How to Adjust Opacity in Adobe Photoshop

Original Image

Opacity is the amount of transparency that exists in an image. If an image has 100 percent opacity, it is not transparent at all. As you decrease the amount of opacity, it becomes more transparent. You may want to lighten an image so you can add text or another image in another layer and blend the two together.

Things You'll Need

• Adobe Photoshop 6.0 or later running on a Mac or PC
• Copy of an image for editing

Instructions

1. 

   Open your image in Adobe Photoshop. You will notice that the Layers panel shows your image as Background. If you cannot see the Layers panel, navigate to the Windows tab and click "Show Layers."

2. 

   Under the Layers tab, click "Duplicate Layers," and you will see the dialog box that will allow you to name the layer or to open the layer in a new document.

3. 

   Notice that each layer has a slider control for opacity. You can also lock a layer to retain the detail in that layer. Notice the background layer is locked. Double-click on Layer 1 to open the Layer Style palette.

4. 

   You can now adjust the opacity of Layer 1 by using the slider or typing in a number. Change the blend mode to Screen and lower the opacity to 80, making the image more transparent and useful as a background in a page makeup program or on a Web page.

5. 

   Notice the image thumbnail of Layer 1 is lighter and more transparent than the Background image. You can now merge these two layers into one by selecting "Flatten Image" from the Layer drop-down menu.

6. 

   Once the image is flattened, the two layers are merged into one layer, creating a new image that is more transparent and suitable as a background.

Tips & Warnings

• After the image is flattened, you can still add new text layers or other image layers.

• Undo or use the History palette if you don't like the image.

• Once you save the flattened image, you can't revert to the previous opacity.

• Images with opacity of less than 50 percent will be "ghost" images. Sometimes, this is a good effect, but often, it just creates visual confusion.

Resources

• Adobe Photoshop
• Bloomsburg University: Photoshop Opacity