From the course: Photoshop 2024 Essential Training

Applying blend modes to adjustment layers - Photoshop Tutorial

From the course: Photoshop 2024 Essential Training

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Applying blend modes to adjustment layers

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- [Instructor] Typically, Photoshop's adjustment layers affect both the color and the luminosity values in an image. However, there are times when we want to isolate the effects of the adjustment to a single component, such as hue, saturation, color, or luminosity. One of the easiest ways to restrict the way that an adjustment layer blends with the layers below is by using blend modes. So in this first example, I want to add a curves adjustment layer, and I want to change the dynamic range. I'm going to move the black point over and the white point over. However, the curve is affecting both the color and the luminosity values in the underlying photograph, and it's adding this unwanted color shift in the photo. So in order to isolate the curves adjustment layer to only affect the luminosity values of the image below, we can change the blend mode to luminosity. If I undo that, we can see that's before, and that's after. All right, let's hide that. Another example would be if I want to lighten or darken the luminosity values of a specific color range in an image. So in this case, I'm going to add a black and white adjustment layer, but I'm going to change the blend mode again to luminosity. So I still have the color with the black and white adjustment layer, but now if I want to go in and make changes, I'm making changes to the grayscale value, the luminosity, using any of these sliders without affecting the color in the image. All right, in the third example, I want to change the hue of the image. So I'm going to select a hue and saturation adjustment layer. Now, even without moving the saturation or the lightness slider, changing the hue actually causes other shifts to saturation and luminosity. So I can change the blend mode to hue in order to restrict that. It's going to prevent the other components of the image from being affected. Excellent. I will hide that layer as well. And finally, although technically a fill layer and not an adjustment layer, if I want to add a color tint over the photo, I'll add a solid color fill layer, then I will select my color, let's say a very muted, darker red. And when I change the blend mode for that to color, we only see the color component and not the luminosity. So the next time you want to isolate the effect of an adjustment layer, or a solid color fill layer, or gradient or pattern, try using the hue, saturation, color, or luminosity blend modes.

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