Blending Modes
A layer’s blending mode controls how its pixels combine with everything below it in the layer stack. The default is Normal — the layer simply draws on top at full opacity and doesn’t blend with anything below it. Switching to another blending mode makes layers blend in different ways — experiment to get unique-looking results.
Set the blending mode in two places: on each layer’s row in the Timeline, or in the dropdown on the Transform tab in the Properties Panel.
Plate currently ships 31 blending modes, grouped by what they do visually.
Normal
Section titled “Normal”Normal — the layer draws on top with no interaction. Opacity controls how much it blends.
Dissolve
Section titled “Dissolve”Dissolve — replaces semi-transparent pixels with a grainy pattern of fully opaque and fully transparent pixels. Translucent areas look like static.
Dancing Dissolve — same as Dissolve, but the grain re-seeds every frame so it flickers and animates automatically over time.
Darken
Section titled “Darken”These modes can only darken what’s below — never brighten it.
Darken — keeps whichever of the two pixels is darker. White in this layer disappears; black stays.
Multiply — darkens the layer below using this layer’s colors. White acts transparent; black stays black; mid-tones tint and deepen.
Color Burn — like Multiply but with stronger contrast. Darker areas of this layer crush what’s beneath more aggressively.
Classic Color Burn — legacy version of Color Burn, kept for older project compatibility.
Linear Burn — darkens more than Multiply with a flatter tonal response. Good for deep shadow tinting.
Darker Color — like Darken, but compares the whole color at once instead of mixing pieces from each layer. Produces cleaner hues.
Lighten
Section titled “Lighten”Mirror of the Darken family — these modes can only brighten.
Lighten — keeps whichever pixel is brighter. Black in this layer disappears; white stays.
Screen — the opposite of Multiply. Black acts transparent; white stays white; mid-tones brighten what’s beneath. The go-to for light wraps, glows, and lens flares.
Color Dodge — like Screen with stronger contrast. Bright areas push what’s beneath toward pure white. Great for specular highlights and rim light.
Classic Color Dodge — legacy version of Color Dodge.
Linear Dodge (Add) — straight additive brightening. Highlights blow out quickly. The classic mode for glows, fires, and pure-light looks.
Lighter Color — like Lighten, but compares the whole color instead of mixing pieces.
Contrast
Section titled “Contrast”Contrast modes darken the darks and brighten the lights. Mid-gray (50%) in this layer leaves the pixel below unchanged.
Overlay — multiplies darks, screens lights.
Soft Light — a gentler Overlay. Shifts lighting subtly without crushing blacks or blowing highlights.
Hard Light — same shape as Overlay but harsher. Spotlight-like punch.
Vivid Light — burns darks, dodges lights. Extreme — pushes everything toward saturated pure colors.
Linear Light — adds or subtracts brightness based on this layer. Vivid results without the clipping of Vivid Light.
Pin Light — only the brightest or darkest pixels of this layer pass through, based on a threshold. Useful for selective highlight or shadow tricks.
Hard Mix — posterizes the result to pure primary colors. Extreme and stylized.
Inversion
Section titled “Inversion”These modes invert or cancel colors rather than just adjusting lightness.
Difference — subtracts one image from the other. Identical pixels turn black; divergent colors brighten toward white. Useful for aligning things or producing psychedelic color shifts.
Classic Difference — legacy version of Difference.
Exclusion — a softer Difference. Mid-gray inverts what’s below; white fully inverts; black leaves the layer alone.
Subtract — subtracts this layer’s brightness from the layer below. Darker and more predictable than Difference.
Divide — divides the layer below by this layer. Niche — occasionally used to remove color casts.
Component
Section titled “Component”These modes swap one part of this layer’s color into the layer below while preserving the rest.
Hue — takes only the hue from this layer; keeps the layer below’s saturation and lightness. Recolors without touching tonal values.
Saturation — takes only the saturation. Boosts or desaturates the layer below based on this layer.
Color — takes hue and saturation, keeps the layer below’s lightness. The classic way to tint a photo — all detail preserved.
Luminosity — the opposite of Color. Takes only the lightness, keeping the layer below’s colors.