choose a color to paint over the blue fish by clicking on the foreground color on the toolbox.
A color spectrum will pop up from which to choose a foreground color.
Or you can show the color palette (Windows>show color) and choose a color there
Photoshop lets you display only web-save colors in this color palette
Click the paint brush on the toolbox
In the tool options brush options bar, slide the Opacity slider to less than 50%
Then select the paintbucket or the airbrush tool on the toolbox and pour/spray the foreground color over the selected image.
Selection>deselect to get rid of selection
When you are satisfied, merge the fish layers by doing Layers>merge down (Ctrl+E), which merges the selected layer with the one below it; or Layers>merge visible (Shift+Ctrl+E), which merges all the ones with the little eyes next to them.

Select the layer with the entire fish picture in it.
Create a New Adjustment Layer by clicking Layer>New Adjustment Layer.
Choose hue/saturation from the popup menu.
Adjust the hue, the value, etc. of the colors in your photo.
Save the version you like-- has to be a .PSD file until you flatten the layers.
Turn the visibility of the layers on and off to see how the adjustment layer affects the image.

Select some other portion of the photo via the magic wand
Choose Layer>New Layer>copy from selection.
The image on your new layer will be only what you selected.
Name the layer "gradient" and click the "preserve transparency" checkbox, so that the gradient tool will affect only the selected area on the otherwise transparent layer.
Select that layer (and make the rest invisible) by deselecting them.
Select the image on your layer.
Click on the gradient tool and select some gradient.
Experiment with different opacity levels.
Experiment among different gradient options (e.g., rainbow, chrome, etc.)
Drag the gradient tool over the image and click.
Experiment and undo until you find one you like.
Reselect the other layers to see whether you like the effect or not. You can always delete layers and redo them.

Use the magic wand to select the area around the fish bowl.
Invert the selection so that the fishbowl is selected (Selection>inverse).
Fill the fishbowl with some color (any color).
Drag the selected fishbowl (or do copy and paste) onto the fish.psd photo.
Create a duplicate copy of the background layer since you cannot drag another layer lower than the background layer
Select the background layer
Right click on the background layer and select duplicate copy.
Select the default name and close the dialog box
Now you can delete the background layer by dragging it into the garbage can at the bottom of the layers palette
Make the fishbowl layer the bottom layer by dragging it below the other layers in fish.psd.
Select the fish layer and group it with the fishbowl layer (Layer>group with previous).
The uppermost layers will only show where there is something in the layer beneath it.
Merge the layers and drag them onto the background image (or do copy and paste).

Choose a foreground color for your text with the eyedropper tool (click on the foreground color on the toolbar).
Click on the type tool
The type tool dialog box comes up.
Choose Bold, Italic, anti-aliased, left-justified alignment, text about 30 points in size, font you like.
Type in your title.
Move it above the gradient layer so it is on top. Use the move tool (arrow) to position it where you want it.

To create a drop shadow for your text:
In Photoshop use the Layers>effects command or click on the layer effects button at the bottom of the layers palette.
Choose Drop Shadow or some other effect
When you are happy with your type effects, render the type by selecting the type layer and then Layer>type>render layer. Your type layer will then become a regular layer.

You can merge all visible layers (with eye turned on) or
you can merge all layers below a selected layer.
Merged layers become one single layer so be sure to save the PSD version first in case you need to go back and fix something later

Flattening all the layers into a single layer greatly reduces file size and lets you save the image as a JPG.
Photos with unflattened layers can only be saved as PSD or PDD.
Save an unflattened version first, in case you want to change anything later.
Flatten the image when you are finished
Then you can save the file in multiple formats other than PSD, including BMP and JPG.
Look at the difference in file size between the flattened and unflattened image!

To compress images files as GIF files you have to flatten the layers and change the color to indexed (Image>Mode>indexed).
To compress images as JPEG you have to flatten the layers first
Save a copy of the unflattened image as a PSD file so you can change things if you want to later.