Practical Photography - UK (2019-09)

106 PRACTICALPHOTOGRAPHY

THEEDIT

T

HERE ARE 27 BASIC BLENDINGMODESIN

Photoshop and they workby comparingthetonal
values of one layer againstthelayerbeneathit.
The layer below is called the ‘base colour’,thelayeryou’re
bl ending is called the ‘blend colour’, and whentheBlending
Mode is applied you get a ‘result colour’. If thissoundsa bit like
maths, that’s because it is. The result colour isachievedby
adding,subtracting,multiplyingor dividingthetonalvalues.

T

OSHOWYOUWHATTHE

mostusefulBlendingModes
are andwhattheydo,
we’vetakenthesametwopicturesand
combinedthemin variousways.Each
BlendingModegivesa differentresult,
but rememberthattheresultdependson
the tones,so if youalterthelightnessof
the blendlayerit willchangethelook.

Darken

Inthismode,theresultcolouris

whicheveris darkeroutof pixelson

thebaselayerandtheblendlayer– the

darkestof thetwois what’svisibleand

if thetwoareidentical,nothingwould

happen.Anyblackwouldremainblack.

Screen

Theoppositeof Multiply,Screen

multipliestheinverseof thebaseand

blendcolours,so theresultcolouris

alwayslighter.Blackon theblendlayer

wouldbe unchanged.Screenedlayers

lookbright,dreamyor overexposed.

Lighten

Lightenexaminesthebasecolourand

blendcolourandkeepswhichevertones

ar e lightest.No changewill happenif

thetwoarethesame.It’sa modeto use

if youwantto addlightelementswithout

brighteningeverythingas Screenwould.

Color

This mode only adds the hue and

saturation of the blend colour, while

preserving the lightness of the base

colour. It’s therefore perfect for any

colouring and toning effects, or for

hand-colouring old images.

Multiply

AddtheMultiplyBlendingMode,and

thebaselayerandblendlayer’stones

arecombined,alwaysmakinga darker

resultcolour.Purewhitewouldremain

purewhite.It’sgreatforaddingtexture

ordarkness.

Quick guide The

Blending Modes

you really need...

Above& belowTheBlending

Mode comparestonalvaluesonthe

bl endandbaselayersto achievetheresultcolour.

Bl ending Mode types
You don’t need to know how each algorithm works,justthat
they’rebroadlysplitintosix groups– Normal, Darken,Lighten,
Contrast,Inversion,andComponent. The DarkenandLighten
modeswill makeresultcoloursdimmer or brighterandContrastis
a complementarymix of thetwo,either lighteningor darkeningto
achievetheresultcolour.TheInversions achievetheresultcolour
basedon variationsbetweenbaseandblend colours,whilethe
ComponentmodesworkwithHue, Saturation, andLightness.

Don’tworry,it’s simple
Soundcomplicated?Don’tworry.Modern versionsof Photoshop
showyoutheresultas youmovethrough the listof modes,so you
candecideby eye.Andas youuseBlending Modesmore,you’ll
realisethat,as interestingas someare,for photographythereare
onlya fewthatyou’lluseregularly.Here’s our pick... BASECOLOUR BLENDCOLOUR

BASE

COLOUR

RESULT/

BLEND

COLOUR