Adobe Photoshop CC For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Appendix

Photoshop CC’s Blending Modes

Blending modes in Photoshop CC determine how the pixels on one layer interact with pixels on lower layers and how painting tools interact with pixels already present on the active layer and layers below.

• Normal: Normal is the default blending mode for new layers and the basic painting tools. Depending on opacity, the upper pixel completely blocks the lower pixel.
• Threshold: When working with images in Indexed Color or Bitmap color modes, Threshold is the “Normal” blending mode. Because Indexed Color uses a maximum of 256 distinct color and Bitmap uses only black and white, most blending modes are not available when working in those color modes.
• Dissolve: Only semi-transparent pixels produce changes in the image’s appearance. Those pixels are randomly scattered, producing rough edges on anti-aliased artwork.
• Darken: The Darken blending mode compares the individual color component channels (RGB or CMYK) of the base and blend colors and retains the lower value (RGB) or higher value (CMYK). It works on each channel individually for each pixel.
• Multiply: The Multiply blending mode multiples the color values of each base and blend pixel (RGB or CMYK) and uses the resulting value, which is always darker unless blending with black.
• Color Burn: Color Burn simulates the darkroom technique used to darken areas of a photo by increasing exposure time for that area. Blending dark colors over a base color produces a darker resulting color. Color Burn generally ...