Photoshop, the basics

Member lesson

Adjustment layers for colour and light

Lesson 5 of 8 in Photoshop, the basics.

Checked against the makers' documentation on 9 October 2026.

Get to Know Adjustment Layers in Adobe Photoshop | Adobe Photoshop · Adobe Photoshop
Lesson

An adjustment layer holds a change of light or colour as a set of instructions, applied to every layer beneath it. The pixels of the photograph are never altered. You can reopen it next month, lower its opacity, paint on its mask or switch it off with its eye icon to see what it was doing. Add one from the Create new fill or adjustment layer button in the Layers panel, then move its sliders in the Properties panel.

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  1. Question 1, locked

    You add a warming Color and vibrance layer at the top of the Layers panel. What does it change?

    • Only the layer directly beneath it
    • Every layer below it
    • Only the layer you had selected before
    • Nothing until you merge it down
  2. Question 2, locked

    In Curves, what does a steeper stretch of the line do to that range of tones?

    • Makes it darker
    • Makes it lighter
    • Adds contrast
    • Removes colour
  3. Question 3, locked

    Why does the lesson prefer an adjustment layer to Prompt to edit for brightening a product photograph?

    • An adjustment layer changes tone without inventing anything
    • Prompt to edit cannot change brightness or contrast
    • Adjustment layers spend fewer generative credits
    • Prompt to edit only works in the AI Assisted Editor

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