Fill Opacity & Effects

Topics covered in this Photoshop tutorial:

More practice with layer effects, Layer opacity vs. fill

Exercise Preview

Photo by Dan Rodney

Exercise Overview

The opacity of a layer’s contents and effects can be controlled separately to create dynamic results. Let’s see how in this graphic for Saturday Night Live (SNL).

Setting Up the Type Layer

1. From the Photoshop Class folder, open the file nyc at night.jpg.

2. At the bottom of the Tools panel, click on the Foreground color swatch.

   

3. In the color picker that appears, choose white and click OK.

4. Choose the Horizontal Type tool .

5. In the Options bar at the top of the screen, set the text formatting to Myriad Pro Bold and 135 pt.

6. Click in the center of the image.

7. Type: SNL

8. Choose the Move tool .

9. Position the text in the lower-left corner so the Chrysler Building sits between the S and N.

Adding Effects & Adjusting Layer Fill

1. At the bottom of the Layers panel, click the Add a layer style button and from the menu, choose Outer Glow.​

2. Set the following:

   Spread:	6%
   Size:	50 px

3. Click OK.

4. Near the top right of the Layers panel, adjust the Fill (%) of the layer. Try 15% first. Then just experiment.

   TIP: When the mouse is over the word Fill, it will turn into a hand slider . Click and drag left or right to quickly adjust the value.

5. Notice how the white text fill is partially transparent, but the effect wasn’t altered? When you are satisfied, File > Save As a Photoshop document. Name the file yourname-nyc at night.psd