DIY Academy: Photoshop: Blending modes

Nikolai

We already got a few interesting "reading group" threads here.

I suggest we start something new: Do It Yourself Academy.

We'll choose a - wide or complicated - subject, break it into pieces, pick up one (per time per person) and finally make a nice complete tutorial out of it.

I suggest we start with Blending Modes.



Plenty of us see them, many of us use them sporadically.

I personally use Multiply and Screen quite often, but the meaningfulness of the other ones evade me. The brief descriptions like "Overlay: a combination of Multiply and Screen" does not tell me much.:dunno

I want to understand each and one of the blending modes, see the examples of how they work, what are they good for, where to use them, etc. I even would like to know the math behind them, (but if you don't - you can simply skip reading that section:-).

So I suggest we pick up a mode and start crunching it. PS Help, Internet, magazines and books will provide the information, the only challenge is to assemble all that knowledge into concise yet descriptive chapters.

In PS we have the following modes:

1. Normal (Nikolai)
2. Dissolve (Nikolai)
3. Darken (Rutt)
4. Multiply (Pathfinder)
5. Color Burn (Edgework, ETA: end of March 2007)
6. Linear Burn (Edgework, ETA: end of March 2007)
7. Lighten (Rutt)
8. Screen (Pathfinder)
9. Color Dodge (Edgework, ETA: end of March 2007)
10. Linear Dodge (Edgework, ETA: end of March 2007)
11. Overlay (Pathfinder)
12. Soft Light (Edgework, ETA: end of March 2007)
13. Hard Light (Edgework, ETA: end of March 2007)
14. Vivid Light (Edgework, ETA: end of March 2007)
15. Pin Light (Edgework, ETA: end of March 2007)
16. Hard Mix (Edgework, ETA: end of March 2007)
17. Difference (Nikolai)
18. Exclusion (Nikolai)
19. Hue (Rsinmadrid)
20. Saturation (Rsinmadrid)
21. Color (Rutt)
22. Luminosity (Rutt)

As you can see, it looks like a lot of work. However, some of these modes are fairly close to each other (or so they say:-), like Soft Light and Hard light, so it's fairly possible that a single article can cover several modes at a time without sacrificing the quality, number of examples, etc.

I would assume it will take about 4 to 6 weeks to cover one mode (or a group of similar modes) properly.

I also suggest that whoever writes about Normal mode (which is the simplest of them all) would also cover the Opacity and Fill sliders.

Once we get the articles posted (as separate threads, please, so we can discuss each one of them separately), this list (and this post) will become an index one.

Anybody wanna play? Please reply here or shoot me an email or PM, I will update the index to identify who's working on what.

Let's have some blending going! :wink

Gouri

I'd love to play but not quite sure if I qualify. I know very little. If the idea is to learn/share, I could pick few options, experiment with an image or two and post the process/results. You plan on making a tutorial out of it - any do's and dont's.

Nikolai

Gouri,

Gouri wrote:

I'd love to play but not quite sure if I qualify. I know very little. If the idea is to learn/share, I could pick few options, experiment with an image or two and post the process/results. You plan on making a tutorial out of it - any do's and dont's.

The idea is to educate yourself, and while you're at it, try to educate the other, too, so everyone wins:-)

It's great that you like the idea, but I would personally need something more than just "a couple of images". That I can do myself in no time at all:-).
What I would personally really like to see (and I'm prepared to play here as well) is something like a capstone project fit into a just few pages of text and examples. Not a book, but not a five-liner either.
It's not a trivial endeavour by any means, but I do believe that we can do it.

steveL

good idea...
I like your idea.

I use blending modes frequently and occassionally use blending modes with filters. I am not sure why I get some of the results that I do and haven't researched to find out but I think it sounds interesting and educational.

Here is an example of using the "color" blending mode with the "conte crayon" filter in PSE 2.

It would be interesting to dissect the actions and to understand why the blending mode works the way it did. Maybe it's obvious to others and if so please disregard this post as a rank amateur showing his inexperience. But I would like to pick up a few tips from some others.

DavidTO

Nik, when you're ready with a final tutorial, we can post it with the rest of them, here!

Nikolai

Steve,

steveL wrote:

I like your idea.
....

Since you already have some experience, do you think you can create a write up on one? They are all available, so it's easy to choose

Nikolai

David,

DavidTO wrote:

Nik, when you're ready with a final tutorial, we can post it with the rest of them, here!

I'm sure that once this project is done, it will take its place :-)

Now, do you wanna play, too? It would be awesome!

Nikolai

OK, I start...
Dissolve is taken, ETA mid-October. Most likely faster, but I don't want to rush and rather make it good than "cheap and fast"

21 more blending modes to go :-) :

Gouri

I need to get a better idea of what you expect and the format it ought to be. Is there a similar link/tutorial as an example?

pathfinder

Nik -

I'll do Overlay, Multiply, and Screen Blending Modes as I use them all the time.

It may be October before I get them posted though, between travelling and post graduate education.

Nikolai

Jim,

pathfinder wrote:

Nik -

I'll do Overlay, Multiply, and Screen Blending Modes as I use them all the time.

It may be October before I get them posted though, between travelling and post graduate education.

Awesome, thank you very much!

No rush, October is fine! When we get closer we'll update the ETA as we know more...

As a personal favor, can you pay just a tad more attention to Overlay, since it seems to be a bit less intuitive than the other two..?

Nikolai

Gouri,

Gouri wrote:

I need to get a better idea of what you expect and the format it ought to be. Is there a similar link/tutorial as an example?

There is none...

In essense you need to work it out and be able to honestly tell urbi et orbi that you read and tried everything that was humanely possible withing the time limits and you've covered if not 100% but 99.5% of its applicability.

Or something alone those lines...

DavidTO

Gouri wrote:

I need to get a better idea of what you expect and the format it ought to be. Is there a similar link/tutorial as an example?

Ultimately, I'm hoping that the tutorials will end up here, and there are plenty of tutorials here.

Nikolai

On the format...

DavidTO wrote:

Ultimately, I'm hoping that the tutorials will end up here, and there are plenty of tutorials here.

What David said... :

rutt

What about lighten, darken, color, and luminosity? Give me a month.

Nikolai

John,

rutt wrote:

What about lighten, darken, color, and luminosity? Give me a month.

I was *so* hoping to see you playing with us, but I didn't dare to ask
They are yours!

Nikolai

They are going faaast
Less than a dozen left
(I stole a few more myself :-)

1. Color Burn
2. Linear Burn
3. Color Dodge
4. Linear Dodge

   ---

5. Soft Light
6. Hard Light
7. Vivid Light
8. Pin Light
9. Hard Mix

   ---

10. Hue
11. Saturation

I'd say they'd make nice 3 or 4 groups...

Gouri

I'll take

1. Soft Light
2. Hard Light
3. Vivid Light
4. Pin Light
5. Hard Mix

I'll need about a month too.

Nikolai

Gouri,

Gouri wrote:

I'll take

1. Soft Light
2. Hard Light
3. Vivid Light
4. Pin Light
5. Hard Mix

I'll need about a month too.

I do appreciate it, truly! Please do not hesitate to email pm me if you need help!

OK, not that many left:

1. Color Burn
2. Linear Burn
3. Color Dodge
4. Linear Dodge

   ---

5. Hue
6. Saturation

Two to three people maybe...

pathfinder

I will be interested to read the thread on color burn, linear burn etc as I never use those modes. I must be missing something

I will spend more time on Overlay Mode as I find it the most useful, Nik.

Nikolai

Great, Jim!

pathfinder wrote:

I will be interested to read the thread on color burn, linear burn etc as I never use those modes. I must be missing something

I will spend more time on Overlay Mode as I find it the most useful, Nik.

I'm interested in almost all of them, since, as probably many of us out there, I don't use them (except of the few) much and wonder why they are there in the first place..
Overlay is one of those I don't know where or how to use properly...

rutt

Here is the blending mode dialog box:



In addition to opacity and advanced blending options (B), the blend-if sliders (A) are incredibly useful. I use them all the time. We covered them a few times in the LAB book reading group. Here, here, here, here, and here. Probably more places as well.

I know almost nothing about the blending styles (A). I'd like to know more.

I can try to cover the blend-if sliders in the course of my blending mode explanations, but perhaps we should cover them separately along with the other blending mode styles and advanced blending options.

pathfinder

I use the Blend IF sliders frequently in LAB in Multiply Mode to darken a background or a sky, but I do not use the the other Blending Modes here much, and I suspect might be some real useful tricks hiding away in here.

The Blend IF slider really is applying Blending Modes globally, while using a Brush Command offers most of them for local use, without Global effects, doesn't t?

Nikolai

Blending Styles

pathfinder wrote:

I use the Blend IF sliders frequently in LAB in Multiply Mode to darken a background or a sky, but I do not use the the other Blending Modes here much, and I suspect might be some real useful tricks hiding away in here.

The Blend IF slider really is applying Blending Modes globally, while using a Brush Command offers most of them for local use, without Global effects, doesn't t?

Guys,

I also would like to know Blending Styles better.

I totally agree with John that this dialog deserves its coverage.

However, it also seems to me that it deserves a DUE coverage.

So I suggest: let's finish Blending Modes first and then make the Blending Styles our next topic.

Of course, we can start the new thread immediately, but it seems a bit premature to me...
There are so many interesting things in PS, but we can't cover them all at once, can we?

Cheers!

Gouri

It just occured to me - I have photoshop CS and not CS2. Is that OK

Nikolai

Gouri,

Gouri wrote:

It just occured to me - I have photoshop CS and not CS2. Is that OK

Totaly fine, this stuff didn't change at all. In fact, I think those modes were there for quite some time, if not from the very inception (I started with CS myself, so I don't know).
Anyway, CS is perfectly OK for this job!

Gouri

Nikolai wrote:

Totaly fine, this stuff didn't change at all. In fact, I think those modes were there for quite some time, if not from the very inception (I started with CS myself, so I don't know).
Anyway, CS is perfectly OK for this job!

Great

Nikolai

We need two or three more!

Nikolai wrote:

OK, not that many left:

1. Color Burn
2. Linear Burn
3. Color Dodge
4. Linear Dodge

   ---

5. Hue
6. Saturation

Two to three people maybe...

Of course, we (the existing players) can pick it up later, but, you know what they say, "the more the merrier" :-)

Nikolai

Bump
Players needed:

1. Color Burn
2. Linear Burn
3. Color Dodge
4. Linear Dodge

   ---

5. Hue
6. Saturation

Richard

Nikolai wrote:

Players needed:

1. Color Burn
2. Linear Burn
3. Color Dodge
4. Linear Dodge

   ---

5. Hue
6. Saturation

If you can wait till late October, I'll do hue and saturation.

Cheers,

Nikolai

Richard,

rsinmadrid wrote:

If you can wait till late October, I'll do hue and saturation.

Cheers,

Awesome! Hue/Sat are yours!

Now, if we could only have one player more to cover these:

1. Color Burn
2. Linear Burn
3. Color Dodge
4. Linear Dodge