Essential Skills - 3 Key Blend Modes. Ken Fisher

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1 Ken Fisher

One of the best ways to understand blending modes is to experiment with them. Get two layers together and play around. The results sometimes will leave you cold, the effects wont inspire you.

2 One of the best ways to understand blending modes is to experiment with them. Get two layers together and play around. The results sometimes will leave you cold, the effects wont inspire you. But most times you will drop on one where the final effect hits you smack in the face, and you go WOW. Lets start with three blending modes which you will probably use maybe 80% of the time. So here we have an image with some layers in it. I have a group which contains some graphics, a gradient and some blocks of colour, black, mid gray and white. We are going to look at the effect three particular blend modes have on these tones. These blend modes are Multiply, Screen and Overlay. Let's start off by setting the group blend mode to Multiply. This blend mode allows us to blend the images together, but create an overall darkening effect. You also see that the white in the lighter and of the gradient and the colour block just disappears. We can see straight through it. P2

Now let's compare that, say, to a blending mode which allows us to blend and

3 The black end of the gradient and the colour block stays black because it can t get any darker and the grey or midtones get darker. Now let's compare that, say, to a blending mode which allows us to blend and brighten, and that is Screen. Here all the blacks have disappeared and the greys or midtones have got lighter. P3

4 Finally lets look at a contrast blend mode of Overlay. Now with Overlay we get a wonderful contrast blending. The dark end of the gradient is blended with the underlying image to give a bold contrasty look. The same with the light side. But the middle area is largely not affected. In fact 50% Grey disappears altogether. Lets look at some real world examples. Here we have a couple of logos, one with black text on a white background and the other white text on a black background. Here the blending mode for the group they are in is set to normal so we see no blending taking place. P4

If we change the blend mode to Multiply then the white background disappears and the white text disappears so you can see through to the Sky layer.

5 If we change the blend mode to Multiply then the white background disappears and the white text disappears so you can see through to the Sky layer. Now if we change the blend mode to Screen we have the opposite effect. The black drops our leaving just the white text or the black text becomes transparent. P5

We can also use the Overlay blend mode to our advantage. If we create a new empty later and fill it with 50% gray and select Overlay as a blend mode then the pixels will become invisible.

6 We can also use the Overlay blend mode to our advantage. If we create a new empty later and fill it with 50% gray and select Overlay as a blend mode then the pixels will become invisible. This is useful because we can now paint with white or black with a low brush opacity to create subtle Dodging and Burning effects. This is on a separate layer so is non destructive in nature and totally reversible. If you can understand Multiply, Screen, and Overlay, you can do so much with blending modes. Remember to try the other blend modes out, you may get pleasant surprises. Don t worry about how they work, just use them. P6

7 Photoshop Copyright Tutorial Roman by Ken Montage Fisher All content written and designed by Ken Fisher All Rights Reserved This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced In any manner without the written permission from the author P7

IMAGE CORRECTION. You can find this and more information with video tutorials at

IMAGE CORRECTION. You can find this and more information with video tutorials at IMAGE CORRECTION You can find this and more information with video tutorials at http://www.adobe.com/support/photoshop/ P H O T O S H O P T O O L S CLONE STAMP TOOL The Clone Stamp tool paints one part