GIMP's Layer Modes (Somewhat) Demystified – Part 4: A Pictorial Comparison

For a final comparison among the layer modes, I created several examples that visually show the effects of combining various layers.

Grayscale on Grayscale

First, I created a square non-dithered grayscale linear gradient lower layer, then made a copy and rotated it 90º for the upper layer. I chose each layer mode to see the effect. Here's a visual representation of what occurs with each layer mode.

GIMP's Layer Modes (Somewhat) Demystified – Part 3: Grain Extract to Value

In this article I discuss the following layer modes: Grain Extract, Grain Merge, Divide, Hue, Saturation, Color, and Value. I will use the same test images I used for Part 1 and Part 2.

Color Patterns on Color Blocks	Roses on Macaw
Macaw	Grayscale Gradient

For each of the test images, I changed the layer mode of the upper layer to each mode and saved the result. I've included these images in each section below as references. What follows are my observations and thoughts about how to use each layer mode. Feel free to copy any of these images to your desktop so you can load them into GIMP for a closer look.

The layer modes are presented in the order in which they appear in the Mode drop-down menu. Here's a full list with quick links.

Normal	Multiply	Grain Extract
Dissolve	Burn	Grain Merge
Lighten Only	Overlay	Divide
Screen	Soft Light	Hue
Dodge	Hard Light	Saturation
Addition	Difference	Color
Darken Only	Subtract	Value

GIMP's Layer Modes (Somewhat) Demystified – Part 2: Darken Only to Subtract

In this article I discuss the following layer modes: Darken only, Multiply, Burn, Overlay, Soft light, Hard light, Difference, and Subtract. I will use the same test images I used for Part 1.

Color Patterns on Color Blocks	Roses on Macaw
Macaw	Grayscale Gradient

For each of the test images, I changed the layer mode of the upper layer to each mode and saved the result. I've included these images in each section below as references. What follows are my observations and thoughts about how to use each layer mode. Feel free to copy any of these images to your desktop so you can load them into GIMP for a closer look.

The layer modes are presented in the order in which they appear in the Mode drop-down menu. Here's a full list with quick links.

Normal	Multiply	Grain Extract
Dissolve	Burn	Grain Merge
Lighten Only	Overlay	Divide
Screen	Soft Light	Hue
Dodge	Hard Light	Saturation
Addition	Difference	Color
Darken Only	Subtract	Value

GIMP's Layer Modes (Somewhat) Demystified – Part 1: Normal to Addition

A reader recently commented that he didn't understand why there are so many layer modes in GIMP and he wondered just what one is supposed to do with all of them. Since I wasn't able to help right off the bat, I decided to do some research and experiment. Figuring stuff out for yourself is fun and I find that it burns in the knowledge. So what follows is the process I went through to try and understand more about layer modes.

First, I created a 900 x 1200 canvas in GIMP divided into six sections: light red, dark red, light blue, dark blue, light green, dark green. I varied the intensities of the colors a bit to make it easier to notice possible differences. The HSV and RGB numbers in each large block indicate the actual color values. On top of each color I put a grayscale gradient with a block of black on the left and a block of white on the right. I merged all of the small color blocks onto a transparent layer to make a test pattern layer above the six-color background. I thought this example would be useful for artists to see how layer modes affect colors.

Color Patterns on Color Blocks