Mastering Photoshop Layers

Foreword

Graphic designers build up complex images layer by layer, starting with the background and gradually adding individual elements and special effects until the image is complete. Many photographers use a similar approach when composing an image, viewing the foreground, the middle distance, and the background as separate zones, be it with regard to focus, lighting, or formal and color-based composition.

The second phase of digital image creation involves processing the images you have captured and often entails optimizing individual image layers separately from one another. For example, a background that has been deliberately blurred requires ...