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Apply blend effects

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  1. Adobe XD User Guide
  2. Introduction
    1. Release updates
    2. Common questions
    3. Design, prototype, and share with Adobe XD
    4. Color Management
    5. System requirements
      1. Hardware and software requirements
      2. Adobe XD, Big Sur, and Apple silicon | macOS 11
    6. Workspace basics
    7. Change app language in Adobe XD
    8. Access UI design kits
    9. Accessibility in Adobe XD
    10. Keyboard shortcuts
    11. Tips and tricks
  3. Design
    1. Artboards, guides, and layers
      1. Get started with artboards
      2. Use guides and grids
      3. Create scrollable artboards
      4. Work with layers
      5. Create scroll groups
    2. Shapes, objects, and path
      1. Select, resize, and rotate objects
      2. Move, align, distribute, and arrange objects
      3. Group, lock, duplicate, copy, and flip objects
      4. Set stroke, fill, and drop shadow for objects
      5. Create repeating elements
      6. Create perspective designs with 3D transforms
      7. Edit objects using Boolean operations
    3. Text and fonts
      1. Work with drawing and text tools
      2. Fonts in Adobe XD
    4. Components and states
      1. Work with components
      2. Work with nested components
      3. Add multiple states to components
    5. Masking and effects
      1. Create a mask with shapes
      2. Work with blur effects
      3. Create and modify gradients
      4. Apply blend effects
    6. Layout
      1. Responsive resize and constraints
      2. Set fixed padding for components and groups
      3. Create dynamic designs with stacks
    7. Videos and Lottie animations
      1. Work with videos
      2. Create prototypes using videos
      3. Work with Lottie animations
  4. Prototype
    1. Create interactive prototypes
    2. Animate prototypes
    3. Object properties supported for auto-animate
    4. Create prototypes with keyboard and gamepad
    5. Create prototypes using voice commands and playback
    6. Create timed transitions
    7. Add overlays
    8. Design voice prototypes
    9. Create anchor links
    10. Create hyperlinks
    11. Preview designs and prototypes
  5. Share, export, and review
    1. Share selected artboards
    2. Share designs and prototypes
    3. Set access permissions for links
    4. Work with prototypes
    5. Review prototypes
    6. Work with design specs
    7. Share design specs
    8. Inspect design specs
    9. Navigate design specs
    10. Review and comment design specs
    11. Export design assets
    12. Export and download assets from design specs
    13. Group sharing for enterprise
    14. Back up or transfer XD assets
  6. Design systems
    1. Design systems with Creative Cloud Libraries
    2. Work with document assets in Adobe XD
    3. Work with Creative Cloud Libraries in Adobe XD
    4. Migrate from linked assets to Creative Cloud Libraries
    5. Work with design tokens 
    6. Use assets from Creative Cloud Libraries
  7. Cloud documents
    1. Cloud documents in Adobe XD
    2. Collaborate and coedit designs
    3. Coedit documents shared with you
  8. Integrations and plugins
    1. Work with external assets
    2. Work with design assets from Photoshop
    3. Copy and paste assets from Photoshop
    4. Import or open Photoshop designs
    5. Work with Illustrator assets in Adobe XD
    6. Open or import Illustrator designs
    7. Copy vectors from Illustrator to XD
    8. Plugins for Adobe XD
    9. Create and manage plugins
    10. Jira integration for XD
    11. Slack plugin for XD
    12. Zoom plug-in for XD
    13. Publish design from XD to Behance
  9. XD for iOS and Android
    1. Preview on mobile devices
    2. Adobe XD on mobile FAQ
  10. Troubleshooting
    1. Known and fixed issues
      1. Known issues
      2. Fixed issues
    2. Installation and updates
      1. XD appears as not compatible on Windows
      2. Error code 191
      3. Error code 183
      4. Issues installing XD plugins
      5.  Prompt to uninstall and reinstall XD on Windows 10
      6. Issues with preferences migration
    3. Launch and crash
      1.  XD crashes when launched on Windows 10
      2.  XD quits when you sign out of Creative Cloud
      3. Issue with subscription status on Windows
      4. Blocked-app warning when launching  XD on Windows
      5. Crash dump generation on Windows
      6. Crash log collection and sharing
    4. Cloud documents and Creative Cloud Libraries
      1. Issues with XD cloud documents
      2. Issues with linked components
      3. Issues with libraries and links
    5. Prototype, publish, and review
      1. Unable to record prototype interactions on macOS Catalina
      2. Issues with publish workflows
      3. Published  links do not appear in browsers
      4. Prototypes do not render correctly in browsers
      5. Commenting panel suddenly showing up on shared links
      6. Unable to publish libraries
    6. Import, export, and working with other apps
      1. Import and export in XD
      2. Photoshop files in XD
      3. Illustrator files in XD
      4. Export to After Effects from XD
      5. Sketch files in XD
      6. Third-party apps not visible in Export

Learn how best to work with blend effects to enhance your designs.

When working on images in your designs, you may want to go beyond a simple photo to create interesting and unique effects. For example, you may want to add your brand’s color as an effect on your images to create a visually appealing design. 

Blend modes allow you to automatically create composite image assets by combining an image layer with another layer using a set of pre-defined modes. 

Here are some sample effects created using Multiply, Screen, Hard Light, Exclusion, and Luminosity blend modes.

Blend modes
Use blend effects to create magic with colors!

Curious about blend color terminologies?

  • The blend color is the original color of the selected object, group, or layer.

  • The base color is the underlying color in the artwork.

  • The resulting color is the color resulting from the blend.

The base and the blend color mix depend on the selected blending mode.

Blend terms

A. Blend color B. Base color C. Resulting color 

Groups Blend mode Design outcomes
Normal Normal This is the default mode and no blending mode is applied.
Darken Darken Looks at the color information in each image and selects the base or blend color—whichever is darker—as the result color. Pixels lighter than the blend color are replaced, and pixels darker than the blend color do not change.
  Multiply Looks at the color information in each image and multiplies the base color by the blend color. The result color is always a darker color.
  Color Burn Looks at the color information in each image and darkens the base color to reflect the blend color by increasing the contrast between the two. 
Lighten Lighten Looks at the color information in each image and selects the base or blend color—whichever is lighter—as the result color.
  Screen Looks at the color information of each image and multiplies the inverse of the blend and base colors. The result color is always a lighter color. 
  Color Dodge Looks at the color information in each image and brightens the base color to reflect the blend color by decreasing contrast between the two.
Contrast Overlay Multiplies or screens the colors, depending on the base color. Patterns or colors overlay the existing pixels while preserving the highlights and shadows of the base color. 
  Soft Light Darkens or lightens the colors, depending on the blend color. The effect is similar to shining a diffused spotlight on the image.
  Hard Light Multiplies or screens the colors, depending on the blend color. The effect is similar to shining a harsh spotlight on the image. 
Inversion Difference Looks at the color information in each image and subtracts either the blend color from the base color or the base color from the blend color, depending on which has the greater brightness value. 
  Exclusion Creates an effect similar to but lower in contrast than the Difference mode.
Component Hue Creates a result color with the luminance and saturation of the base color and the hue of the blend color.
  Saturation Creates a result color with the luminance and hue of the base color and the saturation of the blend color. 
  Color Creates a result color with the luminance of the base color and the hue and saturation of the blend color. 
  Luminosity Creates a result color with the hue and saturation of the base color and the luminance of the blend color.

Want to create a blend effect?

  1. Before you begin, use these simple rules to understand how objects are handled when applying or modifying blend modes:

    • Appearance: applies and affects the whole object.

    • Master component: applies and affects all instances in your design project. For example, if you change the color of an object in the Master component, the change is cascaded across all instances in your design project.

    • Component instance: overrides the applied blend modes in component instances.
    • Repeat grid: applies on all the cells.
    • Interoperabilty: preserves the blend effect when working with Photoshop, Illustrator, Sketch, and After Effects.

  2. Select an image or object (including shapes, text layers, groups, masks, or components) on the design canvas. From the Property Inspector,  select and apply the blend mode of your choice. 

    You can also use Option Shift + / -  in MAC and Alt Shift + / - in WIN to toggle through the appearance levels of the applied blend modes.

  3. To preview the applied blend mode effect, select .

Limitations

Blend modes are not supported in these object behaviours:

  • Blend effects used in auto-animate change at the start of the transition without any animation.
  • You cannot apply blend effects on fills, borders, or shadows.

Examples 

Want to create a poster with blend effects? Select an image on canvas, and from the Property Inspector, select and apply the following blend options to create these stunning outcomes:

  • Hard Light
  • Difference
  • Screen
  • Color Burn
Original image
Color Burn Hard Light
Difference Screen

Tutorials

Watch this video to learn how to blend the color of an object with the background color of an artboard or blend the colors of multiple objects layered on top of one another. 

Viewing time: 1 minute.

What's next?

We've got you started with blend modes in Adobe XD. The interface of Adobe XD is intuitive; we think you will find it easy to unleash your creativity with colors, blurs, and more.

Have a question or an idea?

Ask the Community

If you have a question to ask or an idea to share, come and participate in Adobe XD Community. We would love to hear from you and see your creations.

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