Adobe Illustrator CC 2015 - Manual (Page 221)

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Painting
Last updated 6/5/2015
More Help topics
Targeting items for appearance attributes
Printing and saving transparent artwork
About blending modes
Blending modes let you vary the ways that the colors of objects blend with the colors of underlying objects. When you
apply a blending mode to an object, the effect of the blending mode is seen on any objects that lie beneath the object’s
layer or group.
It’s helpful to think in terms of the following color terminology when visualizing a blending mode’s effect:
• The blend color is the original color of the selected object, group, or layer.
• The base color is the underlying color in the artwork.
• The resulting color is the color resulting from the blend.
For a video on working with blending modes, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0055 . To see an example of how blending
modes and gradients can be used to create comic book-inspired characters with depth and color, see
www.adobe.com/go/learn_ai_tutorials_blendingmode_en and www.adobe.com/go/learn_ai_tutorials_depth_en .
Illustrator provides the following blending modes:
Normal Paints the selection with the blend color, without interaction with the base color. This is the default mode.
Darken Selects the base or blend color—whichever is darker—as the resulting color. Areas lighter than the blend color
are replaced. Areas darker than the blend color do not change.
Multiply Multiplies the base color by the blend color. The resulting color is always a darker color. Multiplying any color
with black produces black. Multiplying any color with white leaves the color unchanged. The effect is similar to drawing
on the page with multiple magic markers.
Color Burn Darkens the base color to reflect the blend color. Blending with white produces no change.
Lighten Selects the base or blend color—whichever is lighter—as the resulting color. Areas darker than the blend color
are replaced. Areas lighter than the blend color do not change.
Screen Multiplies the inverse of the blend and base colors. The resulting color is always a lighter color. Screening with
black leaves the color unchanged. Screening with white produces white. The effect is similar to projecting multiple slide
images on top of each other.
Color Dodge Brightens the base color to reflect the blend color. Blending with black produces no change.
Overlay Multiplies or screens the colors, depending on the base color. Patterns or colors overlay the existing artwork,
preserving the highlights and shadows of the base color while mixing in the blend color to reflect the lightness or
darkness of the original color.