Merging down Screen blending mode

Here is a problem I face professionally all the time. I have seen it solved only once and never found out how it was done. Maybe some one can shed some light on this for me. I will use a hypothectical file for an example.
I have a photo from a photo shoot of a plane with no landing lights on. That is masked out and is layer 01.
Then I place a photo of a night sky in the background.
I adjust the color of the plane to look like it is taken at night. Looks perfect!
Then I take a separate photo taken directly into a shining light with all the wonderful natural golden auras and flares. I place the photo of the light over where the plane would have landing lights and put the photo of the light on SCREEN MODE.
Adjust curves and PRESTO it looks beautiful.
Now here is the problem! Say I want this to be moveable by my clients down the line. I want only 2 layers. The sky background and the plane with lights. I apply all my color to the plane and apply the mask. But HOW do i apply the screen layer to the plane so it is just 1 layer and can move all over the background and still be see thru and get all the wonderful look the blending modes give you? So no matter where you move the layer it interacts correctly with the background layer.
I can not flatten every thing, nor can i copy merge the background on to a separate layer and clip it too the lights. They must be applyed to the plane layer and still look just like they do in SCREEN MODE.
I know this is very advanced. But I work on advanced stuff.
Thanks.

>We only deliver files that are idiot proof.
 
 That sounds like a flattened file to me....
 
 Can't the client use the eraser tool, convert color space, assign profile, paint with brush? If you lock the layer's transparency and pixels (leaving only move as an option), and then drop them in a group, you've made it pretty hard to f-up. If you want to be extra paranoid, embed a set of layer groups and lock those too. Then they've got two hoops to jump through. Or another iteration. Now three!
 
 
<a href="http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1v0QVfjiQcbLNfrzfGEgFIxSWzV0" /></a>
<img alt="Picture hosted by Pixentral" src="http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1v0QVfjiQcbLNfrzfGEgFIxSWzV0_thumb.png" border="0" />
 
 Blending modes are calculations based on two layers' pixel values. Think about what you're asking--it seems absolutely impossible to me. You can approximate it many ways. Set the lights to screen over black and then select their luminosity, then copy/paste. Or run the peel off black filter and set them up that way. But they'll blend as normal then.

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How to work around "screen" blending mode in CMYK document?

The document has been created in CMYK from the start. But I would like to add "glints" over the image and I normally do this by simplyl setting the "glint layer" to "screen" blending mode (when working in RGB color mode). As you all know, this does not yield desirable results when working in CMYK mode. What is the best way to get this type of effect in CMYK mode? Attached are 2 jpegs to help illustrate my point. (Text and logos have been blurred out).
Here is the "glint layer" which I usually just set to "screen mode" to take out the black, but this does not work in CMYK mode.

Okay so here is the same 2 documents again. The document on the right was the one that I tweeked, (the CMYK one). I used the "img, adjustments, brightness/contrast" and I boosted the contrast up to 100% which I feel got me the rest of the way there. This is very close to the RGB effect on the left and I feel that with a tiny bit more tweeking I can get this to work. Thank you all for your help and suggestions. I am going to credit c.pfaffenbichler with the correct answer as his comment was the one that helped me personally the most. Thank you guys for the excellent help.
So once again to clarify the correct answer. Create the doc in CMYK, grab your "glint layer". Adjust the curves and then maximize the contrast and then set the layer to screen.
Thanks again guys!
Cheers,
-Zander

Screen blend mode as png

Hi all,
I am trying to achieve a certain effect with Maxwell Render and Photoshop. What I use from the Maxwell render mxi file are basically these layers:
Background layer
and on top of this the light layer:
When I apply the Screen blend mode to the light layer this is the result:
My issue is that the final program I need the files for cant do blend modes. I must keep the two files separate. I need the 'background layer' as a jpeg which is obviously no problem but the light layer as a png with alpha channel.
How can I modify the light layer to basically remove all the black (as it does in 'Screen' blend mode). I need to save it as a png so when I overlay it on the background layer the effect is still the same.
Thank you for your help!
Julian

Thanks for giving it a go [SW],
Using two jpegs would be simple enough but there are usually multiple light layers where the light overlaps and I have to be able to call on any number of them at one time.
Up till now I have been using one image with multiple lights over one without lights but I have to manually cut the light layer into pieces to get the transparency and be able to overlap them.
Using 'select - color range' to select the red in the light layer, copy paste to new layer works quite well but it doesnt end up as clean as the screen layer blend.
My thought was that if photoshop can tell the black to go transparent in screen blend it should be able to delete it as well.
I have heard of a windows plugin called alphaworks which sounds promising but cant find anything for mac..
Any further suggestions would be very much appreciated!
Julian

ONLY screen blending mode doesn't work...?

I have Windows 8, and Photoshop CS6. All of my blending modes work, except for Screen. I don't know why it doesn't, but I do use it somewhat frequently, and it's really holding me back at this point.
Is this related to all the other problems people have been having with Photoshop running on Windows 8? Or is this an issue that I'm going to have to fix myself, somehow?
Thanks!

Do you see the problem if you disable the [ ] Use Graphics Processor setting entirely (remembering to restart Photoshop before testing)?
What video card (aka graphics adapter) do you have in your system?
What driver version are you running?
Have you looked for alternative versions e.g., on nVidia.com or AMD.com?
-Noel

Figuring out Blend Modes .. ArgH!

I've read numerous tutorials and books on the subject of blending modes and the one thing that bothers me is understanding how they work with color to the point that I understand and can remember forever, without having to always toggle though all the blending modes to find the right one when I'm working. I'm hoping someone / some where can explain it in a way that can be understood where as, when I'm working I can just select the specific blending mode I want without toggling though most of them ?

StrongBeaver,
Be easy on yourself. Start by understanding one single (but representative) blend mode. That will give you the concept for other blend modes. The MULTIPLY blend is a great starter. Understand it and you're on your way. Below is a cat-and-dog-language explanation of it.
First, just what is being multiplied? It is basically color intensity (called color value).When rabbits multiply they INCREASE in number. Yet, when color values multiply, they DECREASE in value. Counterintuitive or a misnomer? Not if you realize that FRACTIONS are being multiplied.
Color value is popularly described on a 0-255 scale, with 255 being the maximum value---limited by the eye's capacity. In blending algorithms, the intensity scale is "normalized", as they say, to 0-1. Thus, 255 becomes 1, 192 becomes 3/4, 128 becomes 1/2, etc.
If you have a red pixel of value 128 and multiply it by itself, you get 128/255 x 128/255 = 1/2 x 1/2 = 1/4. Since we like to verbalize color values on the 0-255 scale, 1/4 translates back to a value of 64.
I mentioned a "red" pixel above. But each pixel has THREE associated color values (red, green,blue). The multiplication takes place separately and independently in each of these color "channels". When two layers are multiplied, the red value at a given pixel site in one layer is multiplied by the red value at the same site in the other layer. Ditto for blue and green.
Saying that "two layers" multiply is not wrong, but it is too restrictive. Only the upper layer is put in the multiply mode. The pixels in that layer multiply with WHATEVER NET color value is visible BENEATH it. That could be another single layer or it could be a conglomerate of layers blending or otherwise interacting with each other.
More generally, then, one should say the upper layer blends with the substrate. It doesn't blend with anything above it unless that is called for by the above layers, Further, one can assign a blend mode to a paint brush, If Multiply is assigned, the color value painted on the layer multiplies with the existing color, again independently at each site and in each channel,
It should now be clear why Multiply darkens, The color value in each channel resulting from multiplication is always less than either inputs, except if one of the inputs is maximum, in which case the resulting color value is the same as the other channel value because that other value has been multiplied by 1.
The physical parallel to multiplying is a pair of filters, The first filter reduces white light incident upon it, passing a fraction on through which, in turn, is incident upon a second filter which passes along a fraction of the fraction.
You should next look at the "Screen" blend mode because it is so similar to the Multipl;y mode but produces the opposite result (lightens). In screening, the INVERSE* color channel values are what get multiplied, and the inverse of that multiplication gives the resulting color value. The resulting channel value is always greater than that channel's input values (unless one of the inputs is 0 for which the resulting color value is that of the other input).
*In case the meaning of "inverse" eludes you, the inverse of a fraction (f) is 1-f. For example, the inverse of 1/4 is 3/4, and the inverse of 1/2 is 1/2. These inverses multiply out to 3/8. The resulting color value of 5/8 (the inverse of 3/8) is greater than either input (1/4 and 1/2), i.e. it's lighter.
Hey! that's two blend modes down. Or really three because the Normal mode is clear. Only 22 modes to go!

Blending Modes

Hi All,
I am creating a flyer in InDesign, I've got a logo to put at the bottom of the flyer, the logo is white with a black background, I've used the Screen blend mode to remove the black but I can now see a faint white space behind the logo... see attached image. I have Proof Colours, Overprint Preview & High Quality Display to show the neareat possible match to print.
I've tried Googling and reading up about the Blend modes, it says something about changing the option in Edit > Transparency Blend Space
I changed it to RGB and now the white space has gone but the article I found did not explain too much about what this means changing it and how it works when printing the finished artwork.
Can anyone give me advice on this?
Always appreciated
Regards
James

I've tried Googling and reading up about the Blend modes, it says something about changing the option in Edit > Transparency Blend Space
When you use Screen for the blend mode your black background has to be absolute black for to be completely transparent. If you want to keep your Transparency Blend Space as CMYK and your logo is a CMYK object, the black background has to be absolute CMYK black (100|100|100|100 and not 0|0|0|100):

AS3 Blending Modes

Hi all, I'm trying to apply the Screen Blending Mode to a Movie Clip. I know how to do this using the properties panel if the clip is on the stage, but I need to do this purely with Actionscript 3 and I'm having difficuly finding how to do this properly.
I have another object which is a PNG file that I load into the swf behind object1.
var object:object_mc = new object_mc();
var imgLoader:Loader = new Loader();
var url:URLRequest = new URLRequest("box.png");
imgLoader.load(url);
addChild(imgLoader);
imgLoader.x = 0;
imgLoader.y = 0;
addChild(object);
BlendMode.SCREEN; // This doesn't produce any errors, but doens't apply the effect.
object.x = 6;
object.y = 6;
Any help is much appreciated,
Thanks =)

And you might still want to use:
object.blendMode=BlendMode.SCREEN;
Using the static class property helps in that the compiler can check. If you did something like:
object.blendMode="Screen"
It might or might not work, but the compiler couldn't tell you that it wasn't supposed to be capitalized.

Keyboard shortcut blend mode in gradient tool

I switch between screen and mulitply all the time when working on adjustment layer masks.
Cant find shortcut to change the mode within the gradient tool (ony for changing the layer mode)

If the tool that you have selected has a blend mode or opacity control in the Options bar then the normal shortcuts that you use to change the layer will modify the controls of the tool. So, with the Move tool selected, Alt+Shift+S will set the layer to the Screen blend mode but if you have the Gradient tool selected then the gradient will be set to Screen.

Combine by Blend Mode?

I have a tedious production task I'd love help automating.
I receive layouts with mutliple layers of product shots (with transparency) in Normal blend mode. Most of those layers also have separate shadow layers in Multiply blend mode. (Sometimes these layers have masks, othertimes not.) Depending on how the file was built, product layers might be in proximity of their shadow layers, or they may not, making organization and contraction challenging.
(In case it matters, sometimes all layers (products and shadows) are housed inside a single group, sometimes there are no groups at all.)
Ultimately, I'd like to merge all the Product layers into one Normal mode layer, and all the Shadow layers into one Multiply mode layer (with masks applied), with the two layers linked to each other.
Can layers be identified and merged according to blend modes?

This might work.
But this disregards possible masks on groups and just moves the Multiply artLayers into one group and all others into another.
// move all artlayers set to multiply and all other artlayers into two layersets and then merge those;
// 2011; use it at your own risk;
#target photoshop;
if (app.documents.length > 0) {
var myDocument = app.activeDocument;
var artLayers = collectLayers(myDocument);
var multiplyGroup = myDocument.layerSets.add();
multiplyGroup.name = "multiply";
multiplyGroup.blendMode = BlendMode.MULTIPLY;
var normalGroup = myDocument.layerSets.add();
normalGroup.name = "normal";
for (var m = 0; m < artLayers.length; m++) {
 var thisLayer = artLayers[m];
 if (thisLayer.blendMode == BlendMode.MULTIPLY) {
 thisLayer.move(multiplyGroup, ElementPlacement.PLACEATBEGINNING)
 else {
 thisLayer.move(normalGroup, ElementPlacement.PLACEATBEGINNING)
normalGroup.merge();
multiplyGroup.merge();
////// function collect all layers //////
function collectLayers (theParent) {
 if (!allLayers) {
 var allLayers = new Array}
 else {};
 for (var m = theParent.layers.length - 1; m >= 0;m--) {
 var theLayer = theParent.layers[m];
// apply the function to layersets;
 if (theLayer.typename == "ArtLayer") {
// exclude background layer;
 if (theLayer.isBackgroundLayer == false) {
 allLayers.push(theLayer)
 else {
 allLayers = allLayers.concat(collectLayers(theLayer))
// this line includes the layer groups;
// allLayers.push(theLayer);
 return allLayers

Premier Pro Blend mode issue

Hi.
I have previously used Screen blend mode to add a set of images on top of another set. The first set (rendered from 3DS Max) were the main image for my animation and the "superimposed" set were rendered from 3DS Max as VRay atmosphere render elements. Both images were rendered to a black background in Max. When I added the "superimposed" set I simply chose Screen blend mode for them and they were added, fine.
I am now trying to achieve something similar. This time the first set of images are rendered to a white background. The second set are rendered to VRay material select render elements (aI have tried both white and black background - same result). When I add the second set into a separate video slot on the timeline and use Screen blend mode, the result is a faded/patially transparent image overlayed where there are objects in the "background" image. Where there is a white background nothing of the top layer is visible.
I can see that this is somehow mixing the colours/light and producing pure white outside of the scene objects.
Q. How do I achieve the required mix of the two sets of images?
Many thanks,
Terry

Hi Mark.
What I have is an overlay image (or set of images) that has some scaffold on it. It has been rendered off from 3DS Max using a VRay material select render element so only the scaffold is visible but the remaining objects in the scene obscure the scaffold where applicable.
The scene image which scaffold will sit on top of has objects in around 3/4 of the scene with the white background showing to the side of these objects. The scaffold in the overlay images covers some of the scene objects and also some of the white background.
When I use a "Screen" Blend mode for the overlay images I get a pale partially transparent image of the scaffold where it sits above the scene objects and nothing at all where it sits above the white background.
The top image is the first frame showing scene objects. The second image is the scaffold overlay. The third image shows what happens when I use "Screen" Blend mode on the scaffold overlay in Premiere Pro. The scene object images are on Video 1 and the scaffold images are in Video 2.
The result I desire is the top image (scene objects) with the scaffold added on top.
Hope this helps.
Thanks,
Terry

Blending Mode Errors

So here is a video I am doing for a client and running into a huge problem I only encountered on Premiere CC (along with 100 others since upgrading...)
Check out this render I did of the project and goto about 1:22 you will see what I am talking about...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERUhN2Mawg4
You can probably tell I overlaid the candles on top and used the screen blend mode... This also happens later on in the video as well (at about 3:05). Can anyone please tell me how to fix it?! This video was to be done by tonight. Weird part is, it does not show in the program when previewing only during rendering it.
Thanks so much
--Matt
[Please choose only a short description for the thread title.]
Message was edited by: Jim Simon

Hopefully these screenshots help you help me...! Thanks Fuzzy

Merging Layers while keeping blend mode

I was informed if I have a layer that has a blend mode and I want to keep the blend mode in tact I should place a empty layer beneath then merge down. The results are not equal to before merging down.
Layer with Divide blend mode.
Layer above merged down to an empty layer
Not identical on a background ?

Once the blending mode is baked into the flattened image, it will change some. I don't usually see anything quite that noticeable except with my startrail stacks, though. If you are concerned that something when haywire within Photoshop, you could try a preference reset. Also be sure your graphics card's drivers are up to date.
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I can't set a layer blend mode to "Screen"

Hello, I'm new to Photoshop as of an hour ago (I've been using GIMP for 2 years).
I have a layer selected and I want to set the blend mode to "screen". However, the screen mode as well as several others are greyed out and won't let me select them. I'm using Windows 8 Home Premium 64 bit, and Photoshop CS6 Extended (Trial) 64 bit. I'm intending to get Adobe Creative Cloud tomorrow, but is the reason for this that I'm using the trial version? If not, what am I doing wrong? There is a screenshot below to show what I am talking about. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!
http://i1289.photobucket.com/albums/b504/thomasbowe34/ps_zpsc5e055f5.png

Took me a few second to figure out whats wrong. But the answer is, you're in the 32 bit mode. Changing the mode to 16 or 8 { (Image>Mode>8Bits/Channel) or (Image>Mode>16Bits/Channel) } will make it available.

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Best Regards

It's Ecran.

In Elements 5 I can no longer drop down menu for Blending modes

Hi
Something has broken my Elements 5 or is it me? I load a Jpeg make a copy, click on copy layer the blending mode writing goes from greyed out to normal. If I now click on the blending mode menu to drop it down or darken it so I can use the up/down keys to change modes nothing happens. I'm using Vista all updated and Elements 5.0.2. Tried repairing it to no avail. Any Ideas? Cheers Terry

Hi Trish, Thanks for your help. I tried what you said and it worked but if I then reload the program without pressing ctrl-alt-shift (so it now reads in the new Prefs file which it produced when it closed down) it's doesn't work again. I downloaded a trial of Elements 7 and that work OK and if I click on the Elements 5 prefs.psp Elements 7 loads and works OK as well. So I'm flommaxed as to what is happening. I reckon some update of Windows has broken it. Looks like I'll have to upgrade. Cheers Terry

Merging down Screen blending mode

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