23 Types Of Blending Modes In Adobe Photoshop

Choose blending modes from the pop-up menu in the Painting Tool Options palette. The various paint modes in combination with opacity/pressue settings have a selective control on which pixels are affected when you use the painting and editing tools. The result is more of a blending of the paint colour and the colour of the base pixels than simply one colour replacing another.
Dissolve
Produces a grainy, chalk-like effect. Not all pixels are coloured as you drag across the image, leaving gaps and holes in the storke. Reduce the Opacity setting to control the effect.
Clear
Makes pixels transparent. You can only access this mode on a layer with the Lock Transparency option deselected. Available for the Brush, Paint Bucket, Pencil and Line tools.
Behind
Only available when you are working on a layer with a transparent background. Make sure Lock Transparency is deselected for the layer. Use behind to paint behind the existing pixels on a layer. Paint appears in the transparent areas, but does not affect the existing pixels.
Darken
Applies the paint colour to pixels that are lighter than the paint colour – doesn’t change pixels darker than the paint colour.

Multiply
Combines the colour you are painting with the colour of the pixels you drag across, to produce a colour that is darker than the original colours.
Color Burn
Darkens the base colour by increasing the contrast in base colour pixels, depending on the contrast in base colour pixels, depending on the blend colour. More pronounced when paint colour is dark. Blending with white has no effect.
Linear Burn
Darkens the base colour by decreasing brightnessdepending on the blend colour used. Blending with white has no effect.
Lighten
Replaces pixels darker than the paint colour, but does not change pixels lighter than the paint colour.
Screen
Produces the opposite effect to Multiply. It multiplies the opposite of the original colour by the painting colour and has the effect of lightening the pixels.
Color Dodge
Brightnes the base colour by deceasing contrast. More pronounced when the paint colour is light. Blending with black has no effect.
Linear Dodge
Brightnes the base colour by increasing the brightness depending on the blend colour. Blending with black has no effect.
Overlay
This increases the contrast and saturation, combining the foreground colour with the pixels you drag across. Highlights and shadows in the base colour are preserved.
Soft Light
Creates a soft lighting effect. Lightens colours if the painting colour is lighter than 50% grey, darkens colours if the painting colour is darker than 50% grey.
Hard Light
Multiplies (darkens) or screens (lightens) pixels, depending on the paint colour, and tends to increase contrast.
Vivid Light
Burns or Dodges base pixel colours by increasing or decreasing contrast depending on the blend colour.
Linear Light
Burns Dodges base pixel colours by increasing or decreasing brightness depending on the blend colour.
Pin Light
Replaces base colour pixels depending on whether the blend colour is lighter or darker than 50% grey.
Difference
It looks at the brightness of pixels and the paint colour, then subtracts paint brightness from pixel brightness. Depending on the result, it inverts the pixels.
Exclusion
The result is similar to difference, but with lower contrast.
Hue
In colour images, applies the hue (colour) of the paint, without affecting the saturation or luminosity of the base pixels.
Saturation
Changes the saturation of pixels based on the saturation of the blend colour, but does not affect hue or luminosity.
Luminosity
Changes the relative lightness or darkness of the pixels without affecting their hue/saturation.
Color
Applies the hue and saturation of the blend colour, but does not affect the luminosity of the base pixels.

The Paint Bucket Tool

You can use the Paint Bucket tool to colour pixels with the foreground colour, based on a tolerance setting. It works in a similar way to the Magic Wand tool, but in this case filling adjoining pixels that fall within the tolerance setting. You can use the Paint Bucket tool within a selection or on the entire image.







1. To fill an area with the foreground colour, select the Paint Bucket tool. Leave the fill pop-up set to foreground. Enter a value from 0-255 in the Tolerance box. The higher you set the value, the greater the pixel range the Paint Bucket will fill.
2. Set Opacity, Blending mode, Anti-alised and All Layers options as required. Position your cursor then click on the image.

3. You can use the Paint Bucket tofill with a pattern Bucket to fill with a pattern previously saved into the pattern buffer. Use the fill pop-up to choose Pattern, then use the Pattern pop-up palette to choose an available pattern.
4. Deselect the Contiguous option to allow the Paint Bucket to colour pixels anywhere in the image, provided that they fall within the Tolerance setting.

The Gradient Tool

You can use the Gradient tool to create transitions from one colour to another. You can also create multi-coloured gradients. There are options for Linear, Radial, Angle, Reflected and Diamond gradients. You can apply a gradient fill to a selection, or to an entire active layer.
1. To create a gradient fill, select the Gradient tool, Choose a gradient type from the Options bar.




2. Select a Blending mode and set Opacity. Use the gradient pop-up to choose one of the preset gradients.

3. Position your cursor where you want the gradient to start. Then click and drag. The angle and distance you drag the cursor defines the angle and distance of a linear gradient, or the radius of a radial gradient. (Click and drag from the center out to create Radial, Angle, Reflected and Diamond gradient fills.)
4. For basic gradient fills leave the Transparency and Dither options selected. Choose the Reverse option to reverse the order of the colours in the gradient.

The Pencil Tool

You can use the pencil tool to draw freeform lines. The lines you draw with the pencil tool are always hard-edged-in other words, the edges of your lines are not anti-aliased. The pencil tool paints or draws with the foreground colour.

1. To draw a line, first select the pencil tool. Set a brush size using the Brush pop-up palette. Or use the brushes palette to create custom brush settings for the tool.
2. Use the pencil option bar to specify: blending mode, opacity and auto erase options.

3. Click and drag to create a freeform pencil stroke. Hold down shift, then drag to constrain the pencil stroke vertically or horizontally.
4. Click, move the cursor to a new position(do not click and drag), hold down shift, then click again to create a straight pencil stroke between two points.

Auto Erase
Select this option to use the pencil tool as an eraser.

Brush Tip Shape Setting

The Brush Tip Shape options of the Brushes palette provides a further set of controls for specifying the appearance of a brush stroke.

To create custom brush tip shape settings for a brush, click the rush Tip Shape button in the Brushes palette. Enter values for Diameter, Hardness, Spacing, Angle and Roundness in the New Brush dialogue box.

Diameter
Enter a value in pixels for the diameter of your brush from 1-999. Brush sizes too large to be represented at their actual size will display with the diameter indicated as a number.
Hardness
A setting of 100% gives a hard-edged brush. Settings below 100% produce soft-edged brushes. The lower you take this setting, the more diffuse the resultant stroke when you paint with the brush. Even with a setting of 100%, the edge of the brush-stroke is antialiased.
Spacing
Spacing is measured as a percentage of brush size. 25% is the default setting for standard brushes. Higher settings begin to create non-continuous strokes.
Angle and roundness
Use these controls together to create a stroke which thickens and thins like a calligraphic pen. You can enter values in the entry boxes, or drag the arrow indicator to change the angle, and drag the diameter dots to change the diameter.

Custom Brush Settings

Preset brushes can be customized using the style options on the left side of the Brushes palette together with the settings which control the Brush Tip shape. Effects above the grey divider bar have controls that allow you to customise each effect. Style options

1. To create custom settings for a brush effect such as shape Dynamics, click the effect label (the words Shape Dynamics)-not the check box. The controls available for each brush effect appear on the right of the dialogue box.
2. Experiment with the settings available. The preview box at the bottom of the palette updates to reflect changes you make to the settings.

Shape Dynamics
The Shape dynamics options control the manner in which brush marks in the painting stoke change as you drag your cursor in the image window.
Scattering
Scattering settings allow you to specify how the position of the paint marks in a stroke is varied and also control the number of paint marks in a stroke.
Texture
Use texture settings on a brush to associate the brush with a pattern to create paint strokes that appear to be painted on a textured canvas.
Dual Brush
Dual Brush uses two tips to create the brush stroke. Set options for the primary tip using options in the Brush Tip shape area. Set options for the secondary tip in the Dual Brush area.
Color Dynamics
Color Dynamics settings control how the colour of the painting stroke changes over the length of the stroke.
Other Dynamics
Other Dynamics control the speed with which paint is applied and the opacity of the paint in the stroke.
Noise
Noise has the most apparent effect around the edges of soft-edged brushes and creates a random scattering of pixels.
Wet Edges
Wet Edges creates a stroke that is darker around the edges and translucent inside the stroke, imitating the uneven build up of paint in a watercolour.
Airbrush
The Airbrush option on a soft-edged brush with a medium to low Opacity setting simulates the effect of spraying paint with an airbrush.
Smoothing
Smoothing helps create smoother curves in brush strokes.
Protect Texture
Select the Protect Texture option to keep texture effects consistent when painting with different textured brush tips. The option applies the same pattern and scale to all preset brushes with a texture.