If you’ve ever taken a closer look at the layers 
palette you might have noticed that at the top of 
the palette, we have additional layer options. 
The Opacity slider is pretty obvious. 
When a layer is selected and the Opacity slider is 
moved, 
the transparency of the selected layer can be 
increased or decreased, 
allowing the layer below to become more or less 
visible. 
What we are actually doing when we increase 
transparency, is to mix the color from the layer 
below (the base color), in this case blue,
with the colour of the pixels in the selected layer 
above (the source color), creating basically a 
mixed color.  
The more we reduce the opacity, the more color 
from the lower layer 
is mixed into the color of the pixels directly above, 
so giving the illusion of transparency.
You might also have wondered what the Blend 
modes actually do.  
But before we take a look at the individual Blend 
modes, I’d like to first cover the science behind 
blending.
Blend modes alter the way that the colors of a 
source layer or object 
combine with the background behind the object, 
or in other words, with underlying (or base), 
layers.
The way that blend modes work is as following. 
On computers, colors have numeric values, 
and blend modes basically let you perform 
mathematical calculations with these color 
values. 
Blend modes combine a source and a base color 
in an image 
to produce a new color or effect, called a result 
color. 
In some photo-editing programs, blend modes are 
also known as merge modes.
When using painting tools, blend modes alter the 
way brushstrokes combine with an image. 
By blending layers, you can create interesting 
effects by changing the way the pixels on one 
layer blend with pixels on underlying layers,
and Corel PaintShop Pro offers a variety of blend 
modes.
Although the image on the screen will display the 
result of blending pixels,
the  individual layers themselves remain 
unchanged.  
By default, the blend mode applies to all pixels. 
Each new layer automatically has a blend mode 
of Normal, 
which blends pixels based on the opacity of the 
selected layer. 
The selected layer is blended with all underlying 
layers, not just the layer directly beneath it.
Let’s now take a look at the individual blend 
modes.  
I'm going to start by getting some basic definitions 
that we’ll be using out of the way. 
The source color is the color of the selected 
layer. 
The base color is the color of the underlying 
layer.  
Hue is what we normally define as colour.
Saturation defines the intensity of a hue. 
Vivid colours are highly saturated, 
while soft, pastel colours are unsaturated. 
Black and white images (monochrome), are totally 
de-saturated since they are missing colour 
intensity.
Finally, Lightness (also known as ‘value' or 
‘tone'), relates to the proximity of a color to the 
white or black end of the tonal scale. 
The closer a color is to black, the lower the value. 
The closer to white, the higher the value.
Let's now run through the individual blend modes 
to see what the effects will be.
Here, layer 3 is my selected, or source, layer, 
while layers 2 and 1 are the base colors.
The Normal blend mode replaces the source color 
with the base color. This is the default blend 
mode when a new layer is created.
If the selected layer is fully opaque, no pixels 
from layers 1 or 2 show through. 
But as the opacity decreases (i.e. the 
transparency increases), more pixels from 
underlying layers show through. 
In this case the colors of the pixels in base layers 
1 and 2, are being gradually blended with the 
pixel colors of layer 3.
The Darken blend mode applies the source color 
to the base color, but only when the source color 
is darker. 
Pixels in the selected layer (source), that are 
lighter than the underlying colors, disappear. 
In this case, the pale blue of the clock disappears 
because it is lighter than the underlying base 
color, 
while colors in the clock that are darker than the 
underlying colors remain.
In the case of the camera layer, more of the 
colors are darker than the underlying colors and 
we would expect these to remain.
We can see that the highlights on the camera 
have now been replaced with the underlying 
base color.
The Lighten blend mode, as you can probably 
guess, is the opposite of the darken mode.
Now, any source colors that are darker than the 
base color will be replaced.  Colors that are 
lighter are left unchanged.
The Hue blend mode applies the hue of the 
selected layer,  but the saturation and lightness 
values of the underlying layers.
Hue (Legacy) functions similarly to the Hue blend 
mode. This blend mode is retained for the sake of 
compatibility with earlier versions of the program.
The Saturation blend mode uses the saturation, or 
vividness, value of the selected layer, but the 
lightness and hue value of the underlying layers. 
This blend mode is available for 16m-bit color 
images only. 
The Color blend mode applies the color and 
saturation of the source layer and the lightness 
value of the base layers to create the result color. 
Again,this blend mode is available for 16m-bit 
color images only.
The Luminance blend mode is the opposite of the 
Color blend mode.
Luminance (16m-bit color images only), applies 
the luminance (or lightness), of the selected layer 
to the underlying layers, 
without affecting the hue or saturation. 
The Multiply blend mode multiplies the color values 
of the source and base colors and divides the 
result by 255. 
Multiplying any color with black produces black; 
multiplying any color with white leaves the color 
unchanged. 
Unless you paint on white, the final result will 
always be darker than the original base color.
The Screen blend mode inverts the source and 
base color values > multiplies them > and then 
inverts the result again. 
The result is a color that is the same or a 
lightened version of the selected layer. 
This blend mode produces the same result, 
regardless of the order in which the layers are 
stacked on the Layers palette. 
Dissolve randomly replaces the colors of some 
pixels on the selected layer with those of the 
underlying layers to create a speckled effect. 
The opacity of the selected layer determines the 
number of pixels replaced: the lower the opacity, 
the greater the number of pixels replaced. 
Overlay combines the Multiply and Screen blend 
modes. 
If the color value of underlying layers is less than 
half the maximum value, the Multiply blend mode is 
used.  If greater than, or equal to half the value, 
the Screen blend mode is used. 
The Overlay blend mode shows patterns or 
colors of the selected layer while preserving the 
shadows and highlights of underlying layers.
Hard Light uses a Multiply and Screen blend mode 
to apply a hard, direct spotlight to the base color. 
You can use the Hard Light blend mode to add 
highlights or shadows.
Soft Light combines the Burn and Dodge blend 
modes to apply a soft, diffused light to the base 
color. 
You can use the Soft Light blend mode to add 
soft highlights or shadows. 
Difference subtracts the color value of the 
source layer from the color value of the 
underlying layers. 
This blend mode produces the same result, 
regardless, of the order in which the layers are 
stacked on the Layers palette.
Exclusion creates an effect similar to, but softer 
than, the Difference blend mode. 
Again, the stacking order is irrelevant.
Dodge simulates the photographic technique 
called dodging, which lightens image areas by 
decreasing the exposure.  
The image is lightened by using the lightness 
values of the colors in the source layer, to lighten 
the colors of underlying layers.
Light colors produce the most lightening, black 
has no effect.
Burn simulates the photographic technique called 
burning, which darkens image areas by 
increasing the exposure.  
The lightness values of the source layer are used 
to reduce the lightness of underlying, or base 
layers.
Setting the blend range of a layer.
In addition to its blend mode you can also set the 
blend range of a layer.
The blend range limits the pixels that the blend 
mode affects and sets the opacity based on 
brightness or color channel, 
so that some colors drop out of the selected layer 
and other colors show through.
On the Layers palette, double-click the layer to 
open the Layer Properties dialog box.
Click the Blend Ranges tab.
In the Blend Channel drop-down list, select a 
channel to use when blending layers.
Select the Grey Channel to base opacity on the 
lightness values of layers. 
Select the Red, Green, or Blue Channels to base 
opacity on the respective color values.
Drag the upper arrows to set the values at which 
the opacity is 100 percent.
For example, you can set a layer’s opacity at 100 
percent between the lightness values of 43 and 
126, 
with the opacity falling off at the lightest and 
darkest areas.
Drag the lower arrows to set the values at which 
the opacity is 0 percent.
Click OK.
We hope that today’s tutorial has made working 
with blend modes easier to understand.
For more tutorials on working with PaintShop Pro, 
please visit the Discovery Center at: 
learn.corel.com.
Thank you for watching!
