Layer modes - Photoshop Tutorials | Photoshop Contests

**sdb** · 04-06-2007, 09:04 PM

Can someone tell me what the difference between them all is? It confuses me.

I keep everything on 'Normal' because I'm not sure what everything does.

Normal, Screen, etc....

Ganondorf · 04-06-2007, 09:47 PM

it changes the lighting of the picture.

you can adjust the opacity of it to determine how strong you want whichever mode you select is.

you'll have to experiment to find which mode fits the picture best.

Pelican · 04-07-2007, 12:43 AM

They are quite difficult to understand. I only use about half of them cuz I cant figure out what I would use the others for. I did a search for layer blending modes and found this, which is about as good as I could explain.

clps · 04-08-2007, 01:53 PM

all of them look different just scan thru them and pick whatever looks nice

RDSVicious · 04-09-2007, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clps

all of them look different just scan thru them and pick whatever looks nice

Yea usually what I do but doing that can suck ass cause it takes up a slot in your go back history, then next thing you know you can go back to before you scrolled through them. :\

Tejmik · 04-09-2007, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RDSVicious

Yea usually what I do but doing that can suck ass cause it takes up a slot in your go back history, then next thing you know you can go back to before you scrolled through them. :\

you can increase the number of historys your palette will remember. its in the prefrences.

also, you could do a snapshot before you start blending. (in the history palette i think). that way you can always go back to when you liked....

i know the feeling of doing about 50 + steps and ending up farther away from the end product than I was before i started blending stuff for effects.

**KrushR** · 04-09-2007, 08:33 PM

to see what the layer modes do, I:

took a photo

added some text in a neutral color

started changing the modes on the text layer

Luminosity:

Darken: (hmmm!)

Lighten: (hmmMMMmm!)

next: "textbook definition" of what each does.

IKermit · 04-09-2007, 08:37 PM

what an interesting picture to use too

**KrushR** · 04-09-2007, 08:38 PM

Normal Edits or paints each pixel to make it the result color. This is the default mode. (Normal mode is called Threshold when you’re working with a bitmapped or indexed-color image.)

Dissolve Edits or paints each pixel to make it the result color. However, the result color is a random replacement of the pixels with the base color or the blend color, depending on the opacity at any pixel location.

Behind Edits or paints only on the transparent part of a layer. This mode works only in layers with Lock Transparency deselected and is analogous to painting on the back of transparent areas on a sheet of acetate.

Clear Edits or paints each pixel and makes it transparent. This mode is available for the Shape tools (when fill region is selected), the Paint Bucket tool , the Brush tool , the Pencil tool , the Fill command, and the Stroke command. You must be in a layer with Lock Transparency deselected to use this mode.

Darken Looks at the color information in each channel and selects the base or blend color—whichever is darker—as the result color. Pixels lighter than the blend color are replaced, and pixels darker than the blend color do not change.

Multiply Looks at the color information in each channel and multiplies the base color by the blend color. The result color is always a darker color. Multiplying any color with black produces black. Multiplying any color with white leaves the color unchanged. When you’re painting with a color other than black or white, successive strokes with a painting tool produce progressively darker colors. The effect is similar to drawing on the image with multiple marking pens.

Color Burn Looks at the color information in each channel and darkens the base color to reflect the blend color by increasing the contrast. Blending with white produces no change.

Linear Burn Looks at the color information in each channel and darkens the base color to reflect the blend color by decreasing the brightness. Blending with white produces no change.

Lighten Looks at the color information in each channel and selects the base or blend color—whichever is lighter—as the result color. Pixels darker than the blend color are replaced, and pixels lighter than the blend color do not change.

Screen Looks at each channel’s color information and multiplies the inverse of the blend and base colors. The result color is always a lighter color. Screening with black leaves the color unchanged. Screening with white produces white. The effect is similar to projecting multiple photographic slides on top of each other.

Color Dodge Looks at the color information in each channel and brightens the base color to reflect the blend color by decreasing the contrast. Blending with black produces no change.

Linear Dodge Looks at the color information in each channel and brightens the base color to reflect the blend color by increasing the brightness. Blending with black produces no change.

Overlay Multiplies or screens the colors, depending on the base color. Patterns or colors overlay the existing pixels while preserving the highlights and shadows of the base color. The base color is not replaced but is mixed with the blend color to reflect the lightness or darkness of the original color.

Soft Light Darkens or lightens the colors, depending on the blend color. The effect is similar to shining a diffused spotlight on the image.
If the blend color (light source) is lighter than 50% gray, the image is lightened as if it were dodged. If the blend color is darker than 50% gray, the image is darkened as if it were burned in. Painting with pure black or white produces a distinctly darker or lighter area but does not result in pure black or white.

Hard Light Multiplies or screens the colors, depending on the blend color. The effect is similar to shining a harsh spotlight on the image.
If the blend color (light source) is lighter than 50% gray, the image is lightened, as if it were screened. This is useful for adding highlights to an image. If the blend color is darker than 50% gray, the image is darkened, as if it were multiplied. This is useful for adding shadows to an image. Painting with pure black or white results in pure black or white.

Vivid Light Burns or dodges the colors by increasing or decreasing the contrast, depending on the blend color. If the blend color (light source) is lighter than 50% gray, the image is lightened by decreasing the contrast. If the blend color is darker than 50% gray, the image is darkened by increasing the contrast.

Linear Light Burns or dodges the colors by decreasing or increasing the brightness, depending on the blend color. If the blend color (light source) is lighter than 50% gray, the image is lightened by increasing the brightness. If the blend color is darker than 50% gray, the image is darkened by decreasing the brightness.

Pin Light Replaces the colors, depending on the blend color. If the blend color (light source) is lighter than 50% gray, pixels darker than the blend color are replaced, and pixels lighter than the blend color do not change. If the blend color is darker than 50% gray, pixels lighter than the blend color are replaced, and pixels darker than the blend color do not change. This is useful for adding special effects to an image.

Difference Looks at the color information in each channel and subtracts either the blend color from the base color or the base color from the blend color, depending on which has the greater brightness value. Blending with white inverts the base color values; blending with black produces no change.

Exclusion Creates an effect similar to but lower in contrast than the Difference mode. Blending with white inverts the base color values. Blending with black produces no change.

Hue Creates a result color with the luminance and saturation of the base color and the hue of the blend color.

Saturation Creates a result color with the luminance and hue of the base color and the saturation of the blend color. Painting with this mode in an area with no (0) saturation (gray) causes no change.

Color Creates a result color with the luminance of the base color and the hue and saturation of the blend color. This preserves the gray levels in the image and is useful for coloring monochrome images and for tinting color images.

Luminosity Creates a result color with the hue and saturation of the base color and the luminance of the blend color. This mode creates an inverse effect from that of the Color mode.

I know some of these end up being tough to understand, as you have to know about saturation and blending, but reading the help files and a little experimentation goes a long way.