Layer Blending

Why Your Composites Look Fake (And the Lighting Math That Fixes Them)
Compositing

Why Your Composites Look Fake (And the Lighting Math That Fixes Them)

Most composites fail before you ever open the Extract tool. The subject is sharp, the cutout is clean, the background is gorgeous — and the result still looks like a ransom note. Something is obviously wrong, but you can’t quite name it. After ten years doing this at agencies and another stretch teaching it to students around the world, I can tell you exactly what’s wrong: the light doesn’t agree.

Master Blend Modes: A Practical Guide to Layer Blending in Photoshop
Photo Editing

Master Blend Modes: A Practical Guide to Layer Blending in Photoshop

Master Blend Modes: A Practical Guide to Layer Blending in Photoshop When I first started retouching, I treated blend modes like a mystery box—I’d click through them hoping something looked good. That approach wastes time and leads to unpredictable results. I want to show you how I actually use blend modes in my daily workflow, so you can apply these techniques immediately. What Blend Modes Actually Do A blend mode is a mathematical instruction that tells Photoshop how to combine a layer with the layers below it.