Blend Mode Visualizer
Stack two of your own images and flip through every layer mode. Seeing Multiply and Overlay on your actual photos teaches more than any description.
No images yet? A built in demo runs so you can still see what each mode does.
Normal
Darken
Lighten
Contrast
Inversion
Component
Browsers implement a slightly different set of blend modes to GIMP. Where a GIMP mode has no browser equivalent, the closest match is shown.
The Five Families
Thirty odd blend modes sounds like a lot to learn. It is not, because they fall into families that behave the same way.
| Family | What it does | Neutral colour |
|---|---|---|
| Darken | The result is never lighter than the base | White disappears |
| Lighten | The result is never darker than the base | Black disappears |
| Contrast | Darkens the dark parts, lightens the light parts | Mid grey disappears |
| Inversion | Compares the two layers and shows the difference | Black disappears |
| Component | Takes one property, such as hue, and leaves the rest | Depends on the property |
That neutral colour column is the most useful thing on this page. It explains why a Multiply layer filled with white does nothing, and why painting mid grey on an Overlay layer is the standard way to dodge and burn without touching the original pixels.
The Six You Will Actually Use
| Mode | Real job |
|---|---|
| Multiply | Dropping a signature, a stamp or a texture onto a light background. White vanishes, so you never need to cut it out. |
| Screen | Adding light. Flares, sparks, smoke and fire on a dark background drop straight in. |
| Overlay | Boosting contrast, and colour grading with a solid colour layer at low opacity. |
| Soft Light | A gentler Overlay. The safest choice for dodging and burning a portrait. |
| Difference | Not for looks. Stack two versions of an image to see exactly what changed. Identical images go pure black. |
| Colour | Recolouring an object while keeping all its shading and texture intact. |
Using Blend Modes in GIMP
- Open the Layers panel. The mode dropdown sits directly above the Opacity slider.
- Select the upper layer. A blend mode describes how a layer interacts with everything below it, so setting it on the bottom layer does nothing.
- Change the mode and watch the canvas. Opacity is the second control, and most of the time you want both.
- To limit the effect to part of the image, add a layer mask and paint black where you want it hidden.
GIMP 2.10 and later split some modes into legacy and default versions, which behave differently because the newer ones work in linear light. If a mode looks stronger than you remember from an old tutorial, that is why.
The full blend mode reference lists every GIMP mode with its formula and a visual sample, and the layer masks guide covers limiting an effect to one area.
Common Questions
Why does my blend mode do nothing?
Three usual causes. You set it on the bottom layer, the layer above is fully opaque and covering everything, or the layer's content is the neutral colour for that mode, such as white on a Multiply layer.
Which mode removes a white background?
Multiply hides white. It is not a real cutout though, because anything light in your subject also goes semi transparent. For a proper cutout use the background remover.
Do blend modes survive export?
They are baked into the flattened image when you export a JPG or PNG. Only the XCF file keeps them editable, which is why keeping an XCF master matters.
Why do the browser results differ slightly from GIMP?
GIMP 2.10 and later blend in linear light by default, while browsers blend in sRGB. The character of each mode is the same, the exact numbers are not.