How to Adjust Opacity in Adobe Photoshop

This wikiHow teaches you how to adjust the opacity of layers in Adobe Photoshop, so that you can see or obscure images in the layer(s) below it.

Steps

  1. Image titled Adjust Opacity in Adobe Photoshop Step 1
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    Open the image you want to edit. Do so by pressing CTRL+O (Windows) or ⌘ +O (Mac), selecting the image file you wish to open, and then clicking Open in the lower-right corner of the dialog box.
  2. Image titled Adjust Opacity in Adobe Photoshop Step 2
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    Click on Windows. It's in the menu bar at the top of the screen.
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  3. Image titled Adjust Opacity in Adobe Photoshop Step 3
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    Click on Layers. The "Layers" menu window will appear in the lower-right corner of the photoshop window.
  4. Image titled Adjust Opacity in Adobe Photoshop Step 4
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    Click on Layers. It's a tab in the upper-left corner of the "Layers" menu window.
  5. Image titled Adjust Opacity in Adobe Photoshop Step 5
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    Click on a layer. Each layer is listed with a thumbnail in the lower part of the "Layers" menu window.
  6. Image titled Adjust Opacity in Adobe Photoshop Step 6
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    Click on 🔽. It's to the right of the percentage next to Opacity near the top of the "Layers" menu and a slider will appear below.
    • If the Opacity options are grayed out and you cannot click on them, you may need to first unlock the layer you have selected. If a layer is locked there will be a padlock icon to the right of the layer name. To unlock the layer, simply click the padlock icon.
  7. Image titled Adjust Opacity in Adobe Photoshop Step 7
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    Click on and hold the slider arrow.
  8. Image titled Adjust Opacity in Adobe Photoshop Step 8
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    Drag the arrow to set the opacity of the layer. Drag the slider arrow to the left to make the layer more transparent (lower percentage) or to the right to make it more opaque (higher percentage).
    • If a padlock icon appears in a layer, it's locked or partially-locked. In this case, double-click on the layer, and set the opacity percentage in the dialog box that pops up.
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Community Q&A

  • Question
    What does reducing the opacity of a layer in a Photoshop image do?
    Elissa Schwartz
    Elissa Schwartz
    Community Answer
    Opacity refers to how dense a layer is. If it is at 100% opacity, you can't see through it at all. The lower the opacity, the more you will be able to see through the layer.
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About This Article

wikiHow Staff
Co-authored by:
wikiHow Staff
wikiHow Staff Writer
This article was co-authored by wikiHow Staff. Our trained team of editors and researchers validate articles for accuracy and comprehensiveness. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. This article has been viewed 346,154 times.
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Co-authors: 9
Updated: February 22, 2022
Views: 346,154
Categories: Adobe Photoshop
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