Blending Modes - Photoshop for Beginners | Lesson 5

Summary

This tutorial delves into the art of using blend modes in Photoshop, focusing on six essential ones: Normal, Multiply, Screen, Overlay, Soft Light, and Color. It explains how each mode interacts with layers, enhancing or adjusting images non-destructively. Practical examples illustrate darkening with Multiply, brightening with Screen, and adding contrast with Overlay and Soft Light. The Color blend mode is showcased for color correction, while tips on using adjustment layers and masks are provided for creative and precise editing.

Takeaways

• 🎨 Blend modes control how a layer interacts with other layers in Photoshop, with each mode having unique characteristics.
• 🖼️ The 'Screen' blend mode can make a black background disappear, combining two images like winter and summer into one scene.
• 🔧 Blend modes are not only for layers but also apply to brush strokes, offering different effects for painting.
• 🔄 The 'Normal' blend mode is the default and behaves like placing one picture on top of another, with opacity as the only adjustable setting.
• ⚫️⚪️ The 'Multiply' blend mode darkens images, hiding white and keeping black, making it useful for creative darkening effects.
• 🔅 The 'Screen' blend mode brightens images, hiding black and keeping white, and can be used for adding elements like smoke or light leaks.
• 🌄 The 'Overlay' and 'Soft Light' blend modes increase contrast by brightening highlights and darkening shadows, with 'Overlay' being more intense than 'Soft Light'.
• 🎨 The 'Color' blend mode changes the color of an element without affecting its brightness, useful for color correction.
• 🔄 Understanding blend modes is crucial for beginners, as most Photoshop work involves primarily these modes, with 27 blend modes available for more advanced techniques.
• 📚 The video provides practical examples and tips, such as using blend modes for non-destructive editing and creative effects like adding texture or adjusting color casts.

Q & A

What are blend modes in Photoshop and how do they function?

Blend modes in Photoshop control how a layer interacts with other layers. They determine how the colors of one layer blend with the colors of layers beneath it, allowing for various effects such as brightening, darkening, or adding contrast.

How can changing the blend mode of a video layer affect the background?

Changing the blend mode of a video layer to 'Screen' can make the black background transparent, revealing layers beneath it. This is useful for compositing elements together without the need for complex masking.

What is the default blend mode for layers in Photoshop?

The default blend mode for layers in Photoshop is 'Normal'. It simply places one image on top of another without any interaction between their colors.

How can blend modes be previewed in Photoshop?

In Photoshop, you can hover over different blend modes to get a preview of what each mode will do to the layer, allowing you to see the effect before committing to it.

What is the difference between 'Normal' and 'Pass Through' blend modes for a group in Photoshop?

The 'Normal' blend mode for a group prevents adjustments from affecting layers outside the group, while 'Pass Through' allows adjustments to affect all layers beneath the group, regardless of whether they are part of the group or not.

How does the 'Multiply' blend mode affect the appearance of an image?

The 'Multiply' blend mode darkens the image by multiplying the color values of the top layer with those of the layers below. It hides white and keeps black, resulting in an overall darker effect.

What is the opposite effect of the 'Multiply' blend mode?

The 'Screen' blend mode is the opposite of 'Multiply'. It brightens the image by screening the color values of the top layer with those of the layers below, hiding black and keeping white.

How can blend modes be used to adjust the exposure of an image non-destructively?

By creating an adjustment layer like 'Curves' or 'Levels' and changing its blend mode to 'Multiply' or 'Screen', you can adjust the exposure of an image without permanently altering the original layer, allowing for non-destructive editing.

What is the purpose of the 'Overlay' and 'Soft Light' blend modes?

The 'Overlay' and 'Soft Light' blend modes are used to increase contrast in an image. 'Overlay' is a higher intensity version, making bright areas brighter and dark areas darker, while 'Soft Light' provides a subtler effect.

How can the 'Color' blend mode be used to correct color casts in an image?

The 'Color' blend mode can be used to change the color of specific areas in an image without affecting the brightness levels. By painting over color casts with a sampled color on a new layer set to 'Color' blend mode, you can neutralize unwanted color tints.

What are some practical applications of blend modes demonstrated in the script?

The script demonstrates practical applications of blend modes such as adding texture to a wall, removing color casts from skin tones, brightening or darkening images, and compositing elements like birds or smoke into a scene.

Outlines

00:00

🎨 Understanding Blend Modes in Photoshop

This paragraph introduces the concept of blend modes in Photoshop, explaining how they control the interaction between layers. The video demonstrates the 'Screen' blend mode, which removes black backgrounds and merges different elements like winter and summer scenes. The instructor emphasizes the importance of blend modes for layer interaction and mentions that brushes also have blend modes, a topic for another video. The paragraph also covers the 'Normal' blend mode, its default behavior, and its special use in groups to limit adjustments to the group elements. The video provides a free course with practice files and encourages viewers to access the playlist for further learning.

05:01

🖌️ Mastering Multiply and Screen Blend Modes

The paragraph delves into the 'Multiply' blend mode, which darkens images by preserving black and hiding white areas, and the 'Screen' blend mode, which brightens images by doing the opposite. Practical applications are shown, such as darkening or brightening an image non-destructively using adjustment layers with blend modes. The instructor also discusses issues with using blend modes on stretched or moved images and provides a solution using adjustment layers to avoid discrepancies. The paragraph concludes with a real-world example of adding birds to a scene using the 'Multiply' blend mode and curves adjustment for transparency.

10:02

🌁 Creative Effects with Blend Modes

This section explores creative uses of blend modes, specifically 'Screen' for adding dramatic effects like smoke to a singer's performance. The video shows how to use 'Screen' blend mode to make black backgrounds transparent and adjust the opacity for desired effects. It also covers using layer masks to remove certain elements, like smoke from a subject, and colorizing the smoke using 'Hue/Saturation' adjustment layers. The paragraph concludes with a discussion on using blend modes for creative overlays, such as adding different variations of smoke to a subject for a realistic effect.

15:04

🔄 Overlay and Soft Light Blend Modes for Contrast

The paragraph discusses the 'Overlay' and 'Soft Light' blend modes, which increase contrast by brightening bright areas and darkening dark areas, while hiding 50% gray. The 'Overlay' mode is described as a higher intensity version of 'Soft Light'. The video demonstrates how to use these blend modes to add texture to a wall in a painting and adjust the intensity for a more natural look. It also explains how to use these modes for overlays to enhance the appearance of elements in an image, such as making a wall texture more prominent.

20:04

🎨 Color Blend Mode and Adjusting Skin Tones

This paragraph focuses on the 'Color' blend mode, which changes the hue of an image without affecting brightness levels. The video provides a method to remove color casts on skin tones using this mode, by sampling good skin color areas and painting over the problematic areas to neutralize the unwanted color. It also mentions an alternative approach using 'Hue/Saturation' adjustment layers for more precise control. The instructor shows before-and-after comparisons to illustrate the effectiveness of the 'Color' blend mode in removing unwanted color casts.

25:05

🌟 Recap of Essential Blend Modes

The final paragraph recaps the essential blend modes covered in the lesson. It summarizes the functions of 'Normal', 'Screen', 'Multiply', 'Overlay', 'Soft Light', and 'Color' blend modes, providing a quick reference for their primary uses. The video encourages viewers to subscribe and stay tuned for more lessons, and thanks supporters on Patreon for making the series possible. It ends with a reminder to keep creating and a sign-off until the next video.

Keywords

💡Blend Modes

Blend modes in the context of the video refer to the various methods used in photo editing software like Photoshop to determine how a layer interacts with the layers beneath it. They are essential for adjusting the appearance of images by controlling the transparency, brightness, and color interactions. In the script, blend modes such as 'Screen', 'Multiply', 'Overlay', 'Soft Light', and 'Color' are discussed to demonstrate their effects on images, such as making backgrounds transparent or changing the overall brightness and contrast.

💡Opacity

Opacity is the measure of the transparency of a layer in an image. A layer with 100% opacity is fully opaque, while 0% opacity makes it completely transparent. In the video, adjusting the opacity of layers is shown as a way to fine-tune the intensity of blend mode effects, such as making a gradient more subtle or adjusting the darkness of a multiply blend mode without affecting the overall image structure.

💡Adjustment Layers

Adjustment layers in photo editing are layers that allow for non-destructive editing of an image. They do not alter the original image but instead apply changes to how the image is displayed. In the script, adjustment layers like 'Curves' and 'Hue/Saturation' are used to modify the brightness, contrast, and color of images, with the blend mode of these layers being changed to apply effects like darkening or color correction selectively.

💡Clipping Mask

A clipping mask is a layer or set of layers that restricts the visibility of other layers to the shape of the base layer. In the video, the concept of a clipping mask is introduced to limit the effects of adjustment layers to specific parts of an image, such as darkening only the subject of a photo without affecting the background.

💡Normal Blend Mode

The 'Normal' blend mode is the default setting in most photo editing software, which places one image directly on top of another without any interaction between their pixel values. However, the video explains that within a group of layers, the 'Normal' blend mode can prevent adjustments from affecting layers outside the group, as opposed to the 'Pass Through' mode, which allows adjustments to be visible outside the group.

💡Multiply Blend Mode

The 'Multiply' blend mode is used to darken an image by multiplying the color values of the pixels in the top layer with those of the bottom layer. In the video, this mode is illustrated to be effective for creating darker moods in photos or for blending images with a black background into a scene, as white areas become transparent and black areas remain visible.

💡Screen Blend Mode

The 'Screen' blend mode is the opposite of 'Multiply', as it lightens an image by inverting the color values and multiplying them, effectively brightening the overall appearance. The script demonstrates using the 'Screen' blend mode to add elements like smoke to an image, making black areas transparent and leaving the brighter areas more visible.

💡Overlay and Soft Light Blend Modes

Both 'Overlay' and 'Soft Light' blend modes are used to adjust the contrast of an image by brightening the highlights and darkening the shadows, but they do so with different intensities. 'Overlay' is more intense, while 'Soft Light' is subtler. The video uses these modes to add texture and depth to images, such as applying a texture to a wall in a painting.

💡Color Blend Mode

The 'Color' blend mode is used specifically for changing the color of an image while leaving its luminance values untouched. In the video, this mode is shown to be effective for color correction tasks, such as removing unwanted color casts from skin tones by painting over them with the desired color.

💡Blend If

Blend If is a feature that allows for greater control over the blending of layers by adjusting which tonal ranges of the layer are affected by the blend mode. The script mentions using Blend If to limit the effects of the 'Multiply' and 'Screen' blend modes to specific brightness levels, preventing over-darkening or over-brightening of certain areas.

Highlights

Blend modes control the interaction between layers in Photoshop.

Changing a layer's blend mode can alter the appearance of both the layer and underlying layers.

The 'Screen' blend mode removes black backgrounds and brightens images.

Blend modes can be previewed by hovering over options for visual guidance.

Opacity adjustment allows for fine-tuning the effect of blend modes.

The 'Normal' blend mode acts like placing one picture on top of another, with opacity as the only control.

Groups in Photoshop have a 'Pass Through' blend mode by default, affecting layers outside the group.

The 'Multiply' blend mode darkens images, hiding white and showing black.

Adjustment layers with 'Multiply' blend mode can be used for non-destructive darkening.

Blend If allows for selective application of blend modes, avoiding unwanted areas.

The 'Screen' blend mode is used for brightening images, opposite to 'Multiply'.

Adjustment layers can be used with 'Screen' blend mode for brightening without duplication.

The 'Overlay' and 'Soft Light' blend modes increase contrast by brightening highlights and darkening shadows.

The 'Color' blend mode changes the hue of pixels without affecting brightness.

Hue/Saturation adjustment layers can be used to correct color casts on skin tones.

Blend modes have practical applications in photo editing for creative effects and corrections.

A comprehensive guide to blend modes is available for further learning.

The video provides a free course with practice files for hands-on learning.

Transcripts

so right here on my left hand side there

is no falling with a black background if

I change the blend mode of this video

right here to screen what happens the

black background goes away and now there

is winter and summer so that is what

blend modes are blend modes control the

way a layer interacts with other layers

and keep in mind we are talking about a

layer blend mode brushes also have blend

modes and that's for a separate video so

here we have an image on top of that we

have a beautiful gradient and texture

layer right now the blend mode is normal

if you change the blend mode as you

hover through it it gives you a preview

of what each blend mode will do and you

can go through each one of them

see what they do let's say we like

screen we can stop at that it's creating

a wonderful look and then you can

decrease the opacity to your liking you

see what is happening right now what is

blend mode again blend modes simply

control the way a layer interacts with

the other layer so right here as you can

see the screen blend mode is making

things brighter on the other hand the

multiplied blend mode makes things

darker here's the before here's the

after each blend mode has its own

characteristics we have lots of easy and

fun projects to do today so make sure to

download the practice files also just

wanted to let you know again this is a

free course and you can access the

entire playlist by going to learn

photoshopfree.com or simply click the

link in the description you can also go

to my YouTube channel and access the

playlist from there I regularly try to

upload videos there in this lesson we'll

dive deep into the six most important

blend modes that we're gonna use in our

95 to 99 of our Photoshop life and if we

are beginners these are most of the only

blend modes that we're gonna use however

if you are interested in other blend

modes we got it covered too towards the

end of the video let us start with the

normal blend mode turns out it is not as

normal the normal blend mode right here

is usually the default blend mode and I

underline the word usually but not

always the normal blend mode is like

keeping a picture on top of the picture

that's it a picture over a picture

that's the normal blend mode so right

here we have a green circle on top of

that we have a yellow circle and the

blend mode is normal the only control

you have over the interaction of both of

these is decreasing the opacity that's

it and now it's a Venn diagram however

there are situations where the normal

blend mode is not normal let us take a

look at this composite this is the

background by the way I blurred it here

was the before here was the after to

make the subject stand out on top of

that we have our subject now the light

is coming from behind I know it's snow

there's a little bit of fill light on

her face but she needs to be a little

darker so right now at the top if we

create a curves adjustment layer so

select the subject layer click on the

adjustment layer icon and then choose

curves we learned the basics of it the

right hand side is for the bright areas

the left hand side is for the dark areas

if you create a point and take it up it

makes it brighter if you create a point

and take it down it makes it darker so

right now let's say I want to make the

highlights in the subject a little

darker so I create a point right about

here and take it down but at the same

time the Shadows are getting too dark so

let's make the Shadows brighter by

creating a point on the left hand side

and make it brighter like this but

whatever we are doing right now it is

also affecting the background we don't

want that to happen so here's the before

here's the after we wanted this curve

only on the subject now yes you can hold

the ALT key or the option key click on

the line between these two layers to

create a clipping mask to limit it just

to the subject however let's go back to

how it was if we put both of them in a

group so select the curves adjustment

layer hold the controller command select

the subject layer press Ctrl or command

G to put them in a group even though the

curves adjustment layer and the subject

layer are inside a group the effect of

the curves adjustment layer goes outside

of the group into the background so if I

turn it off and on it is falling in the

background but have a look at the blend

mode of the group it is not normal and

this time whenever you create a group

the default blend mode is not normal it

is pass through which means the

adjustments will pass through and the

effect will be outside of the group as

well if you change it back from pass

through to normal it won't get outside

of the group whatever adjustment you

have so here's the before here's the

after have a look the normal blend mode

right here is stopping the adjustment

from getting outside of the group so

again the normal blend mode is the

default blend mode in most cases it is

just like keeping a picture on top of a

picture that's it the only control you

have is the opacity now there's a

situation when the normal blend mode is

not as normal it has some special use

cases and that is when you create a

group the default blend mode of a group

is passed through which lets all of the

adjustments inside of the group pass

through to the outside however if you

change the blend mode of the group from

pass through to normal it will keep the

adjustments limited to the elements of

the group let's talk about the multiply

blend mode the multiply blend mode is

very easy to understand if there's one

phrase you need to keep in mind to

remember it it is this multiply Dawkins

that's it so here we have a beautiful

scenery and on top of that we have some

brightness levels this is zero percent

absolute black this is 25 50 which means

50 Gray This is 75 brightness this is

100 right absolute white so absolute

white right here absolute black right

here if we change the blend mode from

normal to multiply see what happens

whatever area that was 100 black stays

right and whatever area which was

hundred percent white hides so here's

the before here's the after this area

stays the same which means absolute

white hides and absolute black 100 shows

and the rest of the colors they only

darken that's it let's solidify this

concept we're gonna be using it a lot so

this is the normal blend mode here's 100

white here's 100 black so now if I

change the blend mode to multiply

absolute white hides and the rest of the

things show and the only thing this

blend mode does is darkening let's take

a look at some real world examples now

we know we do have exposure sliders for

darkening we have curves for darkening

but if you want a flat out easy

darkening where you don't have to worry

about the values a lot here's the way to

do it using blend modes so we know

multiply darkens so you can simply make

a copy of this layer press Ctrl or

command J to make a duplicate make sure

the background layer was selected and

then you can simply change the blend

mode to multiply it darkens the overall

thing but it's too much on the Shadows

so double click on the right hand side

of the layer and take it away from the

dark areas of the underlying layer or

the current layer will do to its the

same image will the alt carry the option

key click on the slider to break it

apart and take it all apart like that so

that way it is darkening the bright

areas here's the before here's the after

not too much of a highlight now there is

a major problem with this method let us

go back to blend if let's return to how

it was so that you can see the problem

let's say we unlock the background layer

we move things around we stretch it

let's say we make it larger or we

stretch it a little bit now there is an

issue right here because the position of

this one is different and this one is

different every time we stretch

something move something around we also

so have to move this one we have to

worry about the effects that we apply to

it so instead of doing it this way the

right way to do it is this way let us

delete it let's keep it the way it was

so we want to darken with the multiplied

blend mode but we also want it to be

non-destructive for it simply create any

adjustment layer that at a default

position doesn't make any change for

example if you create a curves

adjustment layer by default unless you

do anything it doesn't do anything to

the image or if you create a levels

adjustment layer let's go right here

unless you do anything it doesn't do

anything right let's reset it you can

click on this button to reset so

whenever you move something here and

there you can always click on this

button alright now just create one of

those adjustment layers it doesn't

matter what by default it shouldn't do

anything and then change its blend mode

to multiply that way you can select this

move it around if you like do anything

and you don't have to worry about having

the same image at the top and having

discrepancies the way adjustment layers

work is that they keep a virtual copy of

everything that they're seeing

underneath it so that is why it doesn't

have an issue now of course you can

apply blend if here as well double click

on the right hand side of the layer and

take it away from the dark areas like

this and this works too so multiply

darkens easy way to remember that now we

also learned that multiply keeps the

black and hides the white let's say you

want to bring some birds into this image

now we have some birds the birds are

close to Black we can make it black if

we wanted to but the sky is blue so how

do we deal with this first of all let's

bring the birds first let's choose any

of the selection tools we're gonna go

for the lasso tool it just is a basic

tool to make a selection and make a

selection of the birds right here of all

the birds that you want to bring over

all right now once the selection is

active we can press Ctrl or command C e

to copy and then get back to this image

and paste it Ctrl or command V there you

go now for flexibility or

non-destructive abilities because we're

going to be resizing it do not forget to

convert this layer into a smart object

by right clicking on the layer and

choose convert to Smart object so that

when you resize you don't lose details

press Ctrl or command D for transform

let's make it smaller let's place it

right here

looks bad but if we change the blend

mode from normal to multiply the sky

kind of becomes transparent but not

fully transparent so what becomes

transparent with the multiply blend mode

white right so if we can find a way to

make the sky white it would work I'm

gonna change the blend mode back to

normal so you can see what is happening

on top of it let's create a curves

adjustment layer click on the adjustment

layer icon and then choose curves we're

going to be using a lot of Curves in

Photoshop and if you want to learn more

about curves this is the video to watch

but for right now we just want to Target

the birds so click on this button it

also creates a clipping mask so we want

to make the bright areas which is the

sky brighter for it take the slider on

the right hand side and bring it to the

left so at this point the sky becomes

absolutely White now if you go back to

the bird's layer let's name it that way

and change the blend mode from normal to

multiply have a look the sky goes away

but not completely we need to go back to

the curves adjustment layer click on

right here to open up the properties and

then let's take it even further and now

it completely goes away now if you want

the birds to have a little warmer color

you can do this click on the adjustment

layer icon and then choose Hue

saturation you want to limit it just to

the buds so click on this button to

create a clipping mask both of them have

arrows towards the bits and we want to

colorize the whole thing so just check

color wise and there you go this is the

color we wanted of course you can change

the Hue to whatever you want but this is

what we wanted and it just works

perfectly now you can take the birds

controller command T resize it do

whatever you want this just looks

awesome let's talk about the screen

blend mode and it's the opposite of the

multiply blend mode the only thing you

need to keep in mind is that screen

brightens and it does exactly the

opposite of what multiply does so here

we have again this beautiful scenery and

on top of that we have the various

brightness levels zero percent fifty

percent hundred percent okay if I change

the blend mode from normal to screen

have a look what happens white stays all

right and everything that was hundred

percent absolute black Heights so black

Heights and all of the other colors are

just brightening the image so the screen

blend mode only brightens and it keeps

the white right here if I change the

blend mode to multiply have a look it

does exactly the opposite it keeps the

black hides the white and makes

everything darker on the other hand the

screen blend mode keeps the white hides

the black and makes everything brighter

now just as you can darken with multiply

you can use the screen blend mode for

flat out brightening now of course we

can make a duplicate and change its pen

and move the screen to brighten but then

again it will be destructive so instead

we will create a levels or a curves

adjustment layer something that by

default doesn't change the image unless

we do anything let's just close the

properties and change its blend mode

from normal to let's say screen and

there you go it brightens up the entire

image but then again it makes the sky

too bright so how do we take the

brightness away from the bright areas

simple use blendif double click on the

right hand side of the layer and take it

away from the bright areas of the

underlying layer and this time you can

also use current layer because it's the

same image so take the slider of the

underlying left from right to left of

course to make it smoother hold the ALT

key of the option key click on the

slider to break it apart and I would

take it all the way apart hit OK it just

adds life to this image here's the

before here's the after now let's take a

look at some real world examples so here

we have a singer we want to add some

drama to her singing let's add some

smoke to it so let's go to our finder

here I have a smoke image with black

background let's drag it and drop it

over the canvas like this let's make it

larger

hit enter or return now which is the

band mode which hides everything that is

hundred percent black and only

brightness screen because we are talking

about it change the blend mode from

normal to screen and just as we do that

have a look at it this is amazing now of

course we would take it a little down

like this maybe make it a little larger

it's up to you that looks nice and for

added effect you can try this you can

select the subject layer

click on any of these three tools select

any of these three tools at the top

click on select subject and then we

learned about it in the layer masks

lesson which you can watch right here

after this video and then you can select

the smoke layer and create a negative

mask we want to take this away from the

subject hold the ALT key or the option

key and then click on the mask button

if you do that whatever area is selected

that will be black and the rest of the

areas would be white if you don't hold

that that would be the opposite now this

looks interesting on top of that we can

make another copy press Ctrl or command

J to make a duplicate and in this one

let's turn off the mask how do we turn

off masks hold the shift key and click

on the mask to turn it off and then you

can move it slightly probably or make it

slightly larger

like this and decrease the overall

opacity

now here's one more creative thing you

can do you can select smoke press Ctrl

or command d right click on it and then

choose flip horizontal so that it

becomes a little different and have a

look at this now we have smoke behind

the subject a different variation of the

same smoke on top of the subject making

it more realistic now of course you can

make it even larger to differentiate it

like this now if you really want a

nitpick you can also color the smoke so

let's choose the smoke behind the

subject on top of it click on the

adjustment layer icon and then choose

Hue saturation we use the same

adjustment before limited to the Smoke

by clicking on this button and just

colorize the entire thing and there you

go you can color it whatever you want so

yellow red purple you can go with this

one you can go with the red one it's all

up to you let's say I'm going with this

one for this one and for the smoke on

top you can go with a slightly different

shade so let's create one more Hue

saturation adjustment layer and limited

to the Smoke in front by clicking this

button check color wise and then you can

have a slightly different shade for

example the screen this blue it creates

a wonderful combination

and then you can control the saturation

to your liking so that's how you color

the smoke now just as we did with the

snowflakes in the beginning you can also

apply light leaks as well or any kind of

overlay that has a black background

using the screen blend mode you can buy

a collection of these overlays all over

the Internet you can look for them in

envato elements or many other places we

in fact used one of them in our previous

lesson about layers I think now let's

learn about overlay and soft light why

are we talking about them together

because they're very much related and do

exactly the same thing however with

different intensities so right here we

have the same brightness levels over the

scenery here we have 50 gray black white

25 brightness level 75 brightness level

you get the whole gist of it now if we

change the blend mode from normal to

Overlay Watch What Happens all of the

areas that was 50 Gray neutral gray that

hides remember we talked about it when

we were creating film Green in the

previous lesson it is the exact same

concept right here anything that is

brighter than 50 Gray that area

brightens so here's the before here's

the after amazingly brightens anything

that is darker than 50 Gray that area

darkens and that's what's happening all

throughout the image so here's the

before here's the after brighter areas

brighter than 50 crepe brightens darker

areas darker than 50 Gray darkens and 50

Gray Heights or keeps the layer

underneath the same but then what is

soft light you might ask well this was

overlay right if I change it to soft

light right here have a look it is the

same thing but with a lower intensity so

here with soft light here is overlay

overlay is a little harsher version of

soft light again

soft light

overlay in both the cases 50 Gray hides

an easy way to remember it is overlay

and soft light are blend modes where

overlay is of the higher intensity and

soft light is of a lower intensity than

overlay they increase contrast because

they make the bright areas brighter dark

areas darker and they hide anything that

is 50 Gray let's take a look at some

real world example so here we have a

painting which is a little faded out

similarly just as we did with screen and

multiply you can create any adjustment

layer that by default doesn't affect the

image unless you do anything and change

its blend mode to Overlay and there you

have the pop right in there it increases

contrast if you think it's too much you

can change it to soft light I think that

looks better to me again on top of all

of this you of course have control over

the opacity but just the way it is it

just works out works great now the

overlay blend mode of course can be used

for overlays let's say you want to add

some texture to the wall right here

let's open up some texture so I'm going

to go to my finder or Explorer I have a

texture right here let's drag it and

drop it over the canvas so that it adds

as a layer and then let's rotate it by

the way here's the tip if you hold the

shift key and then rotate it rotates by

15 degrees at a time so that it's

straight otherwise if you have a

rotating freehand it wouldn't be as

straight so right now we are rotating it

may be a little bit tilted one degree

here and there so to be sure always hold

the shift key and then rotate and let's

make it

larger like this place it like this and

then you can change the blend mode but

before we do that select the subject

layer select any of these three tools at

the top click on select subject to make

a selection and then select the texture

layer if you want to hide the subject

area in other words that area inside of

the Mask needs to be black so hold the

ALT key of the option key and then click

on the mask button to create the

opposite mask now let us change the

blend mode from normal to Overlay this

looks pretty amazing now at the bottom

does it look okay yes it fits right in

there wow that is pretty good now again

if you think it is too much change the

blend mode from overlay to soft light

that is more natural again up to you you

are the artist your style go for what

looks good to you now let's learn the

color blend mode and for Simplicity it

just changes color that's it so here we

have a green apple or do we if we create

a new layer and take the brush take red

color right here and if we start

painting it is just flat out painting

however if we change the blend mode from

normal to color

it paints it in that color but in this

case I wouldn't be using the color blend

mode because Hue saturation works better

but that is how basically the color

blend mode works it does not change the

brightness levels just changes the color

in this case a better solution would be

this sorry for side tracking so just

create a hue saturation adjustment layer

and then Target the greens select the

hand right here so you can click and

drag it to the right to change the

saturation but if you hold the control

and then click and drag it changes the

Hue so here we have juicy red now there

are some areas not selected properly you

can easily expand the range so let's

expand the range to the right by the way

if you want a master class on Hue

saturation here's the video and now we

have the juicy red now of course we

didn't want it on the leaves so you can

select the mask take the brush black as

the foreground color press X to toggle

between the foreground and the

background and then take it away from

the leaves and this place as well

A Rod or I don't know what to call it

but you get the idea

there you go

that's nice now let's take a look at a

real world example of the color blend

mode as you can notice there's a lot of

Color cast on the skin there's green

right here green right here how do we

make them go away simply create a new

layer change the blend mode from normal

to color now keep in mind there are

other ways of doing it just this is one

of the ways change it to color now take

the brush all right now we need to

sample the good skin color areas for it

first make sure that when you choose the

eyedropper tool right here sample size

should be three by three and you're

sampling the current layer and the layer

beneath it take back the brush the brush

tool right here and then when you hold

the ALT key or the option key the

eyedropper tool will show up momentarily

and then you can click to sample

whatever color you want and that color

would be in your foreground color box

and then you can paint that color so

let's paint to it this particular color

right here

now since the blend mode is color we are

absolutely changing and removing that

green color cast let's sample from here

paint right here if the blend mode was

normal this would be just simple fills

change it to color right here as well

there's this green cast so I'm going to

sample this one and fill it up right

here the green just goes away you can

also sample this color from here and try

painting no that's not looking nice also

there are red patches on the skin so you

can sample this color fill it up right

here or sample a warmer color and remove

these pale areas so I'm going to paint

all over it

we definitely need to decrease the

opacity so let's decrease the opacity to

about 50 percent now can you see the

change look at the color cast that was

here before so here's the before you see

the greenish tinge there here's the

after that goes away right here it was

greenish too so here's the before see

the green patches right here here's the

after that has gone away right here next

to the eyes we have greens so we can

take a sample and paint right here to

take that away as well similarly take a

sample paint right there to take that

away and then of course you can brighten

the entire thing create a curves

adjustment layer click on the adjustment

layer icon and then choose curves and

I'm going to take the right slider to

the left like this

and we only want the brightening on the

face so select the mask press Ctrl or

command I to invert the mask makes it

black take the brush white as the

foreground color make the brush larger

and paint over the face there you go now

without the color layer if I turn this

color layer off let's name it if this

was off you could see all kinds of green

right here right there now once we turn

it on all of that goes away so here's

the before see the greens

here hit the after so that's all the

blend modes you're going to need in most

of the cases however if you want to

learn the science of all 27 blend modes

yes there are 27 of them you can watch

this video right here just as a quick

recap all you need to remember is this

you have the normal blend mode which is

default blend mode in most cases but

with groups if you change the blend mode

from pass through to normal it doesn't

let the adjustments get out of the group

number two we have the screen blend mode

screen brightens multiply darkens

overlay and soft light increases

contrast hides everything that is 50

Gray multiply hides everything that is

hundred percent wide screen hides

everything that is 100 black and finally

the color blend mode changes the color

so that's all for this lesson I hope you

enjoyed it and if you did make sure to

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I'll see you in my next one till then

stay tuned and make sure that you keep

creating

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