Software: Photoshop
Level: Beginner
Author: Peter (Online Adult Designs)



There are many different types of layer effects or blending modes that can be applied in your work to help improve or heighten the look of a design. These blending modes effect the way the pixels of a layer look on the pixels under it. Color dodge is one such effect that can be used in order to brighten the look of layers and the way they blend with the background or base color.

Step 1) Start off by creating a new canvas with a dark blue (#003366) background. 150x150 pixels will be sufficient for what we are doing.

Step 2) Next choose the text tool and create a line of text on the canvas and make the font color a light blue (#3399CC).


             figure 1

When using color dodge the opacity and lightness of the pixels will brighten and saturate the pixels underneath. This means that it will work best if the layer that you are applying the color dodge to is a lighter color. This is why I choose light blue (#3399CC) as the color of the text.

Step 3) Click on the drop down menu on the layers window and choose color dodge to apply the effect. Immediately you will see a change in the layer and an exciting change to the look of the text.


             figure 3

With a little playing around you'll be able to apply this to pictures in your work to create unique and exciting designs. Try experimenting with different color backgrounds and gradient backgrounds. This will vastly effect the way the color blending has on the layer.


             figure 4