Welcome back to another very exiting tutorial here at the Photoshop Training Channel.com
My name is Jesus Ramirez and you can find me on Instagram @JRfromPTC.
This video is going to be a crash course on Blending Modes.
You will also learn how you can quickly narrow down your search and find the right Blending
Mode for the result that you want.
If you would like a deep-dive into Blending Modes, then check out my 41-minute video,
Blending Modes Explained, where I cover each individual Blending Mode and how it works.
There is a link to it, right below in the description!
Ok, let’s get started.
Simply put, A Blending Mode takes the pixels of one layer and blends them with the pixels
of another layer to create a completely new effect.
Generally speaking, without Blending Modes, the only real way of blending layers together
is by reducing the Opacity or Fill, which usually doesn't give you the result that you
are looking for.
Layer Blending Modes allow you to do so much more than reduce Opacity.
They allow you to blend layers based on their luminance value, color, and/or saturation.
Since Photoshop CS5, released in 2010, there have been 27-layer Blending Modes which can
be found in an un-labeled dropdown in the Layers panel.
When working with Blending Modes, Photoshop blends the pixels by performing a blend operation
on each pixel of the Blend layer against its corresponding pixel in the base layer.
Put simply; the blend is applied to a single pixel at a time to get the resulting blend.
To make things easier to understand, I'll refer to pixels as “colors” since the
word color may help your mind create a more accurate representation of what is happening.
But we're always talking about pixels.
You should also remember these three terms to understand how Blending Modes work--Base,
Blend, and Result.
The Base is the original color.
It is usually found directly below the Blend color.
The Blend is the color that is being applied to the Base color.
The mix of the Base and the Blend is the Result.
In other words, Base + Blend = Result.
How the Base and the Blend colors mix depends on the Blending Mode that you select.
You do not need to memorize each and every single Blending Mode.
You can simply memorize the 6 categories that the Blending Modes are grouped into.
This will help you narrow down your search when you are looking for Blending Modes.
In the Blending Mode drop-down you will notice the 5 dividers that group the Blending Modes
into 6 categories.
Normal, Darken, Lighten, Contrast, Inversion, and Component.
The first group of Blending Modes is the Normal group.
These Blending Modes produce no change.
You can only blend them with the layers below by reducing the Opacity.
Normal is the default Blending Mode for all layers.
And reducing the opacity blends it with the layer below.
The same is true for Dissolve, the other Blending Mode in the Normal category.
By reducing the Opacity, you reveal the pixels below in a diffusion dither pattern.
The next group is Darken.
The Blending Modes in this group will make the resulting blend darker.
Notice that by selecting Multiply, the image gets progressively darker where the center
gradient is.
And the white rectangle becomes invisible.
The next group of Blending Modes is Lighten.
These Blending do the opposite of the Darken category.
They make the resulting blend brighter.
Notice that by selecting Screen, the image gets progressively brighter where the center
gradient is.
And the black rectangle becomes invisible.
Screen is the opposite of Multiply.
The Contrast Blending Modes work by checking if the pixels are either darker than 50% gray
or lighter than 50% gray.
If they are darker than 50% gray, then a darkening Blend Mode is applied.
Conversely, if the colors are brighter than 50% gray, then a brightening Mode is applied.
Except for Hard Mix, all the Blending Modes in this category turn 50% gray transparent.
You can see that effect when I select Overlay.
Notice that it both darkens and brightens the image.
And the 50% gray box in the center becomes transparent.
If you do not know what 50% gray is, you can double-click on the Foreground Color, to bring
up the Color Picker.
The next group is Inversion.
These Blending Modes look for variations between the base and blend layers to create the blend.
And, when you click-and-drag over the colors you will notice this “B” label, that shows
a percentage.
That is the percentage that I am referring to.
So, 50% gray will be here.
And of course, every color that you select will have a brightness percentage.
The difference Blending Mode is a good example.
If I duplicate my background layer and change the Blending Mode to Difference, the image
will turn black.
That’s Because there is no difference in the blend and base layers.
But if I select the Move Tool, and move the layer you will see the difference in pixels.
You could use this Blending Mode to align layers with similar content.
As you can see, the resulting blend from the Blending Modes in this category is extreme,
and they are generally not used very often.
The final group is Component.
The Blending Modes in this group use different combinations of the primary color components:
hue, saturation, and brightness; to create the blend.
This is a category of Blending Modes that I use a lot.
Especially when working with Adjustment Layers.
I also think it’s the easiest to understand.
For example, If I create a Curves Adjustment layer, and make an extreme adjustment.
You will that the image has more contrast and more saturation.
But if I select Luminosity.
Notice how I only affect the luminance values and not saturation.
I could also select Color, and the colors changes, but not the luminosity.
Another example would be to create a Black and White adjustment layer, which of course,
makes everything black and white.
And you can use the sliders in the Properties to control the luminance values of the original
colors to make a better black and white image.
But if I change the Blending Mode to Luminosity, the color comes back, and I can use the sliders
to adjust the luminance of each color.
Put simply when you select a blending mode in this category it will only affect that
component and not the others.
So, if you select Color, it will only affect the color but not the hue, saturation, or
luminosity.
To recap, Blending Modes look at both the blend layer
and base layer, to come up with the result.
The result is determined by the Blending Mode that you select.
If you need the result to be dark, look for Blending Modes in the Darken category.
If you need the result to be bright, look for Blending Modes in the Lighten category.
If you need both a darker and brighter result, the look for Blending Modes in the contrast
category.
If you would like to isolate a primary color component, such as hue, saturation, or luminosity,
then select a Blending Mode from the Component category.
Of course, there is a lot more to learn.
If you are interested in a longer more comprehensive video on Blending Modes, then check out my
video, Blending Modes explained.
There is a link in the description.
I hope that you found this video helpful.
Let me know in the comments what was the thing that you liked the most about this tutorial.
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Thank you so much for watching, and I’ll talk to you again soon!