PRACTICALPHOTOGRAPHY.COM 107
Overlay
This is a mix of Multiply and Screen.
Depending on whether tones on the
base layer are darker or lighter than
midtone grey, they’ll get dimmer or
brighter. It’s therefore a great source
of added contrast.
Soft Light
Take Overlay, turn down its intensity and
you’ll have Soft Light. You get a brighter
or darker result, depending on the tones
of the blend layer, a bit like dodging and
burning. It’s a good choice when adding
texture or contrast subtly.
Expert advice Blending optionsAlthoughBlendingModesareusually
accessedfromtheLayerspanel,if
yo u double-clickthelayer,or go to
Layer>Layer Style>Blending Options,
you’ll find lots of additional control.
At the top of the panel there’s the
regular Blending Mode setting and
Opacity setting, but under Advanced
Blendingyoucangainmorecontrol.
Therearelotsof optionsin here
ai medat graphicartists,butfor
photographersthemost pertinent
ar e thefollowingtwo...nCHANNELS
This letsyouremovespecificcolour
channelsfromtheblendingprocess.
WiththeRed,GreenandBlue(RGB)
ti cked,all channelswill be usedfor
blending,but untickoneandyou’ll
noticean immediatechangein the
fo rmof a colourshift.Thiscanlook
st rikingor subtledependingon the
Bl endingModeandthenatureofth e layerbeingblended.In themain
ex ampleimage,we untickedthe
Red channelto reducedtheColorFill
la yer’s effect, so only Green and Blue
information is affected.n BLEND IF
It allows you to take more control
overwhichtoneswill be blendedon
th e activelayerandthosebelow.Use
thedrop-downto choosebetween
workingon individualRed,Greenor
Bl uecolourchannelsora composite
(G rey).Thetwosliders,ThisLayer
and UnderlyingLayer,setthetonal
va luesof pixelsthatareto be in range
oftheblendingeffect– thisrunsfrom
0 to255.So,if youwantdarkerareas
ofthelayerbelowto be unaffected,
yo u’dtaketheUnderlyingLayerslider
and movethe blacksliderto the right.
If youwantedthebrightestpixelsnot
tobe affectedyou’dmovethewhite
sl iderto theleft.Above, right & below When you add an effect
the layer in question will get an icon on it,
showing a Blending Option has been added.Like othertools,BlendingModes
haveshortcuts.PressShiftand+
or Shiftand- to movethroughthe
li st. Youcanalsofindmodesby
pr essing Alt+Shift and a letter.
Useful ones include Normal (N),
Darken (K), Multiply (M), Lighten
(G), Screen (S), Overlay (O), Soft
Light (F) and Color (C).