Blend Modes

Blend modes control how a layer's pixels combine with layers below it. Use blend modes for lighting effects, shadows, color adjustments, and creative compositing.

Setting Blend Mode

Change a layer's blend mode:

Select the layer in the Layers panel
Open the blend mode dropdown at the top of the panel (shows "Normal" by default)
Choose your desired blend mode

The default blend mode is Normal on every new layer.

Blend modes are hidden in Simple mode: the dropdown only appears in the full interface.

Tip: When multiple layers are selected, the dropdown shows "varying" if they have different blend modes. Selecting a mode applies it to all selected layers. When no layer is selected, the dropdown shows a dash placeholder.

Selecting a group instead of a layer points the same dropdown at the group, which has its own blend mode. Groups start on Pass Through, an extra entry at the top of their list: it isn't a blend operator at all, just the group declining to isolate, so its members keep blending with whatever is below the group.

Open blend-mode dropdown showing the full list of modes — Pick any mode from the blend-mode dropdown above the layer thumbnails.

Available Blend Modes

Basic

Mode	Description
Normal	Default mode. Upper layer covers lower layers based on opacity.
Lighter	Adds pixel values, creating a brightening effect.

Darken Group

Mode	Description
Darken	Keeps the darker of the two layers at each pixel.
Multiply	Multiplies colors, always darkening. Great for shadows.
Color Burn	Darkens base color to reflect the blend color by increasing contrast.

Lighten Group

Mode	Description
Lighten	Keeps the lighter of the two layers at each pixel.
Screen	Multiplies inverses, always lightening. Great for highlights.
Color Dodge	Brightens base color to reflect blend color by decreasing contrast.

Contrast Group

Mode	Description
Overlay	Combines Multiply and Screen. Darkens darks, lightens lights.
Hard Light	Like Overlay but based on blend layer. More intense contrast.
Soft Light	Gentler version of Hard Light. Subtle contrast adjustment.

Inversion Group

Mode	Description
Difference	Subtracts colors. Same colors = black, opposite = white.
Exclusion	Similar to Difference but lower contrast.
Subtract	Subtracts the layer from the base, darkening it. Never goes below black.
Divide	Divides the base by the layer, brightening it. Same colors = white.

Component Group

Mode	Description
Hue	Uses hue of blend layer with saturation and luminosity of base.
Saturation	Uses saturation of blend layer with hue and luminosity of base.
Color	Uses hue and saturation of blend layer with luminosity of base.
Luminosity	Uses luminosity of blend layer with hue and saturation of base.

Common Uses

Shadows (Multiply)

Create a layer above your sprite, fill shadow areas with a dark color, set to Multiply. The shadow darkens underlying colors naturally.

Highlights (Screen)

Paint bright areas on a Screen layer to add highlights that blend smoothly with base colors.

Color Overlay (Color)

Use Color mode to tint sprites without affecting their shading. Great for palette swaps or environmental lighting.

Contrast Boost (Overlay)

Fill a layer with 50% gray and set to Overlay. Paint with lighter grays to brighten and darker grays to darken areas.

Tips

Combine with opacity - Lower the layer opacity to reduce blend effect intensity
Experiment freely - Blend modes are non-destructive and can be changed anytime
Watch for banding - Some modes can create banding in gradients; adjust colors if needed
Export compatibility - Blend modes are flattened when exporting to formats that don't support them (PNG, GIF)