Wow, thanks for all the information. I will need to scratch my head a bit and try to understand. I still feel like such a dummy sometimes. jnmoore, now I'm really confused about working on textures. I'm trying to develop a makeup texture for a clown picture. I thought layers are a good way to get all the colors done. Now I'm afraid some of the colors won't come out at all? I know you'll have a good explanation.. Just remember I'm a "texture dummy" right now.