If you’ve ever taken a closer look at the layers palette you might have noticed that at the top of the palette, we have additional layer options.
The Opacity slider is pretty obvious.
When a layer is selected and the Opacity slider is moved,
the transparency of the selected layer can be increased or decreased,
allowing the layer below to become more or less visible.
What we are actually doing when we increase transparency, is to mix the color from the layer below (the base color), in this case blue,
with the colour of the pixels in the selected layer above (the source color), creating basically a mixed color.
The more we reduce the opacity, the more color from the lower layer
is mixed into the color of the pixels directly above, so giving the illusion of transparency.
You might also have wondered what the Blend modes actually do.
But before we take a look at the individual Blend modes, I’d like to first cover the science behind blending.
Blend modes alter the way that the colors of a source layer or object
combine with the background behind the object,
or in other words, with underlying (or base), layers.
The way that blend modes work is as following.
On computers, colors have numeric values,
and blend modes basically let you perform mathematical calculations with these color values.
Blend modes combine a source and a base color in an image
to produce a new color or effect, called a result color.
In some photo-editing programs, blend modes are also known as merge modes.
When using painting tools, blend modes alter the way brushstrokes combine with an image.
By blending layers, you can create interesting effects by changing the way the pixels on one layer blend with pixels on underlying layers,
and Corel PaintShop Pro offers a variety of blend modes.
Although the image on the screen will display the result of blending pixels,
the individual layers themselves remain unchanged.
By default, the blend mode applies to all pixels.
Each new layer automatically has a blend mode of Normal,
which blends pixels based on the opacity of the selected layer.
The selected layer is blended with all underlying layers, not just the layer directly beneath it.
Let’s now take a look at the individual blend modes.
I'm going to start by getting some basic definitions that we’ll be using out of the way.
The source color is the color of the selected layer.
The base color is the color of the underlying layer.
Hue is what we normally define as colour.
Saturation defines the intensity of a hue.
Vivid colours are highly saturated,
while soft, pastel colours are unsaturated.
Black and white images (monochrome), are totally de-saturated since they are missing colour intensity.
Finally, Lightness (also known as ‘value' or ‘tone'), relates to the proximity of a color to the white or black end of the tonal scale.
The closer a color is to black, the lower the value. The closer to white, the higher the value.
Let's now run through the individual blend modes to see what the effects will be.
Here, layer 3 is my selected, or source, layer, while layers 2 and 1 are the base colors.
The Normal blend mode replaces the source color with the base color. This is the default blend mode when a new layer is created.
If the selected layer is fully opaque, no pixels from layers 1 or 2 show through.
But as the opacity decreases (i.e. the transparency increases), more pixels from underlying layers show through.
In this case the colors of the pixels in base layers 1 and 2, are being gradually blended with the pixel colors of layer 3.
The Darken blend mode applies the source color to the base color, but only when the source color is darker.
Pixels in the selected layer (source), that are lighter than the underlying colors, disappear.
In this case, the pale blue of the clock disappears because it is lighter than the underlying base color,
while colors in the clock that are darker than the underlying colors remain.
In the case of the camera layer, more of the colors are darker than the underlying colors and we would expect these to remain.
We can see that the highlights on the camera have now been replaced with the underlying base color.
The Lighten blend mode, as you can probably guess, is the opposite of the darken mode.
Now, any source colors that are darker than the base color will be replaced. Colors that are lighter are left unchanged.
The Hue blend mode applies the hue of the selected layer, but the saturation and lightness values of the underlying layers.
Hue (Legacy) functions similarly to the Hue blend mode. This blend mode is retained for the sake of compatibility with earlier versions of the program.
The Saturation blend mode uses the saturation, or vividness, value of the selected layer, but the lightness and hue value of the underlying layers.
This blend mode is available for 16m-bit color images only.
The Color blend mode applies the color and saturation of the source layer and the lightness value of the base layers to create the result color.
Again,this blend mode is available for 16m-bit color images only.
The Luminance blend mode is the opposite of the Color blend mode.
Luminance (16m-bit color images only), applies the luminance (or lightness), of the selected layer to the underlying layers,
without affecting the hue or saturation.
The Multiply blend mode multiplies the color values of the source and base colors and divides the result by 255.
Multiplying any color with black produces black; multiplying any color with white leaves the color unchanged.
Unless you paint on white, the final result will always be darker than the original base color.
The Screen blend mode inverts the source and base color values > multiplies them > and then inverts the result again.
The result is a color that is the same or a lightened version of the selected layer.
This blend mode produces the same result, regardless of the order in which the layers are stacked on the Layers palette.
Dissolve randomly replaces the colors of some pixels on the selected layer with those of the underlying layers to create a speckled effect.
The opacity of the selected layer determines the number of pixels replaced: the lower the opacity, the greater the number of pixels replaced.
Overlay combines the Multiply and Screen blend modes.
If the color value of underlying layers is less than half the maximum value, the Multiply blend mode is used. If greater than, or equal to half the value,
the Screen blend mode is used.
The Overlay blend mode shows patterns or colors of the selected layer while preserving the shadows and highlights of underlying layers.
Hard Light uses a Multiply and Screen blend mode to apply a hard, direct spotlight to the base color.
You can use the Hard Light blend mode to add highlights or shadows.
Soft Light combines the Burn and Dodge blend modes to apply a soft, diffused light to the base color.
You can use the Soft Light blend mode to add soft highlights or shadows.
Difference subtracts the color value of the source layer from the color value of the underlying layers.
This blend mode produces the same result, regardless, of the order in which the layers are stacked on the Layers palette.
Exclusion creates an effect similar to, but softer than, the Difference blend mode.
Again, the stacking order is irrelevant.
Dodge simulates the photographic technique called dodging, which lightens image areas by decreasing the exposure.
The image is lightened by using the lightness values of the colors in the source layer, to lighten the colors of underlying layers.
Light colors produce the most lightening, black has no effect.
Burn simulates the photographic technique called burning, which darkens image areas by increasing the exposure.
The lightness values of the source layer are used to reduce the lightness of underlying, or base layers.
Setting the blend range of a layer.
In addition to its blend mode you can also set the blend range of a layer.
The blend range limits the pixels that the blend mode affects and sets the opacity based on brightness or color channel,
so that some colors drop out of the selected layer and other colors show through.
On the Layers palette, double-click the layer to open the Layer Properties dialog box.
Click the Blend Ranges tab.
In the Blend Channel drop-down list, select a channel to use when blending layers.
Select the Grey Channel to base opacity on the lightness values of layers.
Select the Red, Green, or Blue Channels to base opacity on the respective color values.
Drag the upper arrows to set the values at which the opacity is 100 percent.
For example, you can set a layer’s opacity at 100 percent between the lightness values of 43 and 126,
with the opacity falling off at the lightest and darkest areas.
Drag the lower arrows to set the values at which the opacity is 0 percent.
Click OK.
We hope that today’s tutorial has made working with blend modes easier to understand.
For more tutorials on working with PaintShop Pro,
please visit the Discovery Center at: learn.corel.com.
Thank you for watching!