PhotoPlus X2 User Guide - Serif

Using blend modes
Layers and Masks 141
You can think of blend modes as different rules for putting pixels together to
create a resulting colour. In PhotoPlus, you'll encounter blend modes in three
contexts:
• As a property of individual tools, the tool's blend mode determines what
happens if you use the tool to apply a new colour pixel on top of an existing
colour pixel. Note that once you've applied paint to a region, that's it—you've
changed the colour of pixels there. Subsequently changing a tool's blend mode
won't alter brush strokes you've already laid down!
• As a property of individual layers, a layer's blend mode determines how each
pixel on that layer visibly combines with those on layers below. (Because there
are no layers below the Background layer, it can't have a blend mode.) Note
that changing a layer's blend mode property doesn't actually alter the pixels on
the layer—so you can create different blend mode effects after creating the
image content, then merge layers when you've achieved the result you want.
• As a property of certain 3D layer effects, where the blend mode is one of many
settings that determine a colour change superimposed on the layer's pixels.
The effects themselves are editable and don't alter the actual pixel values—nor
does the effect's blend mode alter the layer's blend mode setting.
For an illustration of the individual blend modes, see “blend modes” in the
PhotoPlus Help’s index.