Adobe® Master Class: Advanced Compositing in Photoshop: Bringing the Impossible to Reality with Bret Malley

8. Blending Fire

Everyone has a little bit of pyromania in them, so what better way to learn about blending modes than by playing with fire? Sculpting Photoshop flames is certainly easier than working with the real thing, just as using blending modes to control transparency and layer interaction can be a quick and effective alternative to using masks. In this exercise you’ll create some magical fire play using blending modes to control certain kinds of opacity. As an alternative to masks, this technique can save you the time and frustration of trying to perfect selections or refining a mask to perfectly outline a flame or object that may not ...