The Blending Modes in Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 can help you create custom special effects for your digital scrapbook pages and photos. These modes define how the images and elements on a single Photoshop Layer will interact with those on the Layer below it. This is the perfect tool for blending images with patterns and textures and creating custom digital paper patterns. Here, we'll show you how each Blending Mode will effect a single photo (base image) when combined with a photographed texture (blend image).

Before Blending Modes are applied. Photo by Deena Wuest.

Bark texture photograph for blending.

How Blending Modes Work

Open both of your photo and texture image in Photoshop Elements 8, then, using the Hand tool, drag the texture image onto the photo.With the texture image in the Layer above the Layer containing the photo, select the Layer containing the texture image. You can then use the Layers Palette fly-up menu to select your Blending Modes and watch them go to work!

Here's how each of the Blending Modes affected our photo:

Blending Mode	Effect	Altered Image
Dissolve	Randomly blends the pixels of your two images, either your base image or your blend image.
Darken	Selects the darker pixels from each image and replaces lighter colored pixels with the darker of the two. This can sometimes result in a new color being created in your blended image.
Darker Color	Selects the lower color channel values (e.g., RGB values) from both the base and the blend image, and displays those low values. While the results are similar to the Darken mode, this mode will never create a new color.
Multiply	Looks at the color channel information for each image and multiplies the values to create higher values and, therefore, darker colors.
Color Burn	Darkens the color of the base image to reflect the colors in the blend image.
Linear Burn	Decreases the brightness in order to reflect the blend image's colors in the base image
Lighten	Selects the lighter pixels from each image and replaces darker colored pixels with the lighter of the two. This can sometimes result in a new color being created in your blended image.
Lighter Color	Selects the higher color channel values from both the base and blend image, and displays those high values. While the results are similar to Lighten, this mode will never create a new color.
Screen	Looks at the color channel information for each image and multiplies the inverse of the values to create lower values and, therefore, lighter colors.
Color Dodge	Brightens the color of the base image to reflect the colors in the blend image.
Linear Dodge	Increases the brightness in order to reflect the blend image's colors in the base image.
Overlay	Overlays the pixels of the blend image (patterns and colors), while keeping the highlights and shadows of the base image intact. Screens or multiplies the colors depending on the base layer.
Soft Light	Darkens or lightens the image's colors with a diffused light.
Hard Light	Darkens or lightens the image's colors with a harsh light.
Vivid Light	Increases or decreases the image's contrast, depending on the colors found in the blend image, to create a burn or dodge effect.
Linear Light	Increases or decreases the image's brightness, depending on the colors found in the blend image, to create a burn or dodge effect.
Pin Light	Replaces the image's colors, depending on the colors of the blended image.
Hard Mix	Changes colors to basic colors (white, black, red, green, blue, yellow, cyan, and magenta), depending on the colors found in the blended images.
Difference	Selects the color from the base image and the blend image, and subtracts one color from the other, depending on which has the greater brightness value.
Exclusion	Creates a lower contrast version of Difference
Hue	Creates new colors using the brightness and saturation of the base image and the hue of the blend image.
Saturation	Creates new colors using the brightness and hue of the base image and the saturation of the blend image.
Luminosity	Creates new colors using the hue and saturation of the base image and the brightness of the blend image.
Color	Creates new colors using the brightness of the base image and the hue saturation of the blend image.

For more information on overlaying textures onto photos and to see a few instances of the Overlay mode in action, visit the Tips & Tricks blog on Club Creating Keepsakes.

Appeared in:

The Best of Digital Scrapbooking

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