Macromedia MAX 2005 - Anaheim, CA What’s New In Flash 8
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Working with Blends
Blend Modes
Blend two movie clips (or buttons) together using the following modes: layer, darken, multiply,
lighten, screen, overlay, hardlight, add, subtract, difference, invert, alpha, and erase. Again, straight
out of Photoshop. Graphic designers will love this feature, but not as much as filters :).
In Flash, blend modes let you create composite images. Compositing is the process of varying the
transparency or color interaction of two or more overlapping objects. Blending modes also add a
dimension of control to the opacity of objects and images. You can use Flash blending modes to
create highlights or shadows that let details from an underlying image show through, or to colorize a
desaturated image.
About blend modes
Blend modes let you create composite images. Compositing is the process of varying the
transparency or color interaction of two or more overlapping objects. Blending lets you create unique
effects by blending the colors in overlapping movie clips.
A blending mode contains these elements:
• Blend color is the color applied to the blend mode.
• Opacity is the degree of transparency applied to the blend mode.
• Base color is the color of pixels underneath the blend color.
• Result color is the result of the blend's effect on the base color.
Blend modes in Flash
Since blend modes depend on both the color of the object you're applying the blend to and the
underlying color, you must experiment with different colors to see what the result will be.
Macromedia recommends that you experiment with the different blend modes to achieve the effect
you want.
Flash provides the following blend modes:
Normal applies color normally, with no interaction with the base colors.
Layer lets you stack movie clips on top of each other without affecting their color.
Darken replaces only the areas that are lighter than the blend color. Areas darker than the blend
color don't change.
Multiply multiplies the base color by the blend color, resulting in darker colors.
Lighten replaces only pixels that are darker than the blend color. Areas lighter than the blend color
don't change.
Screen multiplies the inverse of the blend color by the base color, resulting in a bleaching effect.
