PSDTOP Blog – Design Tips, Photo Effects, Icon Creation, Special Effects and Links - Design Tips, Photo Effects, Icon Creation, Special Effects, Buttons, Interfaces and Links

The way that layers interact with other layers in the stack is determined by the blending mode of the upper layer.

By default the layer’s mode is set to Normal, which causes the picture content on the upper layer to obscure the picture parts beneath, but Photoshop has many other ways to control how these pixels interact. Called blend modes, the different options provide a variety of ways to control the mixing, blending and general interaction of the layer content.

The layer blend modes are located in the drop-down menu at the top left of the Layers palette. Blend modes can also be applied to the painting and drawing tools via a drop-down menu in the tool’s options bar.

Blending modes are split into 6 different sections. The Basic ones replace the base pixels, the Darken ones darken the base pixels, the Lighten ones lighten them, the Contrast ones increase or decrease overall contrast, the Comparative ones invert the base colour and the HSL modes apply a specific colour component. Some blending modes need a bit of opacity tweaking in order to get the best effect. As with a lot of Photoshop’s options, experimentation is the only real way to get a thorough understanding.

To help you learn and understand how the blend modes work, I have provided a summary of all the blend modes currently found in Photoshop CS3 Extended. In the following blend mode examples the picture has two layers – ‘Top Layer’

and ‘Bottom Layer’.

In each example the blend mode of the top layer has been changed to illustrate how the two layers blend together.

Basic

Normal – The pixels in the top layer are opaque and therefore block the view of the bottom layer. Adjusting the opacity of the top layer will make it semi-transparent causing it to blend with the top layer.

Dissolve – Combines the top layer with the bottom using a pattern of pixels. There is no effect if the top layer is at 100% opacity. Reduce the opacity to see the effect. Example set to 80% opacity.

Darken

Darken – Compares the color of the top and bottom layers and blends the pixels where the top layer is darker than the bottom.

Multiply – Multiplies the color of the bottom layer with the top layer producing an overall darker result. There is no image change when the top
layer is white.

Color Burn – Darkens or ‘burns’ the image using the contents of the top layer. There is no image change if the top layer is white.

Linear Burn – Uses the same approach as the Color Burn mode but produces a stronger darkening effect. There is no image change when the top layer is white.

Darker color – is similar to the Darken mode, except it works on all channels instead of working on a per-channel basis. When you blend two layers together, only the darker pixels on the blend layer will remain visible.

Lighten

Lighten – Compares the color in the top and bottom layers and blends the pixels if the top layer is lighter than the bottom.

Screen – The opposite to the Multiply mode as it multiplies the inverse of the top layer with the bottom layer producing a much lighter image.

Color Dodge – Makes the picture lighter using the top layer to dodge the bottom layer. There is no effect if the top layer is black.

Linear Dodge (Add) – Similar to the Screen mode but produces a much stronger lightening effect. There is no effect if the top layer is black.

Lighter color – is similar to the Lighten mode, except it works on all channels instead of working on a per-channel basis. When you blend two layers together, only the lighter pixels on the blend layer will remain visible.

Contrast

Overlay – Combines the effect of both the Multiply and Screen modes whilst blending the top layer with the bottom. There is no effect if the top layer is 50% gray.

Soft Light – Similar to the Overlay mode but produces a more subtle effect. There is no change if the top layer is 50% gray.

Hard Light – Uses the same approach as the Overlay mode but the change is more dramatic. Here the top layer is either Screened or Multiplied depending on its color. There is no effect if the top layer is 50% gray.

Vivid Light – Combines the effects of both Color Burn and Color Dodge modes and applies the blend based on the color of the top layer. There is no effect if the top layer is 50% gray.

Linear Light – Similar to the Vivid Light mode but produces a more dramatic result. There is no effect if the top layer is 50% gray.

Pin Light – Blends the light colors in the top layer using the Lighten mode and blends the dark colors using the Darken mode. There is no effect if the top layer is 50% gray.

Hard Mix – Creates a flat toned picture with limited colors and lots of posterization. The luminosity of the top layer is blended with the color of the bottom.

Comparative

Difference - Displays the tonal difference between the contents of the two layers by subtracting the lighter pixels from either of the layers. This results in a dark and sometimes reversed image.

Exclusion – Similar to the Difference mode but produces less dramatic effects.

HSL

Hue – Combines the Hue (color) of the top layer with the Saturation (color vibrancy) and Luminance (tones) of the bottom layer

Saturation – Combines the Saturation (color vibrancy) of the top layer with the Hue (color) and Luminance (tones) of the bottom layer.

Color – Combines the Hue (color) and Saturation (color vibrancy) of the top layer with the Luminance (tones) of the bottom layer.

Luminosity – Combines the Luminance (tones) of the top layer with the Saturation (color vibrancy) and Hue (color) of the bottom layer.

No related posts.