Tutorial: 
yamimagic's Blending Tutorial, Part One!
Oh, god. Not another one, right? Well, boredom struck, and I simply couldn't contain myself. How shocking. Well, here goes nothing.
yamimagic's Blending Turtorial, Part One: The Bare Basics of Blend Modes
Blending modes kill (along with badly used alliteration). It's a known fact. Oh, the hours I've spent fussing with blend modes, experimenting to my heart's content, and then further, until I
can no longer take it. Experimentation is what my icon-making is primarily based on, but sometimes, that is not enough. And so, I bring you this. Keep in mind that as I write this, I am
learning as well, so kindly bear with me. Now, lets begin~!
You see that there? That's a base. Cleaned up, and prepped for icon-making~! Oh, the excitement! It's surging around me like a lightning storm! Or that might just be some very well
done CGI effects. Nevertheless, this will be the base I used to show the differences between blending styles. Get used to it. You'll be seeing a lot more of it. Also, in order to see what
some image shows, hover over the image with your mouse.
Now, there are many blend modes in use today, however, since I'm using a lowly version of Photoshop Elements 2.0, I will be sticking to the blend modes listed below. Apologies to
those working on other programs.
Blend Modes:
-Normal
-Dissolve
-Multiply
-Screen
-Overlay
-Soft Light
-Hard Light
-Color Dodge
-Color Burn
-Darken
-Lighten
-Difference
-Exclusion
-Hue
-Saturation
-Color
-Luminosity
So, those are the ones I'll be displaying. Again, I apologize for those who are using different programs.
Now, when changing blend modes, there are certain things which must be kept in mind. Such things are where blend modes can be specified, and what color types.
Blend modes can be altered in two primary places: layers, and certain editing/painting tools.
When editing the blend modes of a layer, you set the mode in the layers palette or in the "new layer window". This specifies how colors on the active layer are seen when
combined with the layers beneath/behind it.
When using painting tools, such as the paintbrush or eraser, layer styles can be set alongside the type of brush used. However, some tools only use a portion of the blend
modes available. I am not very fond of specifying blend modes when painting, as it tends to make things all the more complicated.
The three different color types which must be considered are the blend color, the base color, and the result color. The base color is the color of the
pixel on the layer of a specific blend mode. The base color is the color beneath the layer affected by the blend mode. the result color is... Quite simply, the resulting
color.
For example:
When mixed together, the two layers come out as...
The red (#FF0000) is the base color, while the blue (#0000FF) is the blend color. The purple (#FF00FF) is the result color. Note how the hex color codes have been combined.
Tell me what you think, and if it even helped at all. I'll write part two when I have a bit more time.
yamimagic's Blending Turtorial, Part One: The Bare Basics of Blend ModesBlending modes kill (along with badly used alliteration). It's a known fact. Oh, the hours I've spent fussing with blend modes, experimenting to my heart's content, and then further, until I
can no longer take it. Experimentation is what my icon-making is primarily based on, but sometimes, that is not enough. And so, I bring you this. Keep in mind that as I write this, I am
learning as well, so kindly bear with me. Now, lets begin~!
You see that there? That's a base. Cleaned up, and prepped for icon-making~! Oh, the excitement! It's surging around me like a lightning storm! Or that might just be some very well
done CGI effects. Nevertheless, this will be the base I used to show the differences between blending styles. Get used to it. You'll be seeing a lot more of it. Also, in order to see what
some image shows, hover over the image with your mouse.
Now, there are many blend modes in use today, however, since I'm using a lowly version of Photoshop Elements 2.0, I will be sticking to the blend modes listed below. Apologies to
those working on other programs.
Blend Modes:
-Normal
-Dissolve
-Multiply
-Screen
-Overlay
-Soft Light
-Hard Light
-Color Dodge
-Color Burn
-Darken
-Lighten
-Difference
-Exclusion
-Hue
-Saturation
-Color
-Luminosity
So, those are the ones I'll be displaying. Again, I apologize for those who are using different programs.
Now, when changing blend modes, there are certain things which must be kept in mind. Such things are where blend modes can be specified, and what color types.
Blend modes can be altered in two primary places: layers, and certain editing/painting tools.
When editing the blend modes of a layer, you set the mode in the layers palette or in the "new layer window". This specifies how colors on the active layer are seen when
combined with the layers beneath/behind it.
When using painting tools, such as the paintbrush or eraser, layer styles can be set alongside the type of brush used. However, some tools only use a portion of the blend
modes available. I am not very fond of specifying blend modes when painting, as it tends to make things all the more complicated.
The three different color types which must be considered are the blend color, the base color, and the result color. The base color is the color of the
pixel on the layer of a specific blend mode. The base color is the color beneath the layer affected by the blend mode. the result color is... Quite simply, the resulting
color.
For example:
When mixed together, the two layers come out as...
The red (#FF0000) is the base color, while the blue (#0000FF) is the blend color. The purple (#FF00FF) is the result color. Note how the hex color codes have been combined.
Tell me what you think, and if it even helped at all. I'll write part two when I have a bit more time.