Applying a Color Overlay
The Color Overlay style covers the elements of a layer with any color you choose. For example, you create some black text and you want to experiment with other colors, without changing the original color values of the text. Or, possibly apply the Blend Mode option, when you want to see how a specific color blends into the image. Whatever the case, Color Overlay temporarily masks the image with whatever color you choose. In addition, you can use the Color Overlay style with other layer styles to produce hundreds, if not thousands, of style combinations.

Apply a Color Overlay
Select the Layers palette.
Click the layer you want to apply the Color Overlay style.
Click the Add Layer Style button, and then click Color Overlay .
Select from the available Color Overlay options:
Blend Mode.
Click the list arrow, and then select from the available options. The Blend Mode option instructs Photoshop how to blend the selected Color Overlay with the colors of the active image (default: normal).
Color.
Click the Color swatch box, and then select any color from the Color Picker (default: red).
Opacity.
Enter a value from 0 to 100 percent. Opacity determines how much of the Color Overlay masks the original image pixels (default: 100).
Click OK .[View full size image]