Adobe ILLUSTRATOR 10 - Using Help | Contents | Index Back

Using Help | Contents | Index Back 196
Adobe Illustrator Help Using Transparency, Gradients, and Patterns
Using Help | Contents | Index Back 196
To invert all masks by default:
Choose New Opacity Masks Are Inverted from the Transparency palette menu.
About blending modes
You can blend the colors between two superimposed objects by using the blending
modes in the Transparency palette.
Blending modes let you vary the ways that the colors of objects blend with the colors of
underlying objects.
It’s helpful to think in terms of the following colors when visualizing a blending mode’s
effect:
• The base color is the underlying color in the artwork.
• The blend color is the color of the selected object, group, or layer.
• The resulting color is the color resulting from the blend.
Selecting blending modes
You can apply blending modes to any object, group, layer, or sublayer in your artwork.
To specify the blending mode of an object:
1 Target the desired object, group, layer, or sublayer.
2 In the Transparency palette, choose one of the following blending modes from
the menu:
Normal Paints the selection with the blend color, without interaction with the base color.
This is the default mode.
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.
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.
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.
Soft Light Darkens or lightens the colors, depending on the blend color. The effect is
similar to shining a diffused spotlight on the artwork.
If the blend color (light source) is lighter than 50% gray, the artwork is lightened, as if it
were dodged. If the blend color is darker than 50% gray, the artwork is darkened, as if it
were burned in. Painting with pure black or white produces a distinctly darker or lighter
area but does not result in pure black or white.
Hard Light Multiplies or screens the colors, depending on the blend color. The effect is
similar to shining a harsh spotlight on the artwork.