Layer issue

[Kayla31217529xba6]

Hi! So I've been using photoshop for a few months now and I'm now having issues with my layers. When I open photoshop I have a "layer 0" I made some skin retouching edits on that layer then duplicated it to make new edits on another layer. Once I duplicated that layer I saw that there was something I wanted to touch up and decided to go to my layer specific for skin retouches, however I can't edit that layer anymore. I had a similar problem months ago and fixed it but I don't remember how. Does anyone have any tips? 

[John T Smith]

You need to ask program questions in the forum for the program you are using
To ask in the forum for your program please start at https://community.adobe.com/
Moving from Using the Community (which is about the forums) to the Photoshop forum

[Trevor.Dennis]

 @Kayla31217529xba6

Hi Kayla.  It sounds like you are applying edits directly to the background layer, and copies of the background layer.  

If I make President Obama a totally cool ex President painting directly onto the background layer, that beard is there forever.

Much better to make our edits on a new layer so you don't cover up your previous edits.

This is what we call 'non-destructive' meaning we can undo it without ruining the original.  We can also hide some of the edits with masks.

You can adjust the opacity of the edit layer and do sorts of cool things that you can't do when it's all on the original, or copies of, the original layer.

Does that help, or am I completely off at a tangent?

[Kayla31217529xba6]

It helps a lot. Thank you!
Sent from my iPhone

[Bojan Živković]

"Once I duplicated that layer I saw that there was something I wanted to touch up and decided to go to my layer specific for skin retouches, however I can't edit that layer anymore. "

You can edit, but changes might not be visible since you have a duplicated layer. The duplicated layer is on top of the layers stack, and that’s what you see. Only changes made to the top layer will be visible on the screen. To see changes made to the layer below, you must hide the top, duplicated layer. You need to learn more about layers, the layer stack, and how all that works.

[Kayla31217529xba6]

Someone explained it in a way to me like that. Also thank you, I just found a program that will help me learn this.
Sent from my iPhone