Photoshop What Is A Color Overlay?

Ever wondered what a Colour Overlay layer style is or how to add a color overlay in Photoshop, but never quite managed to find a comprehensive guide on how to use it?

From how to add together a colour overlay to a layer in Photoshop to how to apply color overlays to multiple layers, this tutorial will practice its best to answer all these questions and more.

And then if you want to learn how to how to practice colour overlays in Photoshop or how cover overlays in Photoshop work, follow me every bit I walk you through all the ins and outs.

Follow along with the states over on our Envato Tuts+ YouTube channel:

The Uses for Photoshop Color Overlay

After going through the many different settings inside Bevel and Emboss, it's nice to come up across something equally unproblematic as Colour Overlay.

In that location isn't much to it at all, but it can be very useful in a number of means.

Since Layer Styles are not-destructive and you can preview changes to your settings as you make them, using Color Overlay to pick groundwork colors can speed up your workflow.

Rather than choosing a new color in the color picker, switching to the Paint Saucepan Tool, and so filling in your layer, you lot tin simply open up the Layer Styles dialog box, turn on Colour Overlay, and see your color changes in real time.

You lot can too re-create and paste Layer Styles betwixt layers, making it like shooting fish in a barrel to adjust a unmarried object and then apply your settings to multiple layers.

The Layer Styles Colour Overlay Dialog Box

Color Overlay is probably the well-nigh self-explanatory effect within all of Photoshop'due south Layer Styles.

Information technology has merely three settings: Blend Mode, Color, and Opacity.

Don't allow its simplicity fool you. Color Overlay is ane of the well-nigh useful and ordinarily used furnishings in everyday design.

Tip: The all-time way to employColor Overlay is to set theFilltransparency of your layer to0% first. Fill can be found just underneathOpacityin theLayerspalette.

Alloy Way

The Blend Mode allows you to set the blending way for your Colour Overlay, while the color box, as yous'd expect, allows yous to choose the colour.

Changing the Alloy Manner is near constructive when your background is non-white and has some sort of texture.

If you are unfamiliar with how all the different Blending Modes work, I highly recommend checking out the Blending Is Fun Basix tutorial.

In the following instance, you can see how irresolute the Blend Mode from Normal to Overlay makes our text look as if it is actually painted on the surface, making our graphic more cohesive and believable.

Opacity

A smaller number here makes your Colour Overlay more than transparent, while a higher number gives a stronger effect.

In the following example, y'all can come across that a lower Opacity has a predictably subtler impact on our concluding effect.

Saving and Loading Default Settings

You can save and load default settings for each effect in the Layer Styles dialog box. When yous click Brand Default, Photoshop will store whatever settings are currently active as the new default settings for that upshot.

If you click Reset to Default, Photoshop will then load whatever settings were final saved. This allows you to experiment and simply reload the default settings if you want to kickoff over.

example of saving and resetting the color overlay settings

Abound Your Layer Styles Library

Want to build an extended Photoshop Layer Styles library, simply don't quite have the time to make them yourself? Well, if that's the case then you lot should definitely head over to Envato Elements, where you'll find a bully pick such equally these ones:

Lava And Fire Layer Styles

Bring your art to life using this incredible-looking layer styles pack that helps you turn ordinary text into existent-life lava and fire.

lava and fire photoshop layer styles — Lava and Fire Photoshop Layer Styles by Envato Elements

Sweetness and Choco Layer Styles

Plough your text into delicious-looking pieces of sweet or chocolate using this handcrafted layer styles pack, which is meant to make your 24-hour interval sweeter.

sweet and choco layer styles — Sweet and Choco Photoshop Layer Styles by Envato Elements

Retro Wave Layer Styles

Requite your text a taste of the 80s using this beautiful retro layer styles pack, which is guaranteed to turn some heads.

Expand Your Photoshop Skills

But started out using Adobe Photoshop and experience similar learning more? Well, today's your lucky solar day since I've put together a little list of tutorials that should keep you going for the next few days!

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