The Hidden Power of Blend Modes in Adobe® Photoshop®

Foreword

To paraphrase Einstein, “Science without art is lame; art without science is blind.” At its best, Photoshop blends math, art—and heart.

You’ll find all three in Scott Valentine, and in his merry band of contributors to this book.

To write poetry, you’d best understand grammar. Featuring well over 500 menu commands and dozens of tools, Photoshop can appear overwhelming, but like any language, it can be broken down into a series of parts. Understand how those parts relate, and you can do nearly anything.

In the language of Photoshop, blending modes are like adverbs: They govern how something is done, often making a night-and-day difference.

With their often inscrutable names (what the heck is “Linear Dodge (Add),” complete with parenthesis?), ...