Difference Blend Mode in Photoshop
Vložit
- čas přidán 6. 08. 2024
- Download the Actions: www.f64.co/Diff_DL
Over the last several years I have explored many of the blend modes in Photoshop for color grading, but I haven't' touched on the Difference Blend Mode. A lot of what happens here on f.64 Academy is psycho targeted experimentation and that stuff takes time, a lot of time! When someone says, "Hey Blake, can you explore x topic", I do, I explore it a lot, sometimes I explore it for months. The Difference Blend Mode was one of those instances.
Taken from the Adobe Help Blog
Difference Looks at the color information in each channel and subtracts either the blend color from the base color or the base color from the blend color, depending on which has the greater brightness value. Blending with white inverts the base color values; blending with black produces no change.
I have traditionally used the Difference Blend Mode in the past for aligning layers. As the description implies, the difference blend mode subtracts the pixels of the base and blend layers and the result is the greater brightness value. Well, when you subtract two pixels with the same value, the result is black. This makes it very easy to see where images are aligned in Photoshop. If the resulting image (or most of it) is black, then you know the alignment is good!
I have stumbled upon a new way to use the Difference blend mode. This blend mode can be phenomenal for color grading. The idea is to use a solid color fill set to Difference. It will apply the color to the dark areas of your photo and automatically invert the color and apply it to the highlight areas. The result is a harmonious color grade that uses the complementary color principles of Color Theory to create a natural color grade.
Don't be fooled, it is not as simple as it sounds. the Difference Blend Mode can be slightly unpredictable. You have to be thinking in terms of opposites at all times! If you use red, the primary color grade will be cyan. If that red has a bright value it will make the image darker, and if it has a dark value the result will be less in the highlights and more in the shadows. I suggest relying on pattern recognition and really experimenting.
The biggest take away here is that the Difference Blend Mode relies heavily on the FILL slider. Fill will act as the calculation of the math that happens within the blend mode and Opacity controls the intensity of that calculation.
To make it easier, I have made a video and a series of actions to assist you in your understanding of the Difference Blend Mode. - Jak na to + styl
What I really love about f64 Academy channel on top of all these great tutorials is that Blake names those videos in a simple and straight to the point manner. None of that SUPER SECRET TIP ON HOW TO USE THE DIFFERENCE BLEND MODE NASA DOESN'T WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT :) But maybe that is exactly what's needed 'cause this video (along with other f64 videos) deserves hundreds of thousands of views. 'Cause this is a pure gold!
This feels very weird saying, but thank you Chuck Norris. that was the perfect roundhouse kick of a comment if I have ever seen one (super lame response). I don't know if I could handle 100,000 views on every video. I would feel so much pressure to answer everyone and go mad! :)
Thank you!
I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart! I have asked every Photoshop guru I can think of to define the non layer blending style difference between Opacity and Fill. I would always receive the typical answer having to do with layer blending styles. This is the first time that anyone has ever talked about how Fill calculates the blending algorithm differently than Opacity. At 5:54 of this video I was blown away! I thank you so much again and again and again and again and...
I'm looking at a lot of Photoshop channels but you are certainly the one that surpasses all the others because not only are you suggesting techniques but you are opening up new fields of creation. En toute sincérité et avec toute mon admiration.
WOW! Thank you so much :) I do appreciate it!
Excellent visual way to explain this blend mode, I learnt something today, thanks.
Pretty cool stuff Blake! Thanks for adding so much to people's knowledge and toolbox.
It is my pleasure, thanks for watching!
Haven't really used the difference blend made much in the past, however, I will now. Thanks Blake.
Yes, that's the one I was looking for! Thank you Blake!
Thank you Blake. Great technique as usual and glad to see you back. We can imagine that you have finished with the book 👍
:) It was a huge course, but I am back :)
Hey Blake, Jose from Puerto Rico. This is incredible! I've learned more about color watching your videos than anywhere else. Dam this is good!
Wonderful! I've always just flirted with then skirted around 'difference mode', but I won't any more. Man, you really opened my eyes! Also really appreciate your generosity with the Actions too, thanks a ton Blake!
Roger
That, my friend, is what I love to hear. Thanks for checking it out.
i did too never saw the why of it
Thanks Blake!!... I learn so much from your videos!!. Thanks!
Super technique. I really enjoy learning how to use lesser used blend modes.
Thanks for another gem of a tip Blake. This is brilliant! Tried it on a boring self portrait together with a texture just to see what happened. The difference (deliberate play on words) is subtle, but the result is astounding. Thanks for sharing the actions.
I see what you did there:) Glad it helped!
Thank you so much for this video! I've been using digital software for years but never understood the function of Difference past using it as an invert color function. Gonna have to quiz myself on this later! 😜
Sweet! That's the way to really understand it, run yourself through the paces and challenge yourself. I love it 😁
Thank you so much for such nice tutorial. I have learned a lot. Your explanations of colors expand my knowledge. I hope you would continue with your tutorials in such detailed and very educative way.
I will always aim to! That is the mantra of f.64 Academy, razor-sharp education :)
“Fill my brain” you are right there, this is like a night school course - I am learning so much from these ‘blend modes’ and ‘blend if’ Tutorials my brain hurts, but it is definitely ‘sinking in’ and I look forward to really ‘upping’ my Photoshop skills.
Wow difference blend mode seems so complicated reading that Adobe description. But not any longer. I am always grateful for your thorough explanations. I'll definitely be trying this soon.
haha, I know right. I was even like, wtf mate, write this for the layman :) I prefer to use pattern recognition, so much more reliable
Another favorite video! Thanks and keep rocking!
yesssssss! Thanks so much!
thanks a million I just bought your dodge and burn advanced and love your tuts and your actions keep up the great work
Woohoo! Thanks for your support :)
Thank you so much for the wonderful insight to this simple yet very effective colour grading technique.
My pleasure 😁
Great video, interesting use of complimentary colours.
Thank you so much. This is just amazing, Especially if you use it with "blend if". Thanks Blake
Was thinking the same thing. Very cool
Absolutely! Blend If is amazing with this BM
Blake, this is a millon dollar Tutorial. I have already applied it to 2 of my old images and there was a huge difference. The colors are much more rich without the overkill. I found that also using Blend If & Levels helps too. Thanks
Woo hoo! Blend If for the win, all the time!
Your video tutorials are always wonderful and very useful
Thank you so much!
Good tutorial, and I learnt a new technique. Many thanks.
Woo hoo!
Muchas Gracias por tus tutoriales. Aprendo mucho. De este, en particular...
Excellent. Thank you, Sir. Cant wait to try it
Blake....you simply rock!!! Many thanks...
Super well explained !
Excellent demonstration.
Complimentary split-toning on steroids! I’m just playing with you Blake. The truth is that I really enjoyed this episode. I mean Wow, suddenly the zone system, applied to colour, popped into place in my thick head and the delicate shades and tones that you achieved were a pleasure to behold. Nice vid, I’ve just lined up bonus video 1 to watch. A lot of things that were a tad cloudy in my head dropped into place. Post processing has changed a lot since my active photography days in the seventies. Now I’m in my 60s and stuck in a wheelchair, I’ve decided to pick up a camera again. What happened to trying to not go blind whilst endeavouring to dodge and burn, with a piece of torn cardboard, by a little red light in an otherwise jet black room 😳😊. Great work, pleasure to learn from you.
Excellent stuff as usual , thank you.
Thanks!
Wow! I stand in awe of what you accomplish with Ps. I always wondered what one could do with the Diff other than alignment. I thought that someone at Adobe would know something else about it. Scott Valentine's Blend Mode book or the classic by Barry Haynes, Ps Artistry dedicate lots of space to the the use of Blend Modes but neither come close to imagining color grading as an application for the Diff. Thank you for sharing this with us. It is a very elegant technique that permits the maker to apply fine gradation of styling that many other methods simply do not.
Vartkes
Thanks! That is a great assessment. I appreciate the feedback. I am an artist by trade. Artists tend to find a creative use for anything they are given. I am not saying the others are not artists, what I mean is this is a VERY outside the box approach to color grading that you will not find anywhere else.
NEVER knew what difference was used for. Thanks to you, now I do. Thanks!
Yep, it only works well in 8 bit mode for some reason. Photoshop does not like it in 16 bit. I am not sure why.
Works for me. I generally work in 8-bit mode. In fact I still use CS6 because I refuse to be roped into a never-ending rental on a program, even one as wonderful as Photoshop. If they ever decide to sell CC as an upgrade, I'll buy it. Untiil then... CS6 for the win! :)
Thanks! I never knew you could use it like this. And if you are looking for ideas for videos, I think it would be interesting to go into the various calculations / stack modes. Especially the unusual ones, like entropy, etc.
Thanks, I'll look into that!
Very enlightening! Thank you!
Sweet, you are welcome!
Who was the one person that did not like this video! Great tutorial Blake, keep up the hard work!
Haha, there is ALWAYS one... I think it is the same person
Great video and information. Thank you,
No problem! Thanks for watching.
It’s based on wisdom and care to share knowledge 🙏🙏🙏 thank you !
this kicks ass. thanks!
Great tutorial 👍
Thank you!
excellent tutorial.... thank u
You are welcome. Thanks for the feedback
very helpful thank you for sharing
:) Thanks for watching!
Good one Blake
Thanks!
Love it, but just a small question. When i have applied this in Photoshop, i dont see that change integrated into the file when i go back to lightroom?! even after saving any ideas?
Such a great tip, thanks for the video!
amazing video sir
Thanks!
Hi Blake, I just finished your 30 days of Photoshop tutorials and am now watching a few of your youtube videos. I downloaded the brushes easily, but for some reason the Difference BM action won't download.
Great ...congrats...
:) Thanks!
Having a bit of a strange issue when I go to flatten my layers. Every time select flatten image the effect created by the difference mode layer effectively disappears. I'm probably missing something obvious, however, it only happens when the blend mode is set to difference mode. Any ideas?!? Maybe a glitch, my Photoshop is up to date version?!
i am thinking this would be good to correct color cast ? what r your thoughts
Probably not. There are better blend modes and techniques. This can be unpredictable.
Wow! Just love this technique, Blake and I thank you so much! However I can't figure out why when I flatten the image (or view this PSD file in Lightroom, the Difference Blend mode effect can't be seen. Even when I merge visible in P{photoshop, the effect goes away.... Can't figure it out.
Thanks! I think this is a Photoshop bug. It works in 8 bit space, but there is a slight color shift (sometimes big color shift) in the 16 Bit world.
The workaround is to save your work as a PSD. Then before you want to print, convert to 8 bit color space and print from there. I usually send off 8 bit JPEGs to the printing service anyway. However, if you do your own custom printing that might not be the best idea.
Many thanks for the quick reply, Blake! Cheers!!!!
great, like to see more LR luminosity
Amazing tutorial and actions! I assume something similar would work using After Effects. No??
Quite possibly. I am not sure though because I don't really know After Effects, I am sorry :(
I create a solid color ajustment layer and as explained in the tutorial to color grade my photo and the result is great. However when I merge the layers together, the color of the resulting layer is completly different. That problem occurs only when I work in 16bits and only with the difference blend mode. What's going on?
It's a Ps thing with this. Apparently the image must be 8 bit to work. Kind of a pain.
@@f64Academy thank you for your answer!
thanks, now i will have to explore differant ways to ust this
I like the way you think.
This is a really great way to add subtle cinematic look to your pictures! I'm running into an issue though.....I open the file from lightroom using the latest updated version of photoshop cc, lightroom and ACR, apply the action on the image and then merge the layers, the picture changes into a faded version of the original (creating a stamp visible layer does the same)....any idea what causes this?
Update: The issue above only manifest itself when using a 16 bit image....when converting the image in PS to an 8-bit image first (through image->mode->8-bit) and then apply the effect and then merge the layers the issue is not there and the effect stays applied to the image. Any ideas?
I am trying to figure this one out also. It appears it is only an 8 bit effect which to me sounds like a Photoshop bug. I put in a ticket with them. I hope they can take a look at it.
Thanks for looking into it - it seems that way - maybe they have overlooked this one with their recent update
Well, this, again, is something that is really useful and profound. You are the no-bullshit-guy. Thank you.
:) I like that :)
:-)
The website is down :( good video, I learn a lot
It is back up now, sorry about that :)
Hello Blake. Very interesting tutorial. But when I save in JPG I have lost the effect. Why??'
Its something to do with Photoshop and 16 bit. It works in 8 bit mode but not 16. So, if you use it you'd have to convert to 8 bit more before saving. Its kind of ridiculous and something I didn't figure out until after this tutorial :(
Hi! I was wondering if we could replicate this method in Premiere Pro?
Sorry, I have no idea. I don't use premiere pro 😔
Thanks
You are welcome!
Can anyone tell me, why i tried using this anytime i save or anytime i merge it takes away the difference layer. I have a client who is waiting on these images. literally everytime i go to save, or i merge layer i have moved it doesnt include the difference layer. i cannot find anything on it. Please help. Thanks
Convert to 8 bit first, for some reason this does not work on 16 bit images. So do all your stuff, cover to 8 bit to export and then you can bounce back in the history to 16 bit
@@f64Academy ill try this tomorrow! It shows up in photoshop. When i save the file it doesnt show the grade in lightroom. So i tried exporting from photoshop. It doesnt show the difference layer in it. I do a shift control alt e. It makes the new layer without the difference layer. When doing the conversion on a finished image it should work then? I tried getting the same thing with other methods and it didn't work so id really like to keep the grade i have now.
Will try more tomorrow if i dont get a response by then. Thank you!
Awesome technique, however when I go to flatten the image the effect of the blend mode disappears and I can't for the life of me figure out why. Anybody have this same issues?
Yeah, that is a problem with Adobe. For some reason, that blend mode will not work in 16-bit mode. You will have to change to 8 bit before you flatten. I didn't know that until after the tutorial :(
Oh ok well at least it's not me going insane lol! I suppose that's at least a bit of a workaround in the meantime. Hopefully, Adobe fixes it up in an update sometime soon. Thanks for the reply Blake.
@@f64Academy I had this problem - when I flattened an image or created a stamp layer from the layers I lost contrast in the image and the colours seemed to shift a bit. I managed to work around it by not flattening the image or merging visible layers - but using Merge Down instead. Now the image doesn't change at all. Of course, you need to plan ahead when doing complex edits with multiple layers - in this case you'd need to create a stamp layer at the top of your layer stack, run this technique, then select your Difference layer and the stamp layer beneath it, Merge Down and you're good to carry on. It seems to work!
I have tried this, but find myself unable to export the result I see into jpeg. no matter how I have tried. Am I the only one? otherwise thanks for the many tips, I am a recent subscriber and have gained a lot from your blend if and colour grading videos. Robert
If you have as an 8bit jpeg it will stick, it basically needs to be in 8 bit on output.i think it's a Ps flaw, is been around for a while!
another twist to these is using a masling brush to adjust how it affects differant parts of you image.
Absolutely! There is always the mask :)
"A lot of colors are being substracted, or added, and the result inverted color, whatever, blablabla"
Ok, thanks for explaining what difference actually does
sometimes that stuff is not as important as actually knowing how to use it. Just goes to show you that I can't please everyone