Karen Bowers
03-05-2007, 08:18 PM
Meg asked me to write up a tutorial about blending. Blending is one of my favorite tools because it offers such a great way to make different things work together. It’s a wonderful way to give a layout extra spark. Most people think of blending as a cool trick to use on photos – it certainly is, but there are even more possibilities for it.
Photoshop, Photoshop Elements and PaintShop Pro have blend modes – Digital Image Pro sadly does not. The main thing you need to know is where your blendmodes are, and then the rest is just playing. In Photoshop and PSE, the Layers Palette has the blending modes at the top. In Photoshop, Blend modes are part of the layers palette. The arrow key next to "normal" gives you access to the other blend modes.
http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/data/500/Blend-Modes-Spot.jpg
What do those weird blend mode names mean?
Here is a great article (http://www.arraich.com/ref/tool_blend_modes.htm) on what the actual blend modes do to your image. This is a better summary than I could do for you.
How do we use blend modes for scrapping?
My favorite modes for scrapping are not authoritative, they are my own. Decide for yourself if mine are the best, or if others work for you. My favorites are: Normal, Color burn, Multiply, Screen, Lighten, Overlay, Soft Overlay, Hard Light, and Luminosity. I use blend modes on almost anything I can think of for scrapping – photos, text, elements sometimes, and papers (to blend on top of a paper below it). The rest of this article will focus on reviewing some of my layouts and what blending I did to them.
“Cool Beans” graphic photo layouts
Most people think of blending for “cool beans” graphic photo layouts, so let me start with a couple of “cool beans” layouts for overview.
Ixtapa Sunset
I used layer blend modes on almost everything. Actually to get the perfect beach shot, I layered 3 photos one over the other, and 1 got set to "hard light" and 2 to "overlay" and they were over one of Elizabeth's peach backgrounds. The large circle paper I set to "linear burn," the diamond mat to "overlay" and the other mat with the Ixtapa Mexico on it, i set at "color burn." Tina Chamber's Famous Authors Shakespeare word art I set to hard mix, and dropped its opacity a touch, and I love how it picked up the texture and pattern in that peach paper!
http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/data/994/Ixtapa-Sunset.jpg
Brother Paleontologists
Not sure what I used now for blending the photo on the paper. I’m guessing a “hard light” or maybe even “vivid light” to get them to look as intense as they do. I know I masked away parts of the photo (actually 2 photos that I snipped to look like 1) that I didn’t want.
http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/data/518/paleontologist-brothers.jpg
Blending in Heritage Layouts
Blending in a heritage layout just seems like it should be forbidden, doesn’t it? But blending even a photo can actually add to telling the story of that photo. Blending can add feeling and an aliveness that using the photo in “normal” might not.
Stella M Green (photos blended at “overlay” or maybe "luminosity")
http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/data/994/stella-M.jpg
Hazel Green Bowers (bottom right photo blended at “luminosity”)
http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/data/4800/Hazel-Green-Bowers-_child_.jpg
Snowfight
By setting the photo on "luminosity" for blending, it helped control the stark white of the lower part of the photo. This thus made blending a way to save the photograph.
http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/data/518/Snow-Fight.jpg
Harriet and Robert
I blended the text and the overlay. I also colorized the photos by brushing color (and then blending it) on a layer above the black and white photos.
http://www.digishoptalk.com/gallery/data/1179/Little-Harriet-Beth.jpg
Other Cool Things to Do with Blend Modes
My Surreal Child
I had problems with the photo. He was too shadowed, so what I did was I duplicated the photo and screen blended the top layer over the original, and then I masked away most of the top photo, just leaving him and the tree and the sand. That gave the cool surreal quality.
Then I wanted to add some of Rene Bross's wonderful Bobbi's Bluebelle doodles for motion and to freestyle it some. I blended them onto the photo at "overlay".
http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/data/2135/Scott-surreal-cropped.jpg
Spinning Wheel/Growing Like A Weed
Putting all the text and word art at “soft overlay” really helped pull the layout together visually.
http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/data/994/Boys-on-Spinning-Circle.jpg
The Wrap Up
So go forth and scrap and blend and play! And don’t forget to post your layouts to The Next Step Gallery. (http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=4046)
Photoshop, Photoshop Elements and PaintShop Pro have blend modes – Digital Image Pro sadly does not. The main thing you need to know is where your blendmodes are, and then the rest is just playing. In Photoshop and PSE, the Layers Palette has the blending modes at the top. In Photoshop, Blend modes are part of the layers palette. The arrow key next to "normal" gives you access to the other blend modes.
http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/data/500/Blend-Modes-Spot.jpg
What do those weird blend mode names mean?
Here is a great article (http://www.arraich.com/ref/tool_blend_modes.htm) on what the actual blend modes do to your image. This is a better summary than I could do for you.
How do we use blend modes for scrapping?
My favorite modes for scrapping are not authoritative, they are my own. Decide for yourself if mine are the best, or if others work for you. My favorites are: Normal, Color burn, Multiply, Screen, Lighten, Overlay, Soft Overlay, Hard Light, and Luminosity. I use blend modes on almost anything I can think of for scrapping – photos, text, elements sometimes, and papers (to blend on top of a paper below it). The rest of this article will focus on reviewing some of my layouts and what blending I did to them.
“Cool Beans” graphic photo layouts
Most people think of blending for “cool beans” graphic photo layouts, so let me start with a couple of “cool beans” layouts for overview.
Ixtapa Sunset
I used layer blend modes on almost everything. Actually to get the perfect beach shot, I layered 3 photos one over the other, and 1 got set to "hard light" and 2 to "overlay" and they were over one of Elizabeth's peach backgrounds. The large circle paper I set to "linear burn," the diamond mat to "overlay" and the other mat with the Ixtapa Mexico on it, i set at "color burn." Tina Chamber's Famous Authors Shakespeare word art I set to hard mix, and dropped its opacity a touch, and I love how it picked up the texture and pattern in that peach paper!
http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/data/994/Ixtapa-Sunset.jpg
Brother Paleontologists
Not sure what I used now for blending the photo on the paper. I’m guessing a “hard light” or maybe even “vivid light” to get them to look as intense as they do. I know I masked away parts of the photo (actually 2 photos that I snipped to look like 1) that I didn’t want.
http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/data/518/paleontologist-brothers.jpg
Blending in Heritage Layouts
Blending in a heritage layout just seems like it should be forbidden, doesn’t it? But blending even a photo can actually add to telling the story of that photo. Blending can add feeling and an aliveness that using the photo in “normal” might not.
Stella M Green (photos blended at “overlay” or maybe "luminosity")
http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/data/994/stella-M.jpg
Hazel Green Bowers (bottom right photo blended at “luminosity”)
http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/data/4800/Hazel-Green-Bowers-_child_.jpg
Snowfight
By setting the photo on "luminosity" for blending, it helped control the stark white of the lower part of the photo. This thus made blending a way to save the photograph.
http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/data/518/Snow-Fight.jpg
Harriet and Robert
I blended the text and the overlay. I also colorized the photos by brushing color (and then blending it) on a layer above the black and white photos.
http://www.digishoptalk.com/gallery/data/1179/Little-Harriet-Beth.jpg
Other Cool Things to Do with Blend Modes
My Surreal Child
I had problems with the photo. He was too shadowed, so what I did was I duplicated the photo and screen blended the top layer over the original, and then I masked away most of the top photo, just leaving him and the tree and the sand. That gave the cool surreal quality.
Then I wanted to add some of Rene Bross's wonderful Bobbi's Bluebelle doodles for motion and to freestyle it some. I blended them onto the photo at "overlay".
http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/data/2135/Scott-surreal-cropped.jpg
Spinning Wheel/Growing Like A Weed
Putting all the text and word art at “soft overlay” really helped pull the layout together visually.
http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/data/994/Boys-on-Spinning-Circle.jpg
The Wrap Up
So go forth and scrap and blend and play! And don’t forget to post your layouts to The Next Step Gallery. (http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=4046)