Using Blending Modes in Photoshop

Blending modes in Photoshop allow you to change the way that layers interact with each other. There are many useful applications of this, adding texture effects to photos, changing colours of photos and adding more attractive text boxes to images. In this tutorial we will show you how to make nicer text boxes on images rather than block colours or lowered opacity.

What you will need:

• Photoshop

1. With your image open create a block colour shape over the top on a new layer, this is what we will use for your text box.

2. Next with the new layer selected go to the blending mode drop down in the layers panel. From here you can select which effect looks best for your image, we have chosen the soft light mode.

As you can see from the result, the look of this box is much nicer than a solid block of colour or one that has had its opacity lowered slightly.

3. With your text box created all you need to do now is add the text. You could also experiment with the blending options, perhaps adding a drop shadow or internal shadow to improve the text box.