Here’s a black and white photo of you. How do you color it? How to paint it so as not to affect the shadows and highlights of the picture, and not to affect the lines and details of the picture? In Photoshop, there is a way that can do all of the above—Blend Mode of layers.
Modifying the “Blend Mode” of a layer actually changes the way the two layers overlap. Using this method, you can easily achieve almost any overlay effect you want.
If you want the white part of the upper layer to be transparent and the black part opaque, then you can choose the Multiply; if you want the black part of the upper layer to be transparent and the white part opaque, then you can choose the Color Filter. Other content about the Blend Mode will be mentioned at the end of this article.
Look at the picture above. It is composed of a seven-color flower and a bubble. Our material is only a pink flower. If it is you, how do you want to modify the Blend Mode to complete this design?
Now, just follow me to learn together. In this process, you can also use your favorite color to complete this design.
Decolorization
1. Open the picture material and use the short-cut key—”CTRL+J” to copy a layer. Create a new layer. Click the fourth symbol in the lower right corner. Select the Solid Color, and fill the picture with light blue. Drag the layer 2 below layer 1.
2. Select the layer 1 in the layer panel with the mouse. Click the Image in the menu bar, and select Adjustment—Decolorization. Click on the third symbol at the bottom right to create a layer mask.
Color the Flower
3. Click the background color block in the lower left corner and change it to black. Click the Quick Selection Tool in the left toolbar to select the flowers. Click on the Selection in the menu bar, and then use the Inverse to select the background of the flower.
Click on the thumbnail of the layer mask. Use the short-cut key “CTRL Delete” to fill the selected area in the layer mask with black, revealing the color of the layer below.
4. Hold the shift key and drag the mouse to enlarge the image. Create a new layer. Click the brush tool on the left toolbar and adjust the hardness of the brush to 40%. Click the foreground color block in the lower left corner and fill it with red.
Then use a brush to paint on one of the petals. Among them, you can use the “[” and “]” keys to zoom in and out of the brush.
5. Next, change the foreground color to orange. Use the same method to color the other petal orange. And paint the petals of the first layer with yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple in sequence. Paint the petals of the second layer with light red, light orange, light yellow, light green, light cyan, light blue, and light purple in sequence.
Remember that the back side of the petals is lighter than the front side.
6. The color of our petals is painted. But does it look a little strange now? It doesn’t look like a flower at all. It doesn’t matter. Now I will teach you to change its blending mode to make it a big change. Click the drop-down arrow of the Blend Mode and select the Color. The appearance of the flower immediately appeared, isn’t it amazing?
Make a Bubble
7. Next, let’s make the bubble. Create a new layer. Click the elliptical marquee tool in the left toolbar. Hold down the shift key while dragging the mouse in the canvas to draw a circle. Change the background color to white and use the short-cut key “CTRL Delete” to fill the circle with white.
8. Double-click the blank part of the layer 3 in the layer panel to open the Layer Style window. Click on the Inner Shadow. Set the Blend Mode to normal, the color to white, the opacity to 70%, the angle to 90 degrees, the distance to 0, the blocking to 17, and the size to 139 pixels. Click OK.
9. Now, if I tell you that the bubble is completed, would you believe it? what? This is obviously just a white circle! Don’t doubt it. Let’s let it show its true face next. Change the Blend Mode of layer 3 to Multiply. Look, didn’t the bubble appear?
Crop the Picture
10. Click the Crop Tool in the toolbar on the left, and drag the crop box in the canvas to crop the graphics to a suitable size.
11. Press Enter. Our seven-color flower is completed! Isn’t it beautiful? The process is very simple.
After reading this article, you may be interested in the other blend modes. But in fact, not all modes are commonly used. We only use a few. Here, I introduce two other commonly used blend modes:
1. Overlay: Multiply or filter the color, depending on the base color. The pattern or color is superimposed on the existing pixels while preserving the contrast of the base color. The base color is not replaced, but the base color is mixed with the mixed color to reflect the brightness or darkness of the base color.
2. Soft Light: Darken or Lighten the color, depending on the mixed color. This effect is similar to shining a diverging spotlight on the image. If the mixed color (light source) is brighter than 50% gray, the image becomes brighter as if it is lightened. If the mixed color (light source) is darker than 50% gray, the image becomes darker as if it is darkened.
Using pure black or pure white for coloring can produce areas that are significantly darkened or lightened, but not pure black or pure white.
