Layer blend modes

A layer's blend mode determines how the layer's pixels or contents blend with the pixels on the layer beneath.

Blend Modes
Common blend modes: (A) Normal, (B) Multiply, (C) Screen, (D) Overlay, (E) Divide (F) Colour Burn.

Blend mode types

Affinity Photo 2 supports an impressive selection of different blend modes. The most commonly used blend modes are as follows:

Other available blend modes include Darken, Darker Colour, Lighten, Lighter Colour, Colour Dodge1, Add, Soft Light, Hard Light, Vivid Light, Pin Light, Linear Light, Linear Burn, Hard Mix, Difference1, Exclusion1, Subtract, Hue2, Saturation2, Luminosity, Colour2, Average1, Negation1, Reflect1, Glow1, Contrast Negate, Erase and Passthrough.

1 Not available in Lab16 mode.

2 Not available in Greyscale mode.

'Special 8' blend modes and fill opacity

Blend Options When adjusting blend opacity, some blend modes (listed below) work best by adjusting Fill Opacity, rather than the layer's Opacity. The Fill Opacity option is available from the Layers panel’s Blend Options option. Fill opacity is essential when using Hard Mix blending in particular.

To change the blend mode of a layer:
  1. On the Layers panel, select a layer.
  2. Choose a blend mode from the pop-up menu on the panel.

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