Whether you are a beginner trying to unravel the mysteries of Photoshop or an established digital artist/photographer (who still needs to unravel the mysteries of Photoshop), you will soon discover the blending modes in your layers palette and wonder what you could have done without them. The blending modes are a mathematical wonder of art. They are nothing but efficient image processing algorithms which transforms the pixels of any image depending upon what it is applied upon. It allows you to dynamically play with the pixels of the image itself. It doesn’t matter if you are an amateur or a professional, you will always have to use the blending modes to get your job done.

Blend modes in digital image editing are used to determine how two Layers are blended into each other. When you use the blending mode, you are actually hiding one layer within the other. However, mathematically each pixel has a numerical representation, thus a large number of ways to blend two layers is possible.

The Math:

Colors are nothing but digital representations in the form of pixel values. Every color is a numerically representation of the 3 variables RGB (red, green, blue), where three numbers (x, y, z) can take values between 0 and 255, each of them indicating how much red, green and blue the pixel contains. This means; for example that (255, 0, 0) is intense red and (0, 0, 255) is pure blue. Also, (255, 255, 255) is White and (0,0,0) is Black. Each Pixel also contains 3 more variables; these are Hue, Saturation and Brightness (HSB). Thus, all the 6 elements combine to bring each pixel in an image to life.

Blending modes have been a feature in Photoshop from its first release itself. They’re extremely easy to use and are non-destructive. It is non-destructive because the information still resides in the image and is not lost. To use the blending modes, it’s quite apparent that two layers have to be used. The “BASE” layer which acts as the primary source and the “BLEND” layer which acts as the blending layer. Therefore, when you apply the blending modes, you are actually creating an interaction between the blend layer and the base layer.

Photoshop performs a mathematical calculation that looks at the color, luminosity, and opacity values in the two layers and generates a special effect. It’s also possible to choose a blending mode when you’re using a painting or retouching tool. In this case the paint you apply will interact, or blend, with the pixels you’re painting.

Lets get started…

OK, now you know “what” blending modes are. If you go to the Photoshop Help you’ll find a definition of each and every blending mode available. Instead of just repeating that information, we shall learn how to use the blending modes in useful and practical ways. We shall also learn how the interaction happens between the base layer and the blend layers. If you are even more curious, I shall delve into the mathematical equations…. Haha, don’t worry; I won’t get into the actual math because I know most of you hate math. I shall keep the definition as succinct as possible. However I have given a link to the mathematics part of it at the end. You can maybe take a look at it if you are into signal processing and stuff.

The reality is that, because each image is different, and each combination of images is different, you must experiment with blending modes as much as possible. In this article, I have used a couple of stock images from deviantart for demonstrating the blending modes and you can use the same (read the licence on its usage) or any other image which is at your disposal. Once you understand the science behind the blending modes, you will pretty much understand why to use them and where to use them, effectively.

What do they do?

The Basic Blending modes found in Photoshop (almost any version) can be divided into 6 parts. Each part consists of a set of blending modes which perform their own distinct pixel transformations which has its own purpose in several applications, especially in photography post processing and image editing (photo manipulation). You can get a brief introduction to each of these groups by reading the description from the image below:

As I said earlier, Blending Modes specify how the pixels in one layer interact with another and each Blending Option makes the Pixels interact differently. Of course, seeing how the above two images interact will just give you an idea of what is possible. Each resulting image will be different. There are 4 factors which affect the outcome:

• Image One (Base Colors)
• Image Two (Blend Colors)
• The Blend Mode
• The Opacity

These 4 variables combine to make the colors that is seen in the resulting image. It is quite hard to analyse which blend mode you need to use and where but it’s all about experimenting. Once you start experimenting with all the four elements, you will understand the blend modes better.

P.S : I use the terms ‘color’ and ‘pixel’ interchangeably in this article because they mean the same, when considered on a broader sense.

Opacity and Fill sliders

Before I delve into the basics of the Blending modes, I want to tell you the difference between Opacity Slider and the Fill Slider. For those of you who are wondering what the heck is the difference, well… it is just this simple : When you reduce the Opacity level, the opacity of the entire image reduces, along with any layer effects which is applied on the image. However, if the Fill level is reduced, then only the opacity of the image is reduced and the opacity of the layer effects is unharmed. Below, I applied a Drop Shadow effect to the stock image and reduced the Opacity to 20% and then I reduced the Fill to 20%. I’m sure you can spot the difference.

OK then, let us get back on track and discuss the Blending Modes in detail. I have broken this article into two parts. The first one (this one, of course) explains the Normal, Darkening and Lightening Modes. The next article will explain the rest of the modes which are the contrast modes, the comparative modes and the color influencing modes.

P.S : Next to each of the mode, I have provided the short cut key for applying the blending mode. It should make your job a lot easier.

1) Normal Mode (Shift + Alt + N)

This is the default mode. This option displays every pixel in the active layer normally(blend layer), regardless of the colors in the underlying layers (base layers). When you use opacity/fill values of less than 100%, the color of each pixel in the blend layer is averaged with the composite pixel in the base layer (the underneath layer).

The above image has a color fill layer (#c8821d) as the ‘Blend Layer’ and the eye stock image as the ‘Base Layer’. The transparency of the blend layer has been reduced to 60%.

The applications of the ‘Normal’ Blending mode is quite apparent. Some of them include: Adjustment layer blending, blending of images to create graphics, and the blending of separate exposures to deal with tonality and dynamic range issues. This is the most basic blending mode which is used to merge two different images, mostly used in photography.

2) Dissolve (Shift + Alt + I)

It creates the resulting image on a pixel-by-pixel basis by pulling the pixels from either the base layer or the blend layer in a random manner. In other words, some of the pixels get their color from the base layer and some get their color from the blend layer. With high opacity, most pixels are taken from the top layer. With low opacity most pixels are taken from the bottom layer. No anti-aliasing is used with this blend mode, so the resulting image looks grainy.

As you can notice, the blend layer’s opacity has been reduced to 50%. If you slide the opacity back and forth, you can notice the pixels being randomly removed and added. I cannot think of any practical use for this blending mode, however it can be used a part of a bigger manipulation effect such as warping/motion blur, adding artificial noise and others. I have previously written a tutorial which utilizes the dissolve blending mode to create some cool effects. If you are interested, you can take a look.

3) Darken (Shift + Alt + K)

The Darken blend mode is pretty much straight forward. It creates the result image by comparing the base layer to the blend layer, in each channel, and selecting the darker of the two. As a consequence, in each channel, pixels in base layer lighter than the blend layer are changed to the blend layer; base layer pixels darker than the blend layer are unaffected.

For example in one corresponding pixel, in blue channel in the active layer is darker than the blue pixel of underlying composite pixel and the red and green components lighter. In this case, Photoshop assigns the blue component but not the red or green. The above image that I have used to demonstrate the ‘Darken’ Blend mode has lighter and darker areas. As you can notice, only the dark areas of the both the layers are visible.

The application of this blending mode is quite prevalent in photography where one needs to combine masks that that hide effects. This is done by using the Darken Blend mode with the Calculations command. The Calculations command combines two channels to create a new channel. Since, every mask has its own channel, this works well for combining masks.

4) Multiply (Shift + Alt + M)

In each channel, the Multiply Blend mode multiplies the colors (pixel values) in the base and blend layers to create the resulting image. As a result, every pixel will get darker (except if the pixels are white). Any color (base or blend) multiplied by black produces black, and any color (base or blend) multiplied by white remains unchanged. In essence, the Multiply Blend mode builds up image density.

Mathematically, multiply blend mode multiplies the numbers for each pixel of the blend layer with the corresponding pixel in the base layer. As a simple multiplication can get values as high as 65535 (255 x 255), which is far higher than the maximum allowed value, 255, the result is divided by 255. Tonal adjustments are basically variations in the the exponential curves of the image (which can alternatively achieved with the Curves Adjustment Tool).

The Multiply Blend mode is often used to darken areas that are too light, especially if more detail is desired in those areas. Often, this is done by duplicating the base layer and setting the Blend mode of the duplicated layer to Multiply. As an example, I have used this landscape stock image to demonstrate the effects of the Multiply Blend mode. The image, beautiful though it is, lacks depth in color and the sky is a bit dull. Thus, the image was duplicated and the blend mode was set to Multiply. As can be seen from the final image, the sky has been enhanced both in terms of tonality and coloration.

5) Color Burn (Shift + Alt + B)

It looks at the color information in each channel and darkens the base layer to reflect the blend layer by increasing the contrast. Basically it means: it will darken the base image, depending on how dark the blend image is. In each channel, as the blend color becomes darker, the base color becomes darker, thus adding more contrast, and picking up more of the blend color to create the resulting image. If the blend color is white, the Color Burn Blend mode does nothing. As the blend color gets darker, the effect of the Color Burn Blend mode becomes more intense. Color Burn results in crisp, often colourful and intense areas of coloration.

As you can see, the sky looks a bit dull in the base layer, so I duplicated the layer and set the blend mode to color burn and added a mask for the hilly region. The resulting image looks more intense because the blue part of the sky appears darker and more tonal but the clouds remain unaffected because white pixels are left undisturbed in the color burn mode.

The advantage of the Color Burn Blend mode as opposed to other ways of adding density and contrast to an image is that it is dependent on the tonality of the blend layer. This is an advantage for images where it is desired to have a greater effect in the darker parts of the image.

6) Linear Burn (Shift + Alt + A)

There is not much difference between the Color Burn and the Linear Burn Blend modes in terms of application. However, the main difference between them is that the Color Burn Blend mode increases the contrast of the base color, as the blend color gets darker, while the Linear Burn Blend mode does not increase the contrast; rather it decreases the brightness of the blend layer to reflect the color of the base layer. The darker the bottom layer, the more its colour is used.

Apparently, if the blend color is white, the Linear Burn Blend mode does nothing. As the blend color gets darker, the effect of this blend mode becomes more intense. It creates a lesser vibrant and more smoother effect as compared to the Color Burn blend mode.

In the above example, I used the flower stock image to demonstrate the Linear Burn blend mode. As you may notice, the color on the flower’s petals are a bit dull and not much difference can be seen. So, I duplicated the layer and set the blending mode to Linear Burn and added a little mask in the central region. The resulting image looks more vibrant and intense. This will also help in tuning photographs where the exposure is high.

Again, there are other ways to add density and color to an image. The advantage of this blend mode is that it allows for a greater effect in the darker parts of the image when so desired.

7) Lighten (Shift + Alt + G)

This is the opposite of the Darken Blend mode. The Lighten Blend mode creates the result image by comparing the base colors to the blend colors, in each channel, and selecting the lighter of the two. As a consequence, in each channel, pixels of the base layer darker than those of the blend layer are changed (replaced by the pixels of the blend layer); pixels lighter than those in the blend layer are unaffected.

As with the Darken Blend mode, a primary use of the Lighten Blend mode is to combine masks. However, in the case of the Lighten Blend mode, the masks reveal effects. This is done by using the Lighten Blend mode with the Calculations command.

8 ) Screen (Shift + Alt + S)

The Screen Blend mode is basically the opposite of the Multiply Blend mode. It looks at each channel’s color information and multiplies the inverse of the blend and base colors. The resulting pixel is always a lighter version. Screening with black leaves the color unchanged and Screening with white produces white.

Basically, every pixel will get lighter (unless one of the colors is black). Any color (base or blend) multiplied by white produces white, and any color (base or blend) multiplied by black remains unchanged. In essence, the Screen mode thins out the image density. The effect is similar to projecting multiple photographic slides on top of each other.

For the demonstration, I chose a photo which had less detail in the darker areas. Photos such as sunrise, oceans and others are perfect subjects to be used for the Screen blending modes. As you can see from the image, the sky is a bit vibrant whereas the rocks are bit too dull. So, I duplicated the Base layer and applied the screen blend mode and masked the sky regions. Now, the rocks appear brighter and the visibility has improved.

Another very interesting application of the Screen Blend mode is to add lightning strikes to landscapes as a part of a photo manipulation process. It is a neat but a cool trick and almost every artist uses this blending mode to add other elements into a picture. Here I have shown you how it is achieved.

I downloaded the dark clouds image and a lightning photograph from deviantart and pasted it onto my document. Next, I desaturated the lightning image and experimented with the Curves Adjustment tool to get a dark contrast between the actual lightning strike and the surroundings. Then, I set the blending mode of the lightning layer to Screen and a added a bluish Photo Filter. So, you can notice that the dark areas of the lightning becomes invisible thus blending two images becomes very easy.

9) Color Dodge (Shift + Alt + D)

It looks at the color information in each channel and brightens the base color to reflect the blend color by decreasing contrast between the two. This works quite opposite to the Color Burn Blend mode which saturates and darkens areas of an image without affecting white, Color Dodge will saturate and brighten areas of an image without affecting dark areas very much.

Essentially, as the Blend mode color becomes lighter, the base layer becomes lighter thus appearing to have less contrast, and picks up more of the blend color to create the resulting image. If the blend color is black, this mode does nothing. As the blend color gets lighter, the effect of the Color Dodge Blend mode becomes more intense.

For the demonstration, I used the same image used before. The Base layer was duplicated and the blend mode was set to Color Dodge. This lightened the clouds but left the dark ridges unaffected. Thus, the clouds picked up the feeling of heavenly light and separated much better from the hilly areas. Furthermore, since the Color Dodge Blend mode did not affect the dark areas, the desired affect blended seamlessly from the light clouds to the darker hills thus requiring no or less masking.

The advantage of the Color Dodge Blend mode is that it is dependent on the tonality of the blend layer. This is an advantage for images where it is desired to have a greater effect in the lighter parts of the image.

10) Linear Dodge (Shift + Alt + W)

It looks at the pixel information in each channel and brightens the base layer pixels to reflect the blend layer by increasing the brightness.

Linear Dodge blend mode is pretty much the same as Color Dodge Blend mode. However, the main difference between them is that the Color Dodge Blend mode decreases the contrast of the base color, as the blend color gets lighter, while the Linear Dodge Blend mode does not decrease the contrast, rather it increases the brightness. If the blend color is black, the Linear Dodge Blend mode does nothing. As the blend color gets lighter, the effect of the Linear Dodge Blend mode becomes more intense.

The application of Linear Dodge mode is prevalent wherever darker parts of the image has to be brightened, such as clouds, snow and in this case, flower petals.

The working of the Dodge modes and the Burn modes are quite complementary to each other. One brightens up the image and the other darkens it. The advantage of this blend mode is that it allows for a greater effect in the lighter parts of the image whenever desired.

Episode 1 ends:

Woot… I hope I didn’t confuse you with the technical details of the blending modes. Even though these details are of not much importance for an established digital artist or a graphic designer, it is very important for beginners, budding photographers and for those who are fond of photo manipulations. At the end of the day, no matter how much you’ve understood this article, you need to keep experimenting. A lot of knowledge, or may I say wisdom comes through experience and trying out stuff. So, get back to your seats and start digging out every photograph you have and start editing it.

I’ll be back with my next article, the second part in this series where I will be explaining the head and tail of the other blending modes. We shall also discuss some fundamentals of basic photo manipulation, the brightness and contrast and some great advice from leading digital artists and photographers for all you chaps who are interested. Until then, good luck!

Sources and further reading:

1) Blend modes on Wikipedia

2) Adobe’s Help Center

3) Blending modes – How to use them

4) The mathematics behind the Blending modes

5) Efficient use of Blend modes in photography and post processing -Rob Bigelow

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