Blending Modes
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Blending Modes
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The Photoshop provides various ways to blend the pixels you are working with, with other pixels. There are two modes, i.e., transparency and blending modes, to control how the two sets of pixels can interact with each other.
You can add transparency to an artwork by specifying the opacity of the layer or of the painting or editing tools with which you are working. When the opacity is reduced, the impact of color is reduced uniformly. The opacity determines to what degree a color obscures or blends with the color beneath it. The upper color with 100% opacity is opaque and blocks the lower color completely, whereas the color with 0% opacity appears transparent.
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| 100% Opacity | 50% Opacity |
The blending mode determines how applied pixels blend with the pixels already on that layer or the layers below. The painting and most of the editing tools as well as layers offer the Blend Mode pop-up menu from which you can choose a blending mode to determine the way to compare new colors with existing colors to create the result color. The blend modes for painting tools or editing tools work on a single layer. They affect how the colors or actions caused by a tool blend with the colors that exist on the active layer. The layer blending modes affect how each color of the active layer blends with the colors on the layer below. Blending modes enable you to create a variety of special effects.
The basic terminology used for explaining blending effects are as follows:
Photoshop CS offers following blending modes:
The Normal mode is the most commonly used blending mode. In this mode the top color replaces the bottom color completely so you get the same color that you have applied. This is the default mode, which is available for all painting and editing tools as well as for all color modes. This mode is called Threshold in bitmapped and indexed-color color mode.
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| 100% opacity | 50% opacity |
The Alt key (for Windows) or the Option key (for Mac OS) + Shift + N is the keyboard shortcut to set the blending mode of the active layer to Normal. When painting or editing tools are active, this keyboard shortcut changes the tool's blending mode.
The Dissolve mode affects only semitransparent pixels. These semitransparent pixels include pixels applied with painting or editing tools with reduced opacity and edge pixels in anti-aliased artworks. In the Dissolve mode, pixels are replaced randomly with the base color or the blend color and produce an effect of scatter.
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| 100% opacity | 50% opacity |
The Alt key (for Windows) or the Option key (for Mac OS) + Shift + I is the keyboard shortcut to set the blending mode of the active layer to Dissolve. When painting or editing tools are active, this keyboard shortcut changes the tool's blending mode.
The Behind mode is available only for painting tools. It allows you to add the blend color only to transparent pixels of a layer. It protects the base color and adds new colors to empty areas. This mode works only in layers with Lock Transparency deselected.
The Alt key (for Windows) or the Option key (for Mac OS) + Shift + Q is the keyboard shortcut to set the blending mode of the active layer to Behind. When painting or editing tools are active, this keyboard shortcut changes the tool's blending mode.
The Clear mode works in the same way as the Eraser tool. It makes every affected pixel transparent according to its original opacity. This mode is available only for the Line tool
, the Paint Bucket tool 
, the Brush tool 
, and the Pencil tool 
. It is also available for the Fill command and the Stroke command. This mode cannot be used on the background layer or on the layer that has Preserve Transparency checked. The Alt key (for Windows) or the Option key (for Mac OS) + Shift + R is the keyboard shortcut to set the blending mode of the active layer to Clear. When painting or editing tools are active, this keyboard shortcut changes the tool's blending mode.
The Darken mode compares the individual color components of the base color and the blend color, and chooses whichever is darker (Lower value of each component of RGB or higher percent of each value of GMYK) as the result color. For example, if a base color pixel has a color value of RGB 35/210/90 and the blend color pixel has a color value 40/250/30, the result color pixel value of RGB will be 35/210/30.
The Alt key (for Windows) or the Option key (for Mac OS) + Shift + K is the keyboard shortcut to set the blending mode of the active layer to Darken. When painting or editing tools are active, this keyboard shortcut changes the tool's blending mode.
The Multiply mode multiplies the base color by the blend color. The result color is always darker than the original blend color. Black color multiplied by any color produces black, and white color multiplied by any color leaves the color unchanged. When you are using a painting tool and paint an image with a color other than black or white, each successive stroke produces progressively darker colors.
The Alt key (for Windows) or the Option key (for Mac OS) + Shift + M is the keyboard shortcut to set the blending mode of the active layer to Multiply. When painting or editing tools are active, this keyboard shortcut changes the tool's blending mode.
The Color Burn mode darkens the base color by increasing the contrast to reflect the blend color. Blending with white produces no change in the base color.
The Alt key (for Windows) or the Option key (for Mac OS) + Shift + B is the keyboard shortcut to set the blending mode of the active layer to Color Burn. When painting or editing tools are active, this keyboard shortcut changes the tool's blending mode.
The Liner Burn mode is similar to the Color Burn mode. Rather than increasing the contrast, it darkens the base color by decreasing the brightness to reflect the blend color. Blending with white produces no change in the base color.
The Alt key (for Windows) or the Option key (for Mac OS) + Shift + A is the keyboard shortcut to set the blending mode of the active layer to Linear Burn. When painting or editing tools are active, this keyboard shortcut changes the tool's blending mode.
The Lighten mode is just opposite the Darken mode. It compares the color information of the base color and the blend color, and selects the lighter color as the result color. Therefore, the base color remains unchanged when it is lighter than the blend color, and it is replaced with the blend color when it is darker.
The Alt key (for Windows) or the Option key (for Mac OS) + Shift + G is the keyboard shortcut to set the blending mode of the active layer to Lighten. When painting or editing tools are active, this keyboard shortcut changes the tool's blending mode.
The Screen mode uses color data information of channel and multiplies the inverse of the blend and the base color values. The result color is always lighter than the original blend color. Therefore, when blending with black, the color remains unchanged, and blending with white produces white color.
The Alt key (for Windows) or the Option key (for Mac OS) + Shift + S is the keyboard shortcut to set the blending mode of the active layer to Screen. When painting or editing tools are active, this keyboard shortcut changes the tool's blending mode.
The Color Dodge mode works with contrast. It compares the base color with the blend color and reduces the contrast of the base color to reflect the blend color. This mode is normally used with lighter blending colors. Blending with black produces no change.
The Alt key (for Windows) or the Option key (for Mac OS) + Shift + D is the keyboard shortcut to set the blending mode of the active layer to Color Dodge. When painting or editing tools are active, this keyboard shortcut changes the tool's blending mode.
The Linear Dodge mode works with brightness. It compares the base color with the blend color and then increases the brightness of the base color to reflect the blend color. Blending with black produces no change.
The Alt key (for Windows) or the Option key (for Mac OS) + Shift + W is the keyboard shortcut to set the blending mode of the active layer to Linear Dodge. When painting or editing tools are active, this keyboard shortcut changes the tool's blending mode.
The Overlay mode multiplies or screens the base color depending on the base color. If the base color is dark, it is multiplied and becomes darker. But if the base color is light, it is screened and becomes lighter. In this mode, highlights and shadows of the base color are retained while blending with patterns or colors.
The Alt key (for Windows) or the Option key (for Mac OS) + Shift + O is the keyboard shortcut to set the blending mode of the active layer to Overlay. When painting or editing tools are active, this keyboard shortcut changes the tool's blending mode.
The Soft Light mode darkens or lightens the base color depending on whether the blend color is lighter or darker as compared to 50% gray. When the blend color is lighter, the image is lightened as if the Dodge tool were used on the image; and when the blend color is darker, the image is darkened as if the Burned tool were used on the image.
The Alt key (for Windows) or the Option key (for Mac OS) + Shift + F is the keyboard shortcut to set the blending mode of the active layer to Soft Light. When painting or editing tools are active, this keyboard shortcut changes the tool's blending mode.
The Hard Light mode acts as the Multiply mode or the Screen mode depending on the blend color. It compares the blend color with 50% gray and finds out whether it is lighter or darker. When the blend color is lighter, the image is lightened as if the Screen mode were applied. When the blend color is darker, the image is darkened as if the Multiply mode were applied. This mode is effective for adding highlights and shadows to an image.
The Alt key (for Windows) or the Option key (for Mac OS) + Shift + H is the keyboard shortcut to set the blending mode of the active layer to Hard Light. When painting or editing tools are active, this keyboard shortcut changes the tool's blending mode.
The Vivid Light mode creates an effect by adjusting the contrast of the base color. It dodges or burns the base color depending on whether the blend color is lighter or darker than 50% gray (RGB = 128,128,128). If the blend color is lighter, the contrast of the base color decreases to lighten the image. But if the blend color is darker, the contrast of the base color increases to darken the image.
The Alt key (for Windows) or the Option key (for Mac OS) + Shift + V is the keyboard shortcut to set the blending mode of the active layer to Vivid Light. When painting or editing tools are active, this keyboard shortcut changes the tool's blending mode.
The Linear Light mode creates an effect that complements the Vivid Light mode. It works with brightness to dodge or burn the base color depending on whether the blend color is lighter or darker than 50% gray (RGB = 128,128,128). If the blend color is lighter, the image is lightened by increasing the brightness of the base color. But if the blend color is darker, the brightness of the base color decreases to darken the image.
The Alt key (for Windows) or the Option key (for Mac OS) + Shift + J is the keyboard shortcut to set the blending mode of the active layer to Linear Light. When painting or editing tools are active, this keyboard shortcut changes the tool's blending mode.
The Pin Light mode is similar to both the Darken and the Lighten modes. It is very useful for creating special effects in an image. In this mode, the base color replacement depends on whether the blend color is lighter or darker than 50% gray (RGB = 128,128,128). When the blend color is lighter, the pixels of the base color darker than the blend color are replaced, and the pixels lighter than the blend color remain unchanged. But when the blend color is darker, the pixels of the base color, which are lighter than the blend color, are replaced, and the pixels darker than the blend color remain unchanged.
The Alt key (for Windows) or the Option key (for Mac OS) + Shift + Z is the keyboard shortcut to set the blending mode of the active layer to Pin Light. When painting or editing tools are active, this keyboard shortcut changes the tool's blending mode.
The Hard Mix mode compares the brightness of the blend color with 50% gray. The brighter the blend color is, the brighter the base color will be; and the darker the blend color is, the darker the base color will be. If the brightness of the blend color is nearly equal to the brightness of 50% gray (RGB = 128,128,128), the brightness of the base color will not change.
The Hard Mix mode posterizes the underlying layers depending on the Fill setting of the layer having the Hard Mix blending mode. If the Fill setting is high, it produces extreme posterization, whereas lower Fill settings will create less posterization.
The Alt key (for Windows) or the Option key (for Mac OS) + Shift + L is the keyboard shortcut to set the blending mode of the active layer to Hard Mix. When painting or editing tools are active, this keyboard shortcut changes the tool's blending mode.
In the Difference mode, brightness values of the base color and the blend color are compared and the color value that has lower brightness is subtracted from the color value having greater brightness to produce the result color. Blending with black produces no change because black has a brightness of zero. Blending with white inverts the base color value because the white has 100% color value.
The Alt key (for Windows) or the Option key (for Mac OS) + Shift + E is the keyboard shortcut to set the blending mode of the active layer to Difference. When painting or editing tools are active, this keyboard shortcut changes the tool's blending mode.
The Exclusion mode creates an effect similar to the Difference mode but it works with contrast. Contrast values of the base color and the blend color are compared, and the color value that has lower contrast is subtracted from the color value having greater contrast to produce the result color. Therefore, blending with white inverts the base color value (white color has 100% color value) and black produces no change (color value of black is 0).
The Alt key (for Windows) or the Option key (for Mac OS) + Shift + X is the keyboard shortcut to set the blending mode of the active layer to Exclusion. When painting or editing tools are active, this keyboard shortcut changes the tool's blending mode.
The Hue mode produces the result color using only the hue value of the blend color and all the luminance and saturation values of the base color.
The Alt key (for Windows) or the Option key (for Mac OS) + Shift + U is the keyboard shortcut to set the blending mode of the active layer to Hue. When painting or editing tools are active, this keyboard shortcut changes the tool's blending mode.
The Saturation mode is the reverse of the Hue mode. It creates a result color using the saturation of the blend color, and the luminance and hue of the base color. Painting with gray on the layer having Saturation color mode produces no change.
The Alt key (for Windows) or the Option key (for Mac OS) + Shift + T is the keyboard shortcut to set the mode of the active layer to Saturation. When painting or editing tools are active, this keyboard shortcut changes the tool's blending mode.
The Color mode produces the result color having the luminance of the base color, but the hue and saturation of the blend color. This mode preserves gray levels in the image and is useful for coloring black and white images.
The Alt key (for Windows) or the Option key (for Mac OS) + Shift + C is the keyboard shortcut to set the blending mode of the active layer to Color. When painting or editing tools are active, this keyboard shortcut changes the tool's blending modes.
The Luminosity mode is the reverse of the Color mode. It produces the result color using the luminance of the blend color and the hue and saturation of the base color. This mode is useful to choose when working with the Sharpen tool.
The Alt key (for Windows) or the Option key (for Mac OS) + Shift + Y is the keyboard shortcut to set the blending mode of the active layer to Luminosity. When painting or editing tools are active, this keyboard shortcut changes the tool's blending mode.
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