Included within the assortment of tools you canuse in Photoshopis the blend feature. If used properly, your image can be notably enhanced in terms of its appearance. Even combining various simple pictures through blending can add a stylish element and revamp an otherwise dull image.
Here’s a guide on how to blend in Photoshop.
Difficulty
What You Need
Adobe Photoshop
Blending images via adjusting opacity
This method is the most straightforward way to blend images together in Photoshop. When you combine, say, two images, adjusting the opacity settings for those images basically creates a blend effect.
Step 1:You’ll need to open the images you want to blend in your Photoshop window. Then, copy and paste them into the image file you want them to be blended with.
These images will now be located within theLayerssection, which is where we’ll apply the blend through the opacity slider.
For demonstration purposes, I have copy and pasted three GPU images onto a blue background. My aim is to differentiate each image with different opacity numbers in order to form a blending effect.
Step 2:Click the layer you want to blend into the primary image (which, in my case, is the blue background). Select theOpacitytool, and decrease or increase the number according to your requirements.
to showcase the differences of the different blends, I’ve left the opacity untouched for my first layer, while the other two have been reduced to 60% and 40%. Once done, this particular image can be used for, say, signifying older GPUs, which would be represented by the two layers on which I’ve adjusted the opacity to a lower amount.
Blending images via the Layer Mask tool
Creating a Layer Maskallows you to apply a blend effect in a more detailed and specific manner.method
Step 1:Click the image (layer) you want to apply a blend effect to and then selectAdd layer mask.
Step 2:On the lefthand side of your Photoshop window, clickGradient, which is the core tool required for blending images through a layer mask. If you can’t find it, please note that you may need to right-click thePaint bucket tooland selectGradientfrom the drop-down list.
Step 3:On the image you want to blend, drag the gradient tool within a specific area.
The first part of the image shows me dragging my mouse to apply the gradient blend. The second part on the bottom is the result of that gradient blend.
Notice how the bottom part of the GPU that just didn’t look right and out of place has now been eliminated with the use of the gradient blend.
Step 4:Trial and error proves to be useful in terms of applying a satisfactory gradient blend. With this in mind, you can apply different blending effects by opening the gradient tool’s picker and choosing a different gradient design.
Next to theGradient pickerare several gradient styles you’re able to also apply. These are:
There are also a variety of different blending modes you can apply with the gradient tool in the adjacent section, namedMode. Click that drop-down menu to see the different modes such asLuminosity,Soft light, andLighten.
Layer blending modes
If you want to apply some additional blend effects, Photoshop also has a number ofLayer blending modesyou can use, aside from thestandard merge layers option.
Step 1:Select an image you want to apply a preset layer blend to.
Step 2:Below theKindsection, click the field that saysNormal. Choose a preset layer blend.
For demonstration purposes, in the first GPU within the image below, I’ve applied theMultiplyblend, while the middle GPU has been set with thePin lightblend. Finally, the last GPU showcases theLuminosityblend.
You might know all of Photoshop’s tricks, but are you using thebest photo editing software? Find out in our guide.
