Can anyone, in layman's terms, explain Adobe Element layers?

Question

Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0

Answer 1

OK this is an over simplified example of layers.
We have a mannequin in a red dress, black shoes, and white hat.

Now Think of transparencies on an overhead projector.
Transparency 1 is just the mannequin.
Transparency 2 is the red dress.
Transparency 3 is the black shoes.
Transparency 4 is the white hat.
If we lay all of the transparencies on the projector we have a full picture.
Now if we want to change the shoes we just replace the transparency of the shoes and don't have to create a whole new picture so on and so forth.
Layers work the same way. Put black shoes on layer1, red dress on layer2 and so on.
The link below is to a tutorial maybe it will help to.