PhotoPlus X2 User Guide - Serif

142 Layers and Masks
A tool or layer's Opacity setting interacts with its blend mode to produce varying
results. For details, see Adjusting opacity/transparency on p. 143.
To set a tool's blend mode:
• Select the tool and use the drop-down list (displays Normal by default) on the
tool's Context toolbar.
To set a standard layer's blend mode:
• Double-click the layer's name on the Layers tab, and in the dialog, choose the
mode from the Blend Mode drop-down list.
Using blend ranges
It’s a good time to clear up the difference between Blend Modes and Blend Ranges.
A Blend Mode can be associated with a tool or layer to produce different colour
effects when pixels from each layer are painted on top of each other. Blend ranges,
a more advanced blending feature, differ in that they specify the range of colours
on a current layer that is to be blended with the underlying layer—this is a simple
include or exclude of tones or colours in the blending process.
Just like blend modes, blend
ranges are applied to layers so it
makes sense for ranges to be
created and modified in the
Layer Properties dialog,
available by right-clicking on
any layer and selecting
Properties....
The blend range can be set for Red, Green, Blue or Grey channels. The upper layer
(This Layer) and its Underlying Layer can each be allocated a value from 0\0 to
255\255 each which represents the tonal or colour value—value pairs (e.g., 70\70 or
255\255) are set by moving the triangular sliders to the required value on the range