Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Blending and Smudging
You can control how Elements blends colors you add to an image with the colors that are
already there. This section takes a look at two different blending methods: using
blend modes
to determine how the colors you paint change what's already in the image, and using the
Smudge tool to mix parts of an image together.
Blend Modes
Blend modes are almost limitless in the ways they can manipulate images. They control how
the color you add when painting interacts with the existing pixels in an image—whether you
just add color (Normal mode), make the existing color darker (Multiply mode), or change the
color saturation (Saturation mode).
Image-editing experts have found plenty of clever ways to use blend modes for some really
sophisticated techniques. Thorough coverage of these techniques would make this topic the
size of the Yellow Pages, but
Figure 12-15
shows a few examples of how simply changing a
brush's blend mode can radically alter the results.
