Lighten Mode

This mode compares the active layer to the underlying image, and allows the areas of the active layer to show up that are brighter than the underlying image. But again, it looks at the red, green, and blue components of the image separately, which makes for some unpredictable results. Lighten mode was a lifesaver the last time I visited my brother in New York. He's an artist who has no sense for normal sleeping hours. Right when I was getting ready to call it a night, my brother decided to work on a computer project. The problem was that his computer was in the guest room, so I knew he was going to keep me up until he finished his project. Knowing that, I took a keen interest in the project. It turned out that he was attempting to create a photo-realistic 3D rendering of a lamp that he was thinking of making. The only problem was that he could either get the glass part of the bulb to show up or the glowing filament, but he couldn't get both (Figures 13.47 and 13.48). It looked as if it was going to take him hours to figure it out, so in the interest of a good night's sleep, I volunteered to help. After looking at the two images he had created, I thought that if Photoshop could only compare them and let one image lighten the other, then I could get to sleep. So I loaded both images into Photoshop, one atop the other, and set the blending mode of the top layer to Lighten and—bingo, I could call it a night (Figure 13.49).

I use Lighten mode a lot when I'm experimenting with filters. For instance, choosing Filter > Stylize > Glowing Edges will create bright lines where the edges of an object were in your image (Figure 13.50). I sometimes use this filter to add extra interest to an image by choosing Edit > Fade Glowing Edges, and then setting the Blending Mode menu to Lighten immediately after applying the filter (Figure 13.51). That way I can get the bright edge effect while maintaining the overall look of the original image. The same concept works great when you're using the Lighting Effects filter, which usually brightens or darkens an image. In Lighten mode, you can force that filter to only brighten the image (Figures 13.52 to 13.54). I like to use it after applying the Blur filter to add a soft-focus look (Figure 13.55). It can also be wonderful when sharpening an image. You can duplicate the layer twice, set the top layer to Lighten and the middle layer to Darken, and then sharpen the top two layers. Then you can control the dark and bright halos separately by lowering the opacity of each of those two layers. (This mode will be helpful in Chapter 16 when we talk about retouching.)