The Color vs Luminosity Blend Mode in Photoshop
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- Опубликовано: 14 июл 2024
- Two of My Favorite Blend Modes Explained!
The most common questions I receive about Photoshop always deal with Blend Modes. They are extremely helpful, but I gotta be honest, when I first started using them I just cycled through them till I found something that looked good. While that is a fine approach, my workflow was hardly predictable, and I'd spend more time looking at blend modes than editing my images. Years ago I found Adobes Help site that gave me a list of all the blend modes, what they did, and how to use them. I suggest you look at them too!
Today's tutorial is not about all of the blend modes, but two very distinct ones, Color and Luminosity. While they both do opposites to your image, they are related in many ways. Let's take a Curves Adjustment for example. Modify a curve set to RGB, with a blend mode of Normal, and your result will be a tweak to the Tone and Color of all the underlying data. However, if you switch that blend mode to Color, it will strip the tonal data from it and if you decide to go with Luminosity, it will remove the Color data.
With these blend modes, you can protect the tones or colors in your image and have more predictable results every time you use them. Here is what Adobe says about the Color and Luminosity Blend Modes:
Color
Creates a result color with the luminance of the base color and the hue and saturation of the blend color.
Luminosity
Creates a result color with the hue and saturation of the base color and the luminance of the blend color.
By description, they are the exact opposite, but these descriptions don't do us a favor regarding understanding them either. In layman's terms:
The Color Blend Mode will apply the selected layers colors to the underlying layers but allow the tones of those layers to show through.
The Luminosity Blend Mode will use the selected layers tones to the underlying layers without altering the underlying layers colors.
With me? If not, no worries. In today's free tutorial I will show you how I use these two blend modes with Gradient Maps and Curves adjustment layers. By the time you are done watching it, you will have it down pat, or your money back :) 
Хобби
Great video. I have been using the Luminosity blend mode, but this video really made the usage of both blend modes a lot more clear.
I keep coming back to this video. It's a great reminder. Well done Blake.
I learn more about the intricacies of Photoshop from you than from any book I've read on the program. Thanks Blake.
Fot the first time I understand how these two blend modes work! Many thanks for this easy to understand video!
Finally. An explanation I understood.
Thank you Blake for another great tutorial- as usual, your tutorial added so much more to my knowledge and understanding and practical applications!
Thanks very much . This is the first time I really understand and appropriately use these Blend Modes. Thanks . Great man
Great explanation! Haven't had someone explain something so well on youtube!
Thanks Blake, another great tutorial. Knowing when to best use each blend mode will really help fine control of editing my landscapes. Lots of practice ahead.
Appreciate all your work!
Neale
Thanks, Neale! I appreciate you stopping by and checking it out. Practice is the key!
Fantastic video giving info about two blend modes and how they can be used to achieve the final result. Really helpful. Thank you for sharing..
I like the new opening. Pretty slick.
That was a better and understanding video of Blending Mode as I relearn my past Thank you for all you have inspire many professional photographers and younger learning the way of photography.
Hi Blake. Thanks for the videos. They are extremely helpful. Making photoshop much easier for me!
This information became really valuable to me and thank you for it arriving at just the right time. It's now got me meta thinking.
Awesome! I love that. Thanks for watching.
Thanks for this simple explanation...concept is crystal clear now 👍
Thank you very much Blake, awesome breakdown!
My pleasure 😁
clear information in an interesting way, love it!
Thank you so much for taking the time to watch and comment. I really appreciate it :) Have a great day.
thank you very much! Extremely helpful video!
Very clear and concise. Thanks.
Glad you liked it
wonderful explanation !! thank u very much !!
Excellent. Very well explained. Easy to understand. Thanks.
Awesome! Glad I could help!
A very fine description. Thank you,
You are welcome!
Thanks for explaining color and luminosity blend modes
My pleasure!
Great stuff, Blake, as always. Thanks to your clear explanation and demos, I'm not only learning what the -- to me -- more esoteric blend modes do, but also beginning to see how I can make use of them. Looks like I will be changing the ratio of Lightroom:Photoshop work back in favor of Photoshop!
Woohoo! That's what I love to hear :)
Excellent job, Blake. Conceptually difficult to understand initially, but your explanation and demonstrations really make it clear. Greetings from a neighbor to the south in Springfield, MO.
Woo hoo! That place is gorgeous! I haven't been there in a while. Thanks for stopping by the channel :)
Thank you Blake - that really helps explain things.
Awesome! Glad I could help.
this is amazing! thank you!
By adding a funky gradient map and changing the blend mode to Color -and for even more control, press Ctrl+Alt+2 for a luminosity mask just before doing that, and you basically have Topaz ReStyle (a program that Ben Kenobi may describe as being "too clumsy and random"), except now with all the fine Blending and masking controls that Photoshop provides.
Agreed! Even the WORST gradient can look great with Color Blend Mode at a low Opacity.
😅
Very useful video and clearly explained. As you say, often you want to adjust your tone curve to only affect luminosity without changing the base colour. In LR that isn't possible, as you brighten or darken your overall image in tone curve by default you inadvertently end up adjusting colour too. This method is excellent, I'll definately be adding it to my future post editing, thanks 😃
Awesome! I am glad you pulled that from the tutorial. In most cases, I will not use a tone curve in any program that does not allow me to separate the color and luminance values with blend modes. As you have discovered, sometimes you only want one or the other and both can be to your images detriment.
Great video, very helpful
Great job Blake, I use the CIE LAB color space for the same reason as it separates color from luminosity directly
Yes, LAB is awesome for that too because it separates the colors out in two ways, not just all color.
Thanks Blake, very helpful
Awesome information....cheers from Nova Scotia...
very well done. thank you.
Thank you for this awesome video
Glad you liked it!
hi, Blake - many thanks for these tuts~!
No problem! I appreciate you coming by!
very good explanation .. thanks a lot !
You are welcome! Thanks for stopping by.
Hey man, great tutorial!!!, couldn't have explained better!!!
Thanks!
Enjoyed the video n excited to have a hands on ...
intense and brilliant as always. Tx.
:) Thanks!
Excellent information thank you!
+Lamar Battle thank you for watching!
Very instructive. Thanks
+Chandra Ramsurrun awesome! Thanks for stopping by!
This was very helpful.
Glad it was helpful!
Really excellent insights
Thanks!
Great information
Thanks!
Thank you.Very interesting.
so cool! thx!
A masterclass!!!
Glad you liked it!
nice tutorial perhaps u can share more on the type of gradient map colors u use to edit ur images?
+gvo lo will do, next week in doing a gradient map tutorial
excellent
Thank you!
Capture One Pro offers a luminosity curves adjustment tool in addition to the standard curves adjustment tool.
Cool!
Hello again
Enjoying your videos
Especially using captions and being able to pause and think over your work
This is only a suggestion for your slower pupils
From another video and it could be so helpful for me
As a choice from you
More. ..then transcript
I would then be able to download transcript and save to
My notes on the iPad and refer back
Now I pause...copy and write down your explanation...
Thank you if you can....
That would be awesome, however, it would require a LOT of work on my part. I once wrote a tutorial in full PDF form on a very advanced topic. It took 12 hours to write it with pictures and descriptions. I turned around and recorded a video in 12 minutes. Just some perspective.
With me putting out a new tutorial (sometimes two) every week, I just dont have the time to dedicate to the PDF without hiring someone for it. Then I'd have to charge for it to compensate for the hiring of another person to do the transcript and it would defeat the purpose of a free video, haha.
No problem
I can pause and take notes...
thank you for your fast reply
Keep up the good work
Jesus, that's a good video!
:) Thanks! Jesus gave me the ability to teach, great guy!
That is very true, he did indeed! I am madly in love with the selective color adjustment. For me, nothing can compete. Isn't it, in its essence, an adjustment, which separates the color and lightness values on a per color basis?
Selective Color is awesome and it does work on a per color basis. Pretty magical! If it had a Saturation slider in there it would be paramount and would almost be no need for HSL anymore. However, HSL is a pretty darn powerful tool also. The two combined make for unbelievable color modifications.
ruclips.net/video/0fEEZBi9RoY/видео.html Check out this tutorial too if you haven't already.
I sometimes use the color blend mode to paint flesh tone to even skin but sometimes it doesn't work and the color will not show up. I've never been able to figure out why it works sometimes and not others.
Great video thanks. Still confused 😕
Think of it this way.
The Color Blend mode strips the selected adjustment layer of the tonal modifications and only applies the colors.
The Luminosity Blend Mode removes the color from the selected adjustment layer and only applies its tonal effects.
Guy, you are wondrous, kid
Thanks!
hai, please provide the link of image your using in tutorials so that we can practice on same image. and your subscriber understand well by practicing on Same image.
I do not offer that for free tutorials, however, all of my paid courses include the downloadable images.
head spinning to understand
Isn't the answer already in the name? As long as you know what the difference between luminance and color is. And that fact that darkening the lumi. Usually Colors get more saturated.
Kind of but not really. When set to Luminosity it does not saturate your colors. It allows only the luminance values to be affected, not the colors. When set to color the color is applied but the underlying tones are protected.
Great - but the answer is to use LAB mode not RGB!!!
Not necessarily. It all depends. I don't need to go into lab, I haven't for years. The RGB workflow, for me, has gotten so good I find myself there less and less. But to each their own!!!
(Three exclamation points to match emphasis) 🤣