Photoshop how does multiply work

It is crucial to understand the difference because this additional method of blending pixels extends the capabilities of Blending Modes. More importantly, the blend tends to be more aesthetically pleasing when using Fill rather than Opacity with these eight Blending Modes.

In the example below, you can see how a graphic with different luminance values and a photo of Venice were blended using the Hard Mix Blending Mode. Notice how the edges of the circles blend differently on the example on the right. The luminance values in Blending Mode math range from 0 black to 1 white. However, Photoshop uses 0 black to white to represent luminance values in RGB. Photoshop has to convert the values, so black is still 0, but white becomes 1.

To convert an RGB luminance value to a standardized value, dive it by For example, divide light gray by , and you get 0. Adobe provides descriptions on each Blending Mode , but they do not provide the mathematical equations behind them.

If you would like to find out more about Blending Mode math, check out the Wikipedia page on Blend Modes. In the examples below, we will explain each of the 6 Blend Mode categories Normal, Darken, Lighten, Contrast, Inversion, and Component as well as all the Blend Mode in within each category. Each example contains two Blend layers, a grayscale luminosity layer, and a color layer. The photo of Venice, Italy will be the Base layer. The Blending Modes in this category do not have algorithms that blend pixels.

Instead, the Opacity slider controls the blend between layers. Opaque pixels will cover the pixels directly below them without applying any math or algorithm applied to them. You can, of course, reduce the opacity of the layer to reveal the pixels below. The Dissolve Blending Mode also does not blend pixels. Dissolve only reveals the pixels below when the Opacity of the layer is reduced.

The pixels below are revealed through a dither pattern noise whose intensity is based on the Opacity.

Anything that is white in the blend layer will become invisible, and anything that is darker than white is going to have some darkening effect on the pixels below it. The Darken Blending Mode looks at the luminance values in each of the RGB channels and selects either the base color or blend color depending on which is darker.

Simply put, this Blending Mode does not blend pixels, it only compares the base and blend colors, and it keeps the darkest of the two. If the blend layer and the base layer color are the same, then there is no change. Multiply is one of the most popular Blending Modes in Photoshop. This Blending Mode multiplies the luminosity of the base color by the blend color.

The resulting color is always a darker color. White produces no change, while the black pixels remain. Multiply can produce many different levels of darkening depending on the luminosity values of the blend layer, which make it a great Blending Mode for darkening images or creating shadows.

Color Burn is the first of the eight unique Blending Modes in Photoshop that react differently when Opacity is adjusted compared to Fill. The Color Burn Blending Mode gives you a darker result than Multiply by increasing the contrast between the base and the blend colors resulting in more highly saturated mid-tones and reduced highlights.

The result is very similar to the effect you would get when you use the Burn Tool to darken an image. Linear Burn decreases the brightness of the base color based on the value of the blend color.

The result is darker than Multiply but less saturated than Color Burn. Linear Burn also produces the most contrast in darker colors than any of the other Blending Modes in the Darker group. Linear Burn blends differently when Fill Opacity is adjusted, compared to when Opacity is adjusted.

This Blending Mode does not blend pixels. It only compares the base and blend colors, and it keeps the darkest of the two. The difference is that Darker Color looks at the composite of all the RGB channels, whereas Darken looks at each RGB channel individually to come up with a final blend. The Blending Modes in this category and re opposites, or complementary colors from the Darken category.

Anything that is black in the blend layer will become invisible, and anything that is brighter than black is going to have some darkening effect on the pixels below it. The Lighten Blending Mode takes a look at the base color and blend color, and it keeps whichever one of the two is the lightest. If the blend colors and the base colors are the same, then no change is applied. The resulting color is always a brighter color. Black produces no change, while the brighter pixels remain.

Screen can produce many different levels of brightening depending on the luminosity values of the blend layer, making Screen, a great Blending Mode for brightening images or creating highlights.

Color Dodge is the third of the eight special Blending Modes, which blends differently when Fill is adjusted, compared to when Opacity is adjusted. The Color Dodge Blending Mode gives you a brighter effect than Screen by decreasing the contrast between the base and the blend colors, resulting in saturated mid-tones and blown highlights. The effect is very similar to the result you would get when using the Dodge Tool to brighten up an image. This Blending Mode looks at the color information in each channel and brightens the base color to reflect the blend color by increasing the brightness.

Here we have an antique photo that could use some help. The dark shadows have faded into a lighter gray, reducing not only the contrast in the photo but also some of the details:. I'm going to add a simple Levels adjustment layer to my document by clicking on the New Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette and choosing Levels from the list of adjustment layers that appears:.

When the Levels dialog box appears, I'm simply going to click OK in the top right corner to exit out of it. There's no need to make any changes. All we need is the adjustment layer itself:. We can now see in my Layers palette that I have my original faded image on the Background layer, and my Levels adjustment layer has been added directly above it.

By default, the adjustment layer's blend mode is set to Normal:. So far, nothing has changed in my document window since all I've done is added a Levels adjustment layer without actually making any changes inside the dialog box. My image is still just as faded now as it was before adding the adjustment layer.

But watch what happens when I change the blend mode of the Levels adjustment layer to Multiply:. Simply by adding a Levels adjustment layer above my image and changing its blend mode from Normal to Multiply, I've darkened the shadows in the image and restored much of the contrast and detail:. I now have two Levels adjustment layers above my Background layer in the Layers palette, both set to the Multiply blend mode:. To fine-tune the darkening effect, all I need to do is lower the opacity of the new adjustment layer.

This mode works only in layers with Lock Transparency deselected and is analogous to painting on the back of transparent areas on a sheet of acetate. Edits or paints each pixel and makes it transparent. This mode is available for the Shape tools when fill region is selected , Paint Bucket tool , Brush tool , Pencil tool , Fill command, and Stroke command. You must be in a layer with Lock Transparency deselected to use this mode.

Looks at the color information in each channel and selects the base or blend color—whichever is darker—as the result color. Pixels lighter than the blend color are replaced, and pixels darker than the blend color do not change. Looks at the color information in each channel and multiplies the base color by the blend color.

The result color is always a darker color. Multiplying any color with black produces black. Multiplying any color with white leaves the color unchanged. The effect is similar to drawing on the image with multiple marking pens.

Looks at the color information in each channel and darkens the base color to reflect the blend color by increasing the contrast between the two.

Blending with white produces no change. Looks at the color information in each channel and darkens the base color to reflect the blend color by decreasing the brightness. Looks at the color information in each channel and selects the base or blend color—whichever is lighter—as the result color. Pixels darker than the blend color are replaced, and pixels lighter than the blend color do not change. The result color is always a lighter color. Screening with black leaves the color unchanged.

Screening with white produces white. The effect is similar to projecting multiple photographic slides on top of each other. Looks at the color information in each channel and brightens the base color to reflect the blend color by decreasing contrast between the two. Blending with black produces no change. Linear Dodge Add. This can be considered another one of the extreme blends modes, but adjusting the Fill Opacity, the effect can be tempered and great results can be attained.

It does a selective inversion where black never gets inverted, white inverts absolutely, and all of the other luminance levels invert based on their brightness on a channel-by-channel basis. With this blend mode, similar colors cancel each other, and the resulting color is black. Exclusion Subtracts a pixel on the active layer, from an equivalent pixel in the composite view of the underlying layers B-A , and results in only absolute numbers the subtraction never produces a negative number.

With this blend mode, similar colors cancel each other, and the resulting color is gray. This mode is basically the same as the Difference blend mode, except when similar colors cancel each other, the resulting color is gray instead of black. Saturation Keeps the saturation of the active layer, and blends the luminosity and hue from the underlying layers—where colors from the active layer are saturated, they will appear using the luminosity and hue from the underlying layers.

Color Keeps the color of the active layer, and blends the hue and saturation the color of the active layer with the luminance of the lower layers a handy way to change the color of an image.

Another thing to note about the Color blend mode, is that it and the Luminosity blend mode are commuted versions of each other. This means that if you apply the Color blend mode to the active layer, you will get the same effect if you apply the Luminosity blend mode to the layer below, and then switch the order of the layers. Luminosity Keeps the luminance of the active layer, and blends it with hue and saturation the color of the composite view of the layers below.

This results in the colors of the underlying layers being blended with the active layer, and replacing them. Another thing to note about the Luminosity blend mode, is that it and the Color blend mode are commuted versions of each other. Additional Blend Mode Math Tips When using the Linear Burn mode, you can achieve the same results by applying the Subtract mode with a couple of changes.

Accurate White Balance Adjustments in Photoshop. Thank you very much for the article, very helpful. First, great article, thanks! RGB 1,0,0 would become RGB 0,1,1 red would become cyan As far as I can tell, in Photoshop, the blend operations are performed on a per channel basis expect for some cases that use both a colour channel and the transparency channel, as you pointed out in the list of Special 8.

Very Helpful. Thank you very much G. Pingback: tutorial. Pingback: Photoshop blend modes elsevier design. Pingback: Photoshop Verrechnungsmodis verstehen Strudenhof. Fantastic article! Thanks for sharing the details of the topic here.

I have linked to your site from our facebook page for our students to follow — keep up the good work, Nick. Thanks Nick. I hope your students find the information useful! The Vignettist. Hi Robert. A brilliant article; everything that anyone needs to know about blend modes.

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Pingback: Self Portrait celeste likes photos. Do you know the calculation of Photoshop for Luminosity? Thank You. Greetings from Germany. Incredible write-up dude. Thank you Nonetheless. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Pin It on Pinterest. The Dissolve blend mode on acts on transparent and partially transparent pixels — it treats transparency as a pixel pattern and applies a diffusion dither pattern.

If the pixels of the selected layer are darker than the ones on the layers below, they are kept in the image. The best mode for darkening. Darker than Multiply, with more highly saturated mid-tones and reduced highlights. Darker than Multiply, but less saturated than Color Burn. Similar to the Darken blend mode, but darkens on the composite channel, instead of separate RGB color channels. If the pixels of the selected layer are lighter than the ones on the layers below, they are kept in the image the opposite of the Darken blend mode.

Similar to the Lighten blend mode, but brighter and removes more of the dark pixels, and results in smoother transitions. Brighter than the Screen blend mode. Brighter than the Color Dodge blend mode, but less saturated and intense.