A layer's blend mode determines how the layer's pixels or contents blend with the pixels on the layer beneath.
Common blend modes: (A) Normal, (B) Multiply, (C) Screen, (D) Overlay, (E) Divide (F) Color Burn.
Blend mode types
Affinity Photo 2 supports an impressive selection of different blend modes. The most commonly used blend modes are as follows:
Normal—The default blend mode. The top pixels display over underlying pixels according to the level of top layer opacity.
Multiply—The blending result is a combination of the top and bottom color at each pixel position, always producing a darker value.
Screen—The opposite of Multiply, where the blending result is a combination of the inverse of the top and bottom color at each pixel position, always producing a lighter value.
Overlay—Applies either Multiply or Screen blend mode, depending on the bottom color at each pixel position. If the bottom layer pixels are <50% gray, it multiplies; if >50% it screens.
Divide1—Lower layers are lightened based on luminance on the upper layer. White has no effect. Lightness is increased progressively by gray through to black.
Color Burn1—Darkens the bottom color pixels relative to the values of the top color pixels.
Other available blend modes include Darken, Darker Color, Lighten, Lighter Color, Color Dodge1, Add, Soft Light, Hard Light, Vivid Light, Pin Light, Linear Light, Linear Burn, Hard Mix, Difference1, Exclusion1, Subtract, Hue2, Saturation2, Luminosity, Color2, Average1, Negation1, Reflect1, Glow1, Contrast Negate, Erase and Passthrough.
1 Not available in Lab16 mode.
2 Not available in Grayscale mode.
'Special 8' blend modes and fill opacity
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.
Color Burn
Linear Burn
Color Dodge
Add (Linear Dodge)
Vivid Light
Linear Light
Hard Mix
Difference
To change the blend mode of a layer:
On the Layers panel, select a layer.
Choose a blend mode from the pop-up menu on the panel.
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.