You probably know how to use the basic functions of your Adobe Photoshop software such as, moving, hiding and editing objects but maybe you didn’t know how to blend? The blending feature is one of my favorites in Photoshop as it allows me to create so many effects and visual novels. Here are some tips on how to blend in with Procreate to get the best results.
Some of my preferred blend techniques involve dragging items from the layer you’re working on over to the layer below it. This way you’ll avoid making two identical images when combining images with the blend technique. To do this just go to layer and click on the little arrow on the bottom left corner of the layer you want to swap out. Now drag an item from the layer above over to the layer below. For instance if you wanted to make a oval from the layer beneath you would drag it out to the layer below and blend the oval into the original image. To make the new oval bigger just add more blending strokes.
Another simple technique to blend in with Procreate earlier when drawing with a brush is to use the little square on the toolbar to drag your mouse cursor over the area you want to blend in. When in blend mode simply click the little square and drag your mouse cursor over the image that you want to combine. Blend in your image by selecting the shape with your cursor and clicking on the little square. This will blend in your image with the current layer you’re working on. To undo the blend just click the square again.
A very popular tip I use with my illustrations is to highlight or otherwise create shadows on the object I’m drawing. If you’ve ever used Illustrator before you may be familiar with the blend modes. Blend modes are probably the easiest way to change how an object appears to match its surroundings. You simply select a mode, for example, to make your object look like it’s been sanded. There are also a few invisible modes, which I’ll talk about later, but for now you want to select some basic blending techniques.
While working in the blend mode you’ll notice there are two different effects that can be achieved. You can either make the highlights of your image disappear or you can make the areas where you create the shadows seem to get darker. The blend modes available are very handy and Procreate has a number of them; it’s just a matter of experimenting to see what suits you best.
One final simple tip I’d like to mention is one that doesn’t relate to the blending modes at all, but rather to how handy the sift and smudge tools are within the Photoshop program. The sift tool is a little mouse button that, when clicked, will randomly locate objects in your image that contain zigzag patterns. These can be useful for creating interesting effects when applied to an image. The smudge tool is a tool that, when clicked, will randomly apply a specified colour to an outline or background of an object. These two tools really come in handy and I think they are among the coolest features of Photoshop that every Photoshop user should know about.
