Using Blending Modes

When starting a new digital scrapbook layout, I find myself always doing things in the same order. OCD? Maybe, but I’d rather look at it as being logical. Photoshop is all about layers, and just like constructing a building, you must start at the bottom and work your way up.

First, I find papers in my chosen theme. For this page, I chose the Fall Watercolors Paper Mini and the Awesome Autumn Collection Mini papers. As beautiful as the papers are, and the designers do an amazing job, I’m never quite satisfied with only using one paper for the background. Usually there are several that end up opened in Photoshop. Now, decisions must really be made.

After narrowing down the list, I put two of the papers in one file, just as if I were to stack real papers together. With the top layer highlighted, I changed the blending mode (located near the top of the Layers Panel). I clicked on the blending mode to highlight the name and pressed the up or down arrow to scroll through the list. I can’t say I’ve used every blending mode during my Photoshop-using years, but there are three categories I find that I use most often — Darken, Lighten, and Contrast.

Photoshop makes some very complicated mathematical calculations to produce the effects the blending modes make, and I am thankful that I don’t have to! After scrolling through the list, I ended up liking “Pin Light” the most. It gave a subtle blending of the two papers.

pin light samples When you find a blending mode that you like, you can lower the opacity of the layer to lessen the effect. Photoshop does some amazing things through the blending modes, and it is definitely worth spending some time checking them out. After you’ve experimented and come up with something you love, post your creations in the Scrap Girls Gallery and tell us which blending modes you used. I’d love to see what you make!