To add or change the opacity to a gradient in Photoshop, you need to apply the effect first. However, you must apply the effect on a separate layer than the original image.

Soften the reflection by lowering its layer opacity to about 50–75 percent. Faded text. You can use a gradient mask to fade text into a photo, which makes the text feel like it’s part of the ...

Open Adobe Photoshop CS5 and open or create the image that you want to fade. Double-click the "Background" layer on the "Layers" palette and then click "OK" to unlock the layer.