Blend Modes Explained: What Each One Does and When to Use It

By Photoyam team Updated September 30, 2026 8 min read

A blend mode decides how a layer’s pixels combine with the pixels underneath it. The list looks intimidating, but the 27 modes fall into six families, and each family follows one simple rule. Learn the rule and the neutral color of each family, and you can predict what a mode will do before you pick it.

How blending works

Think of each color channel as a value from 0 (black) to 1 (white). The layer you set the mode on is the blend layer; everything visible below it is the base. A blend mode is a small formula that combines the two values, channel by channel. Opacity then mixes that result back with the base. Two examples carry most of the intuition:

• Multiply computes base × blend. Multiplying by 1 changes nothing, so white is neutral. Multiplying by anything below 1 makes the number smaller, so the result can only get darker. Black (0) always gives black.
• Screen is Multiply turned inside out: it inverts both values, multiplies them and inverts the result. Now black is neutral, and every other color can only lighten. It behaves like projecting two slides onto the same screen.

That idea of a neutral color is the key to the whole list. Pixels that match a mode’s neutral color vanish; everything else takes effect. It is why you can fill a layer with 50% gray, set it to Overlay, and see nothing until you start painting.

The six families, mode by mode

Photoyam lists modes in the same grouped order as Photoshop. All 27 are available on regular layers. Here is what each group does and how the members differ.

Normal and Dissolve

Normal simply covers the base, limited only by opacity. Dissolve does not blend colors at all: it turns partial transparency into a random scatter of fully opaque and fully transparent pixels. At 100% opacity it looks identical to Normal. Lower the opacity or use soft-edged content and you get a grainy, spray-paint edge.

Darken group: Darken, Multiply, Color Burn, Linear Burn, Darker Color

White is neutral and results can only darken. Darken keeps the lower value in each channel separately, which can create colors found in neither layer. Multiply is the smooth, natural one: the default for shadows and ink. Color Burn darkens by raising contrast, deepening and saturating midtones. Linear Burn adds the values and subtracts 1, crushing shadows sooner than Multiply. Darker Color keeps whichever whole pixel is darker, with no channel mixing.

Lighten group: Lighten, Screen, Color Dodge, Linear Dodge (Add), Lighter Color

The mirror image: black is neutral and results can only lighten. Lighten keeps the higher value per channel. Screen is the gentle, photographic choice. Color Dodge lowers contrast and blows out highlights quickly: good for sparks, bad for broad areas. Linear Dodge (Add) adds the values, like stacking two exposures. Lighter Color keeps the brighter whole pixel.

Contrast group: Overlay, Soft Light, Hard Light, Vivid Light, Linear Light, Pin Light, Hard Mix

These modes darken below middle gray and lighten above it, so 50% gray is neutral (Hard Mix excepted). The difference is which layer decides. Overlay looks at the base: it multiplies dark base areas and screens light ones, boosting the picture’s own contrast. Hard Light swaps the roles, so the blend layer decides and the effect is much stronger. Soft Light is a gentle version that rarely clips, the go-to for textures. Vivid Light applies Color Burn or Color Dodge, Linear Light applies Linear Burn or Linear Dodge, and Pin Light replaces base pixels only where the blend is darker (dark values) or lighter (light values). Hard Mix pushes every channel to 0 or 1, leaving at most eight flat colors.

Inversion group: Difference, Exclusion, Subtract, Divide

Difference returns the gap between the two values, so identical pixels turn black: stack two versions of a shot in Difference and nudge until it goes dark to align them. Exclusion is a softer Difference. Subtract removes the blend value (black is neutral); Divide divides by it (white is neutral), so dividing by a fill of a gray card’s color cancels that color cast.

Component group: Hue, Saturation, Color, Luminosity

These modes split each pixel into hue, saturation and brightness and mix the parts. Hue takes only the blend’s hue. Saturation takes only its saturation. Color takes hue and saturation but keeps the base’s brightness, which is exactly what recoloring needs. Luminosity is the opposite: it takes the blend layer’s brightness and keeps the base’s color.

Practical recipes

1. Paint a natural shadow with Multiply. Create a new layer with Layer › New Layer, set it to Multiply, and paint with a soft brush in a dark, slightly warm color at 20–40% opacity. Because white is neutral, you can never accidentally lighten anything, and the texture of the surface underneath shows through the shadow instead of being covered.
2. Add a glow with Screen. Duplicate the layer that holds a light source (Layer › Duplicate Layer), blur the copy with Filter › Blur › Gaussian Blur, and set it to Screen. Dark areas of the copy disappear and only the bright parts spill outward as a soft bloom.
3. Lay a texture over a photo with Overlay or Soft Light. Place a paper or grain texture on top and set it to Soft Light (subtle) or Overlay (stronger). Desaturate it first if it should not tint the photo.
4. Dodge and burn without touching pixels. Make a new layer, fill it with Edit › Fill… using 50% Gray, and set it to Soft Light. The layer is invisible until you paint: white at low opacity brightens, black darkens, and you can erase any mistake.
5. Recolor an object with Color. Paint or fill the new color on a layer set to Color, masked to the object. Shading and folds come from the base; only hue and saturation change.

Blend modes inside layer effects

Each Layer Style effect has its own blend mode, separate from the layer’s. Open the Layer Style dialog with the fx button at the bottom of the Layers panel or the Blending Options… button in the Properties panel, then pick an effect: its pane includes a Blend Mode row. Drop Shadow, Inner Shadow and Satin start on Multiply, because shadows subtract light. Outer Glow and Inner Glow start on Screen, because glows add it. Color, Gradient and Pattern Overlay start on Normal. Bevel & Emboss has two rows, Highlight Mode (Screen) and Shadow Mode (Multiply). Stroke has no blend mode of its own.

Changing these gives more believable effects. A Drop Shadow on Multiply picks up the color of whatever it falls on, while Normal paints a flat gray patch. A Color Overlay on Color tints an object while keeping its detail. Effects offer the 16 core modes; extended ones such as Linear Burn or Vivid Light are for layers and groups only.

Groups: Pass Through vs Normal

A group’s blend mode dropdown sits on the group’s row in the Layers panel, and it has one extra option: Pass Through, which is the default for every new group. Pass Through means the group has no effect on blending at all. Each layer inside blends directly with everything below, exactly as if the group were not there, and an adjustment layer inside the group affects every layer beneath it, inside or outside the group.

Switching the group to Normal (or any other mode) isolates it: the group’s layers are combined into one image first, then that result is blended onto the layers below with the group’s mode. Use this to keep an adjustment inside its group, or to set a whole stack to Multiply as one unit. Groups offer every layer mode except Dissolve.

Common mistakes

• Judging a mode on a single layer. Blending needs a base. On the only layer in a document, most modes look like Normal.
• Using Overlay on bright textures. A texture that is not centered on middle gray shifts the whole photo lighter or darker. Adjust the texture’s levels so its average sits near 50% gray.
• Reaching for Color Dodge on large areas. It clips highlights fast. Screen at low opacity is easier to control.
• Forgetting the group is Pass Through. If a Curves layer is brightening layers you did not expect, check the group mode.

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