Hi,
I am not sure if I have understood the effect of applying blend modes to groups and I will be very glad if someone can clarify it to me. Suppose that I have a solid background layer and a single group above it. In this group I have a single layer with a blend mode applied – let name this mode X. If I set the group blend mode to 'Pass through' I will get the same result as if there was no group. If I set the group blend mode to the same blend mode as the layer (X) I must get the same result.
That's my understanding of group blend modes. Photoshop acts this way if the blend mode X is Darken, Multiply, Normal... But if the blend mode is for example Color Burn, Linear Burn or Color Dodge the results in the two configurations are different.
Here is what I have figured out.
If the blend mode X is 'Normal'(or Darken, or Multiply, ...) here is what happens: the layers in the group are merged over an invisible layer and after that this layer is merged over the background.
If the blend mode X is 'Color Burn'(or Linear Burn, or Color Dodge, ...) the layers in the group are merged over a visible white layer and after that this layer is merged over the background.
Why? I can't understand that behaviour. And there is more – for some blend modes the layer I talked about isn't even white. Why does photoshop act this way? |