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Dan Rodney/5 min read

Blend Modes & Opacity

Photoshop Workflow

1

Open & Inspect

File → Open. Check resolution, color mode, and bit depth.

2

Build a Layer Stack

Stack adjustments and effects on separate layers — never edit pixels directly.

3

Apply Targeted Edits

Use masks to limit each layer to the part of the image that needs it.

4

Export for Output

File → Export → choose JPG/PNG/PSD based on the destination.

Master Photoshop at Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop's Photoshop Bootcamp covers retouching, compositing, color correction, and pro editing.

Delve into the intricacies of Photoshop with a comprehensive tutorial that covers blending modes, opacity, placing and editing smart objects, and more, including a step-by-step process to create a fog effect in an image.

Topics Covered in This Photoshop Tutorial:

Blend Modes, Opacity, Placing & Editing Smart Objects

Exercise Preview

preview blend modes opacity

Exercise Overview

In this exercise, you’ll blend a photo into a background using blend modes and opacity, as well as learn more about using and editing smart objects.

Importing a Fog Photo

  1. Go to File > Open.

  2. Navigate into the Photoshop Class folder and:

    • If you completed the previous exercise open the file you made:
      yourname-Man on trees.psd
    • If you did not complete the previous exercise, open a file we’re prepared for you: 2B Man on trees.psd
  3. Choose View > Fit on Screen.
  4. Go to File > Place Embedded.
  5. From the Photoshop Class folder, double–click on the file 2B Fog.jpg.
  6. Now you’ll see the photo with some resize handles. Double-click on image to accept the current size.

  7. In the Layers panel:

    • Notice that the content you just placed has been automatically placed onto a new layer named 2B Fog (the name of the file you placed).
    • Double–click directly on the name 2B Fog and rename it fog.
    • Hit Return (Mac) or Enter (Windows) to apply.

  8. Near the top left of the Layers panel, click on the menu that says Normal and:

    Hover over the first 3 blend modes in the Lighten section (do not click on them, just hover and watch the preview in the image):

    • Lighten • Screen • Color Dodge

    Each of these will blend the fog into the underlying layers in a slightly different way, but they all do it by only lightening the underlying layers. That’s why the black disappears (black would only dark, so it becomes invisible).

  9. We like Lighten best, so choose that.

  10. The fog is too obvious, so let’s make it more subtle by making it more transparent (see-through). At the top of the Layers panel set Opacity to 40%.

    TIP: With a layer selected, you can hit the number 4 key to set it to 40% (any number will set the corresponding opacity, so 6 = 60% and 0 = 100%).

Editing the “Fog”

Our “fog” is really an image of outer space, which looks like fog. Unfortunately there’s a planet visible at the bottom of the man’s back! Let’s remove that.

  1. In the Layers panel, double-click on the fog layer’s thumbnail (the icon to the left of the layer name) to edit the smart object.

  2. You should now be viewing the original fog image.

    In the Layers panel, the Background layer is already selected. To duplicate the layer press Cmd–J (Mac) or CTRL–J (Windows).

  3. In the Tools panel choose the Spot Healing Brush tool spot healing brush tool. You may have to click and hold on the Healing Brush tool healing brush tool to choose it.
  4. Hover your cursor over the planet in the middle bottom of the photo.
  5. Use the [ or ] keys until the brush is slightly larger than the planet.
  6. Click once and the planet should be removed!

  7. We must save our work before returning to our original file, so go into the File menu and choose Save.

    • You’ll get a warning that you can’t save. Why? This fog image was a JPEG that we placed into our other file, so Photoshop kept it in that file format. JPEG files do NOT support multiple layers, therefore we’re going to have to flatten our layers into a single layer to be able to save.
    • Click OK.
  8. Go to Layer > Flatten Image.

  9. Do File > Save.

    In the JPEG Options that appear, drag the Quality slider all the way to the right (large file) and click OK.

  10. Do a File > Close.

    You should now be back in the original image and see the planet has been removed.

  11. We’re done with this final composite image, so you can save and close it (it’s already a Photoshop file so it will maintain the layers).

Converting to Smart Object Vs. Placing

As you just saw, editing a smart object that was a JPEG is not ideal. Not only does it not support layers, but it gets re-compressed every time you save (each time losing some quality). So while it may be quick to place a JPEG, it’s best to avoid it. Instead, here’s what you should do:

  1. Open the JPEG file (instead of placing).
  2. In the Layers panel, CTRL–click (Mac) or Right–click (Windows) on the Background layer and choose Convert to Smart Object.
  3. Choose the Move tool move tool.
  4. Do Edit > Copy.
  5. Switch to the file you want to “place” this into and do Edit > Paste.

By using Convert to Smart Object, Photoshop will make it a PSB file. PSB stands for Photoshop Big, which is like a PSD (Photoshop Document) but can go above 2 GB in file size and supports higher pixel dimensions. Both PSB and PSD support all Photoshop features (such as layers) and maintain image quality because they do not compress the image.