Hello!

 

This is Mana1057 and we're gonna talk about some basic to intermediate uses of Blending Modes. From Basic of the basics to Effects even to Correction Layers and Component Blending Modes.

 

This topic has been divided into five (5) parts; Normal, Darken, Lighten & Contrast, Effects, Component - Blending Modes.

 

This FIFTH and LAST part is about the introduction of Component Blending Modes and the basic uses of each.

 

You can check out this video right here for the last part:

 

◊ COMPONENT Blending Modes

We are almost done, please stay put.

 

This part is for the use of the Component Blending Modes. I also use these when I feel like I can’t control the Adjustments (like Hue and saturation, Tone Curves, etc.) or when I only want a certain component to be affected. These are optional, not necessarily needed, but it a good alternative if you only want certain areas to be adjusted.

 

 

First, Component Blending Mode is the component or the parts, these are the embodiment of Colors. These are the Hue, Color, Saturation and Vibrancy. All of these affect their respective components and that components alone. There are a lot of uses for these but these are my most use for these Blending Modes and it involved Correction Layers.

 

→ Hue and Color

I use this if I want to change the color of (for example) an already finished drawing.

 

For example, I want to change the sweater color; the common thing to do is probably Mask the area and apply Hue and Saturation (CTRL + U) . If you do that, the shadows will also change color and tone.

 

To avoid that, what I do is; I mask the area that I want to change color > Make a New Layer > Fill > Choose the color I want > Change the Blending Mode to Hue or Color

 

Hue changes color but doesn’t work on greyscale. The colors look more natural.

Color changes color and works with greyscale. If the Blending Color is too vibrant, the resulting color will also be very vibrant.

 

The DARKEN Blending Modes might not work as great because DARKEN Blending Modes - they add color and darkens the resulting image.

 

COMPONENT Blending Modes, like Hue and Color are Color Components - they prioritize and work only at COLORS alone, leaving Luminosity and Saturation (only on Hue).

If you want to edit the colors again, just double click the Fill layer icon and you’ll get pick the colors again.

→ Saturation

Saturation Blending Mode only changes the Saturation, regardless of whatever color you choose, it will only detect and read the amount of vibrancy that color has.

 

To use this, you can either use a correction layer or a fill layer / or a new layer > Get a Bucket Tool and fill the layer with whatever color you choose.

 

Once you’ve done that, Change the Blending Mode to Saturation.

 

Again, this only reads the vibrancy of that Blending Layer and gives the Resulting Image the same saturation.

 

Unless you go pure Black or White, the resulting color will be greyscale.

 

→ Brightness

Vibrancy is quite a questionable tool for me. At first I really can’t see the use of this but after playing with the software for awhile, I only have one use of this.

 

I'll be using this image here:

 

With your fully done drawing > Go to Layer > New Correction Layer > Get whatever Correction layer you want; I choose Tone Curves > adjust according to your preference; Click OK when done > Change the Blending Mode to BRIGHTNESS

Brightness Blending Mode only reads and affects the Vibrancy, Brightness and/or Luminosity of the Layer Below.

 

 

So you can go all out with the curves and with this Blending Mode selected, this will only and only affect the vibrancy or luminosity of the Layer below, disregarding any colors.

 

LAST REMARKS!

That was quite long, aye. Sorry about that.

 

This was supposed to be a one article but I had to divide it 'cause the video will take forever to upload at full length.

 

Remember that you don’t have to use every Blending Mode, there is also a possibility that you’ll never ever use a certain Blending Mode and that’s okay! You just have to remember all their specific parts and uses.

 

Though I’m not active, you can check out my works on:

I hope that this is useful and you can use these (some of these, not necessarily all).

 

Cheers!