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Your big friendly guide to layer blend modes


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Hi everyone,

 

I just wanted to let people know that I've put up a blog article explaining what layer blend modes are, how they are grouped together and what they do. I also give an visual example of the different blend modes so you can see the effect they have on your images. Here's the link - https://theeagerlearner.com/your-big-friendly-guide-to-layer-blend-modes/

 

Hope it's of help to you,

Simon

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Lovely guide, DC. Does what it says on the tin. Big and friendly, clean explanations and consistent examples.

 

Yes, I'm puzzled by contrast negate, too. Would be nice to know the algorithm.

 

My ramblings here: 

 

Dave Straker

Cameras: Sony A7R2, RX100V

Computers: Win10: Chillblast i9 Custom + Philips 40in 4K & Benq 23in; Surface Pro 4 i5; iPad Pro 11"

Favourite word: Aha. For me and for others.

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"You see a list of all the different layer blend modes and let’s panic!"

Ahh, up to your usual hi-jinks, I see. Good one! :D

 

Great summary of the Blend Modes. If I were to ask for more, it would be to answer "when." I see the techie descriptions of "what" they do but it is difficult for new users to translate that into "when" do I need them. Many educators respond by saying 'just experiment with them while you are in a project.' Yeah, that is hours of fun but not very helpful. While I like your shapes/gradients as a visual guide for each Mode, could you take the 7 most often used Blend Modes (from your summary) and show a real-life example of why each might be employed? Yeah, I know: just lump me in the never-satisfied category.

♥  WIN 10 AD & AP  ♥  Lenovo Legion Y520 15.6" Laptop

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Typical jer! Never satisfied! Oo - I just lumped you into the never-satisfied category. I take your point though. The blog post was taken from a pdf I wrote to be a reference for and supplement the layer blend modes video from the 'Affinity Photo for the iPad' course over at Udemy. After I do the 'rather heavy by necessity' video on what they are, I go on to explain some uses for them because yes, you're right. Blend modes in isolation are not much use without practical examples. What I've done in the various AP courses on Udemy is to use blend modes as part of other projects, i.e. set a layer to overlay blend mode when I'm talking about dodge and burn techniques or color blend mode when I'm talking about recoloring a black and white photo. That, as opposed to making the blend mode the main point of the video. To make the blend mode the main point of the videos and do justice to the subject could be a complete course in itself (now there's an idea...)

 

Actually the .pdf & blog should be forming part of a chapter in the upcoming book about Affinity Photo (yes jer! Didn't you know?) & in that I was going to extend the chapter to include practical uses in a similar way to the Solid Foundations course and iPad course. But the book is behind other things in the queue like getting the 1.6 update videos finished for the SF course, adding some extra practice videos for the iPad course, finishing off the trial videos for the Landscape course & assessing that & so on. Pretty busy these days...

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  • 3 months later...

Hello Simon,

 

I tried to access your blog website to learn more about the blend modes but my chrome flagged up your website is not safe to access.  It said the security certificate expired 3 days ago or mis-configuration.

 

I hope this can be resolved so I can get on to your website to do your AP tutorials.

 

Thanks Stuart

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7 minutes ago, swilson said:

I tried to access your blog website to learn more about the blend modes but my chrome flagged up your website is not safe to access.  It said the security certificate expired 3 days ago or mis-configuration.

 

I hope this can be resolved so I can get on to your website to do your AP tutorials.

 

Simon’s website can be accessed by replacing ‘https’ with ‘http’ in the URL. It won’t be a secure connection, of course, so you might not want to submit the subscription form if you’re worried about your email address being harvested by snoopers, but at least you’ll be able to read the content.

Alfred spacer.png
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen)

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  • 4 months later...
4 minutes ago, ianrb said:

Would you have any links to "blend ranges" -- something totally new to me!!

Go here: https://theeagerlearner.com/luminosity-masks-try-blend-ranges-instead/

Alfred spacer.png
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen)

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Thank you Alfred :)
I have read through the blending layer story; I knew much of it, but I now understand more about why it happens . There is always something to learn or re-learn .
Although it's basically a whole new story ;  masking can be used to selectively add  the blending effect to just parts of the image 

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  • 3 months later...
  • 7 months later...
On 11/9/2017 at 11:43 PM, drippy cat said:

Hi everyone,

 

I just wanted to let people know that I've put up a blog article explaining what layer blend modes are, how they are grouped together and what they do. I also give an visual example of the different blend modes so you can see the effect they have on your images. Here's the link - https://theeagerlearner.com/your-big-friendly-guide-to-layer-blend-modes/

 

Hope it's of help to you,

Simon

Hey Simon. Thank you so much.

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  • 1 month later...

I hope this Ok; scream if not :)
download the images to make it easier to see the differences between each 

For those new to all this stuff.
As a general guide for photo editing you only really need a few of the blends available . To narrow that guide; the first two in each group will likely be the most used 
To narrow it down more; darken / multiply / lighten / screen / soft light / overlay will be the most used . As is often the case; more choices is often more confusing than less choices . For a long time I used soft light / overlay the most to add contrast to a file . As with most adjustments; it's easy to over do it > add the blend > adjust the opacity down to under 25 % > than move the opacity up to suit 

Another idea to mind is make your own set or sets of photos with your  photos 
 

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-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
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