Knowing how to use Blending Modes in Photoshop is key for every digital artist and photo retoucher. Why? Because blend modes allow you to create all the cool and amazing effects that make images stand out. In this post, you’ll learn what blending modes do, and how you can use all the different blending options available in Photoshop. Plus, you can grab your FREE 22-pages Photoshop Blend Modes Cheat Sheet, so you never ever forget how a blending mode works!
If you’ve been using Photoshop for a while, you know that Blending Modes are one of its magic ingredients.
You can take advantage of blend modes in digital art as well as in photography.
As for digital art, Photoshop’s blending options help you to composite images, such as photo manipulations. If you’re retouching photos, then blending modes are an easy way to change the values of a picture.
For example, you can brighten an underexposed image using the Screen blend mode. Conversely, you can darken an overexposed one using the Multiply blend mode. Or, by combining several blending options in Photoshop, you can turn your shot into a stunning high-key photograph.
The possibilities are virtually endless, and there is the right blending more for almost anything.
As of Photoshop CC, there are altogether 27 Blending Modes that you can choose from.
If you don’t want to deep-dive into all 27 straight away, start with the TOP 6 most important Photoshop blending modes right here.
Grab your FREE Photoshop Blend Modes Cheat Sheet
Since there are that many blending modes available in Photoshop, it’s pretty hard to remember what each and every blend mode can be used for.
That’s why I’ve put together a 22-page Photoshop Blend Modes Cheat Sheet for you that you can download FOR FREE in the Freebie Library!
You can print it out or keep it handy on your computer, so you can always come back to it, have a look at the reference images and see which blend mode does what exactly.
The Photoshop Blend Modes Cheat Sheet will also provide you with an overview of the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to quickly select Blending Modes, Opacity and Fill settings. So don’t miss out on it! ☺
What do blending modes do?
What blending modes do is affect the way the pixels on one layer interact with the pixels on the layer/s below.
All blending modes are parametric. That means they do not actually alter the pixels themselves, they just make them behave in a certain way.
So the changes that you apply to an image via Photoshop’s blending modes are non-destructive, and you can always come back to your original layers and readjust them as needed.
How do blending modes work in Photoshop?
The best way to give a Blending Mode Photoshop definition is by looking at how it makes a layer behave. Each of the Photoshop blending modes works according to a specific algorithm.
This particular ‘formula’ makes the pixels on the top layer change the color, brightness and luminosity of the underlying layers in different ways, depending on the blending option you’ve selected.
But blending modes cannot only be used for layers. In fact, you’ll find them in many other places in Photoshop, too. Most of the painting and editing tools come with blending options. This includes the Brush and Pencil tools, the History Brush, Stamp, Paint Bucket, Sharpen, Blur and Smudge tools.
And also layer styles and smart filters have blending options in Photoshop.
However, even though they come with different tools, filters, layer styles, and layers, the way blending modes work in Photoshop is always the same.
Most commonly, blending modes are used with layers, and that’s what we’re going to look into in this tutorial!.
Tutorial on how to use blending modes in Photoshop
In this Photoshop tutorial, I’ll be showing you what blending modes do by using a composite image consisting of two layers.
My background layer is a nature shot of a deserted road (‘Road to Nowhere’) from my Nature & Macro Collection.
On top of that layer, I’ll be placing a texture that features a white and a black area, as well as areas of different grays (25% gray, 50% gray, and 75% gray).
Even though you wouldn’t be using such a texture in reality, it’s a great way to show you how each blending mode changes the qualities of these color values in a very unique manner (think ‘Photoshop Blend Modes for Dummies’).
I’ll be walking you through all the different blending modes one by one, and the example image will demonstrate how each blending mode alters the appearance of the image.
OK, so let’s jump right into our tutorial on how to use blending modes in Photoshop!
What are the blending options in Photoshop?
First off, let’s have a look at the blending options in Photoshop.
As I mentioned above, there are altogether 27 Blending Modes available.
To change the blending mode of a layer, you would use the drop-down menu right at the top of your Layers Panel.
By default, the Blending Mode drop-down palette stands on Normal, which is Photoshop’s default blend mode.
When first seeing all the blending options that Photoshop has to offer, it might seem that there’s no order in them. Because, unlike Photoshop filters, the blending options are not organized in alphabetical order.
But at second glance, you may notice that there are thin lines that split the blend modes into six categories. Each of these categories includes blending modes that operate in a similar way.
1st CATEGORY: NORMAL BLENDING MODES
1. NORMAL
First on the list is Photoshop’s default blending mode. Every time you open and image or add a new layer, it will be in the Normal blend mode.
Strictly speaking, Normal isn’t an actual blending option because it doesn’t blend layers together. At 100% Opacity, the Normal blend mode simply displays the layer as it is, without its pixels interacting with the pixels on the layers beneath.
However, by lessening Opacity and/or Fill, the layer becomes more transparent and uncovers part of the layer below. That way, the Normal blending mode can still take you a long way when compositing images in Photoshop.
The example below shows the texture layer in the Normal blending mode at 70% Opacity. You can still see all the original tones of the texture, only now they are semi-transparent and reveal the underlying layer to a certain degree.
2. DISSOLVE
Dissolve gives a grainy and pixelated appearance to the layer. When seeing the effect that the Dissolve blending mode produces, you might wonder why it is within the Normal category.
Again, the Dissolve blending mode isn’t factually blending pixels together. What Dissolve does is take pixels from the top and the bottom layer and ‘granulate’ them.
The higher the Opacity of the top layer, the more granulated pixels of that layer will be shown. As you lower the Opacity, the more pixels it will contain from the layer beneath.
Even though the Dissolve effect might seem quite strange and pointless at first glance, it can be useful at a lower opacity when you want to give your image a harsh and ‘noisy’ look.
2nd CATEGORY: DARKEN BLENDING MODES
The second category includes all Darken Blending Modes.
As its name says, the blend modes in this category darken the image. If you have any pure white pixels on the layer, they will be invisible with these blending modes.
Anything darker than pure white will darken the underlying layer in different ways and to different degrees.
In all of the reference images in this category, you’ll notice that the white area doesn’t have any effect on the image. The 75% gray area alters the appearance slightly, even though sometimes it’s hardly noticeable.
3. DARKEN
The Darken blending mode makes the colors of the underlying layer appear uniformly darker. On the technical side, Darken decreases the values in the color channels.
As we discussed above, any whites on the layer won’t be visible. This makes perfect sense because white wouldn’t be able to make the tones appear darker.
At 70% Opacity, the light gray area doesn’t have a noticeable effect on the reference image. Starting from the 50% gray area in the center, you can see that the texture darkens the photo to various degrees.
If the tones of the image below are darker than those of the texture above, the texture won’t be visible in those areas. That’s why the 50% gray bar looks cut off at the top.
In most scenarios, you wouldn’t use a Darken layer at full opacity, because the effect is simply too strong. At a lower opacity, however, Darken can be of great service to fix an overexposed image or to create a kind of fade-out look.
4. MULTIPLY
The Multiply blending mode combines contrast and luminosity of the top layer with the layer underneath. Technically speaking, Multiply multiplies the color channel values of the top and bottom layer.
Multiply is one of the most frequently used blend modes in digital art and photography. It’s so appealing because it creates more contrast and makes the image appear more vivid.
In the reference image below, you can see that Multiply is clearly visible in the 25% to 50% gray range, as opposed to the Darken blend mode.
5. COLOR BURN
Color Burn is very similar to Multiply, but much more intense. It darkens the colors and increases the contrast significantly.
Even though I’m using Color Burn with less opacity than the Multiply blend mode above, you can see how much more saturation and contrast it gives to the image at 55% Opacity only.
Even the 75% gray area produces a noticeable result. The 25% gray and the black area, on the other hand, are almost completely dark.
6. LINEAR BURN
The Linear Burn blend mode uses an interesting algorithm: it inverts the color values, adds them together, and inverts them again.
The result is darker colors, more contrast and vibrancy, but not as strong as with Color Burn. Linear Burn is more subtle.
Compare the effect that the 75% gray and black areas produce at 55% Opacity in Linear Burn, as opposed to Color Burn. The color transitions are less harsh and the dark areas are less saturated.
The linear gradation is similar to Multiply, but still retains more contrast.
7. DARKER COLOR
The last blending mode in the second category is Darker Color.
As its name suggests, it makes the colors look darker by lowering each color value, but not within each individual color channel.
Simply speaking, Darker Color blends the darker color of the active layer, while its appearance is pretty similar to the Darken blend mode.
Any white and light grays on the layer are basically invisible. The 50% gray area in the center looks cut off like with the Darken blending option, because only pixels darker than the bottom layer do show.
A side-by-side comparison of the two reference images in Darker Color and Darken reveals that Darker Color is generally more intense than Darken. At 60% Opacity, Darker Color produces still an almost as strong effect as Darken at 70% Opacity.
Upon closer inspection, you might also notice that the transition in the center 50% gray area looks slightly different.
3rd CATEGORY: LIGHTEN BLENDING MODES
The Lighten blending modes are the exact counterparts to the blending modes in the Darken category. Their blending formula works exactly the same way – just the other way round.
That’s why the Darken and Lighten blend modes are also referred to as Opposite Blending Modes.
Apart from that, Divide is the opposite blending mode of Subtract, but more about that later on in this post.
In order to make it easier for you to compare the Opposite Blending Modes, I’ll be using each blending mode in the Lighten category with the same opacity as I used its respective counterpart in the Darken category.
8. LIGHTEN
If the Darken blend mode uniformly darkens an image, then Lighten makes the image consistently lighter. While Darken decreases the values of the color channels, Lighten increases them.
As you remember, white is not visible on layers in the Darken category. Conversely, black now is invisible on all the blending modes in the Lighten category.
This is again logical, because only colors brighter than black will be able to lighten an image.
At 70% Opacity, you don’t see the white and 75% gray areas anymore, which are on the far right in the reference image below. The center stripe is now cut off at the bottom, because the pixels of the layer below are lighter in this area than the 50% gray of the texture above.
9. SCREEN
Just like Multiply, the Screen blend mode inverts the color channel values, multiplies and inverts them again. However, contrary to Multiply, the new colors are never darker than the original colors.
This results in the image looking brighter and a bit ‘washed out’. Screen is a frequent blending mode used in Photoshop to brighten an underexposed photo.
As opposed to the Lighten blend mode, you can see that the white and 25% to 75% gray stripes are fully visible. Altogether, Screen brightens the image in a more linear way than Lighten.
10. COLOR DODGE
Color Dodge is the exact opposite of Color Burn.
Accordingly, the Color Dodge blending mode lightens the colors and decreases the contrast.
The colors become a bit more vivid than when using the Screen blend mode.
When looking at the reference image below, you’ll notice that the center area is cut off again – just like in the Lighten blend mode.
The white and 75% gray areas on the left look very dense and desaturated. In Color Burn, the same thing happened to the two opposite stripes on the far right.
11. LINEAR DODGE (ADD)
On the technical side, Linear Dodge (Add) increases the color values. It produces less vibrancy and contrast than Color Dodge.
It mutes the image down and gives it a more washed-out look.
Notice the center stripe again? Any pixels darker than the layer below don’t show on the top texture.
12. LIGHTER COLOR
The Lighter Color blending mode increases the color values, while keeping the individual color channels as they are.
This makes the image appear lighter. All in all, the blending effect of the white and light gray areas is more intense, as compared to Linear Light.
The black and even the 25% gray stripes are both invisible due to the amount of brightness on the layer below.
4th CATEGORY: CONTRAST BLENDING MODES
Category #4 includes the Contrast blending modes, which belong to the most used blending modes in Photoshop!
Above we learned that in the Darken category, White is invisible. In the Lighten category, Black cannot be seen.
Right now, in the Contrast category, 50% Gray is invisible.
Any tone that isn’t exactly 50% gray, will either add contrast and brighten the layers below, or add contrast and darken the underlying layers.
So let’s go ahead and start with the Overlay blend mode.
13. OVERLAY
Overlay blends two layers together, while preserving the shadows and highlights of the lower layer.
The Overlay blend mode formula either multiplies or screens the color channel values, depending on whether the underlying color is darker or lighter than 50% gray.
Any pixels darker than 50% gray will get darker and increase in contrast. Conversely, any pixels brighter than 50% gray will get lighter and increase in contrast, too.
As you can see in the reference image below, all the different shades from white to black do have an affect on the image in Overlay.
Overlay is the first blending mode that I’m showing at 100% Opacity.
Contrary to the previous blending options, Overlay is not as ‘strong’ and can still produce nice results at full power.
14. SOFT LIGHT
The Soft Light blending mode works similarly to Overlay. However, as its name suggests, it produces a slightly softer and more subtle effect.
Technically speaking, Soft Light darkens the color channel values, if the colors on the top layer are darker than 50% gray. It lightens the color channel values, if the colors on the top layer are lighter than 50% gray.
As a sort of softer Overlay blend mode, Soft Light is as frequently used and as effective.
As you can see in the reference image below, it’s no problem to use Soft Light at full opacity, too. The effect is not overly strong.
On the left side, the white and light gray areas bring in some nice brightness, while preserving sufficient contrast. The black and dark gray areas on the right side increase the contrast and add a decent amount of vibrancy.
The 50% gray stripe in the center is not affecting the appearance, as it is invisible in this blending mode.
15. HARD LIGHT
Hard Light is much more intense and harsher than the previous two blending modes in this category.
What Hard Light does on the technical side of things is multiply the color channel values, if the colors beneath are darker than 50% gray. It screens the values, if the colors are lighter than 50% gray.
At 100% Opacity, Hard Light keeps the whites almost completely white and the blacks almost completely black.
However, when reducing the opacity a little bit, the underlying tones start to shine through, although not as vibrant and contrasty as with Overlay or Soft Light.
16. VIVID LIGHT
Vivid Light is one of the so-called ‘Special 8’ blending modes. These eight blending modes react differently to reducing the Opacity, as compared to reducing the Fill.
You can think of Vivid Light as an amplified version of Overlay and Soft Light. Vivid Light makes the colors in the image appear dodged or burned, while the contrast is either being increased or decreased.
If the colors in the layer below are lighter than 50% gray, the contrast is decreased. Conversely, if the colors are darker than 50% gray, the contrast is bumped up.
Normally, you want to use the blend mode at reduced opacity, because otherwise the effect is too overwhelming.
In the two reference images below, you see Vivid Light with similar values for Opacity and Fill.
The difference between Opacity and Fill particularly affects the black and white areas on the far left and right of the image. At 80% Opacity, the whites on the left appear more muted and grayish. While at 80% Fill, on the other hand, the white areas look very dodged and overexposed.
Depending on your underlying layers and the effect you wish to achieve, Vivid Light is one of the blending modes in Photoshop where you want to experiment with both Opacity and Fill.
17. LINEAR LIGHT
Linear Light is the second of the eight special blending modes in Photoshop that react differently to changes in Opacity versus Fill.
Linear Light works similarly to Vivid Light. It increases the brightness, if the pixels of the underlying layer are lighter than 50% gray. If the colors are darker than 50% gray, the brightness is decreased.
You can think of Linear Light as a combination of Linear Dodge and Linear Burn.
The colors in the image look dodged and burned, just like with Vivid Light, but they do not retain as much vibrancy as with Vivid Light.
Still, the resulting effect is pretty intense, so you may want to use the Opacity or Fill sliders again to tone it down.
18. PIN LIGHT
Pin Light is a very intense blending mode that combines the characteristics of both the Darken and Lighten blending options.
Pin Light completely ignores all mid-tones, and mostly affects the pure white and pure black areas only.
It blends the colors together, and replaces some of them. If the colors in the top layer are lighter than 50% gray, the Pin Light algorithm replaces all the colors darker than 50% gray in the bottom layer with those in the top layer.
Inversely, if the colors in the top layer are darker than 50% gray, all the colors in the bottom layer that are lighter than the colors in the top layer are replaced with the colors in the top layer.
That’s why using Pin Light at a high opacity can often cause blotches on the image. Most of the time, you want to decrease Opacity or Fill quite a bit in order to achieve a good-looking result.
19. HARD MIX
Hard Mix is another super-intense blending mode and one of the ‘Special 8’ – meaning it reacts differently to changes in Opacity versus Fill.
Hard Mix basically makes the bright colors brighter and the dark colors darker. Technically, Hard Mix increases the contrast of the bottom layer and blends it with the top layer.
This results in very harsh effects and a loss of detail in the image. At full opacity, Hard Mix only shows black, white and any of the six primary colors (red, green, blue, cyan, magenta, or yellow).
The image becomes posterized and grainy, and it sacrifices color gradation.
The first reference image below depicts the Hard Mix blend mode at 50% Opacity. Still, the effect is pretty strong and you can clearly see the rough transitions between the different colors.
However, when setting Fill to 50%, things look very different. The appearance of the image now resembles much more the Overlay blending mode. By lowering Fill even more, you can achieve nice, contrasty effects for your images.
5th CATEGORY: INVERSION BLENDING MODES
The fifth category includes the Inversion Blending Modes, also called Comparative Blending Modes.
The blend modes in this category either invert or neutralize the colors, depending on the layer below.
20. DIFFERENCE
Difference inverts the colors of the bottom layer in those areas where the overlying texture has white or light gray pixels. In that respect, it’s the same as inverting the bottom layer by pressing CMD + I on a Mac (or CTRL + I on a PC).
Technically, Difference works by subtracting the darker color values from the lighter color values. White areas of the top layer become the inverted value of the colors on bottom layer.
As you can see in the reference image below, black doesn’t produce any changes, while dark and medium grays result in a slight darkening effect.
Difference can be a useful blending mode when placing a black & white copy of your current layer on top of it, and then adjusting Opacity and Fill.
Difference belongs to the ‘Special 8’, so you want to experiment with both Opacity and Fill settings to find the right effect for your picture.
Reducing the Opacity is usually little helpful, because it simply brings back the white and lighter grays as different shades of gray.
Decreasing the Fill may be more useful, as it adds more contrast and vibrancy to your image.
21. EXCLUSION
Exclusion works similarly to Difference. It applies the same effect as the Difference blending mode, but with a lower contrast.
Just like Difference, Exclusion alters the color channels. White inverts again the colors of the bottom layer, while black doesn’t produce any change.
However, this time, 50% gray stays 50% gray.
22. SUBTRACT
Subtract is the Opposite Blending Mode of Divide.
As its name suggests, Subtract works by subtracting the color of the top layer from the colors of the bottom layer. In areas where the top layer is black, the original colors of the bottom layer are retained.
In areas with white and light grays, Subtract drastically darkens the image, down to pure black tones.
Notice how dark the white and light gray areas appear in the reference image below, even though I’ve reduced the Opacity to 80%.
The 25% gray area only produces a minimal change, while the image below the black stripe looks as before.
23. DIVIDE
Divide produces the opposite effect of Subtract.
Divide divides the colors in the bottom layer by the colors in the top layer.
Here, white doesn’t produce any change, while the black and darker gray areas become purely white at full opacity.
At 80% Opacity, the black, 25% gray, and part of the 50% gray areas are still looking extremely white to light grayish. The 75% gray stripe only produces a minor effect. The white stripe on the far left simply shows the beneath layer as it is.
6th CATEGORY: COMPOSITE BLENDING MODES
The last part of this tutorial on how to use blending mode in Photoshop covers the Composite Blending Modes.
Other names that you will come across are Component Blending Modes and HSL Blending Modes.
The first three blending modes in this category (Hue, Saturation, Color) are the Color Component Blending Modes. They simply turn the White-to-Black sample texture into a grayscale, resulting in the same monochrome image for all of these 3 blend modes.
That’s why I decided to throw in some orange color onto the texture, so you can actually see what these blending options do if the top layer includes color.
24. HUE
The Hue blending mode combines the luminosity and saturation of the colors in the bottom layer with the hue of the top layer.
As a result, the hue of the top layer is applied to the bottom layer.
The two reference images below demonstrate how the hue of the texture on top is evenly applied to the layer below.
On the White-to-Black (WtB) texture, you don’t notice any of the different shades of white, black and gray anymore.
The effect of the orange-toned texture is quite muted and subtle, as compared to the effect achieved with the Color blending mode further down below.
25. SATURATION
Saturation works similarly to Hue. It combines the luminosity of the colors in the bottom layer with the hue and saturation of the colors in the top layer.
As a result, the saturation of the top layer is applied to the bottom layer.
Again, the regular WtB texture results in a simple grayscale.
However, with a bit of orange color on the texture, things immediately look quite different, right?
The colors start popping incredibly. The result is a bold, colorful effect that reminds quite a bit of the vivid creations known from Pop Art.
At reduced Opacity, the Saturation blend mode can be great to create popping, posterized-type of images.
26. COLOR
Color is the perfect blending mode for coloring monochrome images.
Color applies the color of the top layer to the bottom layer while preserving its luminosity.
When comparing the effect of the Color blend mode with that of Hue above, you’ll notice that Color provides a much more powerful and intense result.
Along with Luminosity, Color is the second pair of the so-called Commuted Blending Modes (more about that in the Photoshop Blend Modes Cheat Sheet).
‘Commuted’ means that if you have applied the Color blending mode to the top layer and the Luminosity blending mode to the bottom layer, you can reverse the order of the layers without affecting the appearance of the image.
27. LUMINOSITY
The last blending mode on the list is Luminosity.
Luminosity combines the hue and saturation of the colors in the bottom layer with the luminosity of the colors in the top layer.
In the reference images below, I’m showing the effect that Luminosity produces with the regular White-to-Black texture (without any orange color).
At full Opacity, Luminosity is probably an effect that you won’t be using too often. However, it’s a good demonstration of how the Luminosity blend mode alters the brightness levels of the underlying layer to even tones.
At a lower Opacity, Luminosity can be useful to add some extra glow to your pictures.
Grab your free Photoshop Blend Modes Cheat Sheet
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I hope that this tutorial on how to use blending modes in Photoshop was helpful. If you found any value in it, please feel free to share it with other artists so they can also learn from it!
If you have any questions, let me know in the comments. Make sure to sign up for my email list below so you don’t miss out on new Photoshop tutorials, perks for subscribers and other cool stuff. ♥
