Overlay Blend: Why not?..... or why?

Hello hello,

I'm fairly new to Photoshop (just a few months using it actually) and stumbled upon an adjustment that I just cannot seem to resist using--an overlay blending mode applied to a duplicate background/layer.

Typically I will get the image looking as good as I can in Camera RAW (add a nice contrasty S-curve as well), then spit it out over to Photoshop. I'll do some minor edits and tweaks, and then duplicate the layer and set it to Overlay. I'll typically bump the opacity down to somewhere in between 30 and 60; whichever looks appropriate for the type of photo. Now, the interesting thing to me is that before I do anything to the image, I think it looks great. Then after I do the Overlay and toggle the preview on and off I'm amazed how excellent the effect is, and I end up asking myself why I would not do this to every single photo.

So my questions are.....

1) Do a lot of other people do this? The reason I ask is that I don't see it mentioned in a
lot of "workflow" type tutorials or books.

2) Is there anything I'm doing to the image with this method that is "bad?" In other words,
destructive to pixels or is just not practical for any reason? Is there a better way to get
the same result but with a more highly-recommended method? And the result that I
speak of is just plain "rich." That is the word that comes to mind after doing the
overlay; the photo just looks rich and lush, and when I click the preview off my image
that I initially thought was breathtaking just looks flat and dull.

Is this a well-practiced method or am I just talkin' the crazy talk!?

-Randy

RandMan wrote in post #14608094
Hello hello,

I'm fairly new to Photoshop (just a few months using it actually) and stumbled upon an adjustment that I just cannot seem to resist using--an overlay blending mode applied to a duplicate background/layer.

Typically I will get the image looking as good as I can in Camera RAW (add a nice contrasty S-curve as well), then spit it out over to Photoshop. I'll do some minor edits and tweaks, and then duplicate the layer and set it to Overlay. I'll typically bump the opacity down to somewhere in between 30 and 60; whichever looks appropriate for the type of photo. Now, the interesting thing to me is that before I do anything to the image, I think it looks great. Then after I do the Overlay and toggle the preview on and off I'm amazed how excellent the effect is, and I end up asking myself why I would not do this to every single photo.

So my questions are.....

1) Do a lot of other people do this? The reason I ask is that I don't see it mentioned in a
lot of "workflow" type tutorials or books.

2) Is there anything I'm doing to the image with this method that is "bad?" In other words,
destructive to pixels or is just not practical for any reason? Is there a better way to get
the same result but with a more highly-recommended method? And the result that I
speak of is just plain "rich." That is the word that comes to mind after doing the
overlay; the photo just looks rich and lush, and when I click the preview off my image
that I initially thought was breathtaking just looks flat and dull.

Is this a well-practiced method or am I just talkin' the crazy talk!?

-Randy

Hmmm, I've never tried this before, but I will when I get back to my PC. I wouldn't say it's destructive as long as you're saving a TIF file with the layers and you can go back and delete it if you want. It's actually a perfect example of a "non-destructive" way to edit something

Canon_Shoe wrote in post #14608136
Hmmm, I've never tried this before, but I will when I get back to my PC. I wouldn't say it's destructive as long as you're saving a TIF file with the layers and you can go back and delete it if you want. It's actually a perfect example of a "non-destructive" way to edit something

Let me know what you think--it seems too simple and too good to be true. If it's a color picture I usually do around 30-40% opacity, and a b&w is when I push it up to around 60 or 70.

I use overlay for some types of sharpening, and when I want to add a color cast; it's also good for adding detail to a sky via a B&W overlay layer. From what it sounds like you're doing, you can likely achieve the same results with a slight levels tweak. Of course, that's the beauty of PS, there's 101 ways to do whatever it is you're trying to achieve.

RandMan wrote in post #14608150
Let me know what you think--it seems too simple and too good to be true. If it's a color picture I usually do around 30-40% opacity, and a b&w is when I push it up to around 60 or 70.

If it makes your image better, go for it! I use overlay mode when I do high pass sharpening usually, but I've never really used it for much else. Kind of stoked actually to see what it does

I used to do a lot of overlays when I was maybe two years into photography. Several years have passed and my style (for public photos like weddings as well as personal work) has moved into a different direction. But, yeah, I had a hell of a lot of fun messing with layers.

Here's an early example of stuff I used to do--hopefully we're talking about the same thing !

EDIT: oops ! Not at all what you were talking about. But, yes, I totally ALSO use this for making stuff pop a little more.

<snip>

Canon_Shoe wrote in post #14608228
... Kind of stoked actually to see what it does

here's an example of enhancing detail and contrast via a black and white adjustment overlay layer:

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ok, so I did it on a photo I just edited from my trip to Kauai and I got to say, I'm intrigued. It seems to enhance the contrast and blacks? The image already has a huge s curve prior to this adjustment layer. The image on the left is without the adjustment layer and on the right is with the overlay layer at 25% opacity. Not a ton of difference, but it seems to increase the depth of the image. Best if you toggle back and forth between them......I'll keep playing

Question: when used on a standard layer copy or curves adjustment layer, does the overlay blending mode achieve anything that you cannot do with a finely tuned S curve adjustment layer?

I have to admit that after several years of playing with Photoshop, I don't use all of the blending layers as much as I probably should. When I do use the contrast related blending layers, I prefer Soft Light. The Adobe published descriptions of layer blending modes and even demonstrations of it are not easily understood, so I find I have to play with them a bit to understand what they actually do and when they're most effective.

Silver Effex Pro 2 B&W layer in "Luminosity" over a color layer...

The uses of the overlay layer mode is pretty diverse. I have never tried the process that the OP is using but I use it to simulate burn and dodge. I create a new blank layer above the layer I want to amend and then fill it with 50% grey. Paint in black on this layer to burn or white to dodge. You need to use a soft brush to avoid harsh lines and I normally set the brush to an opacity of around 12% and this allow you to brush area multiple times to get your desired effect.

RandMan wrote in post #14608094
1) Do a lot of other people do this?

Yeah, sometimes.

Alternatively, I use a Black and white adjustment layer set to soft light or overlay…
Desaturates and raises contrast.

Or a slightly blurred copy of the BG layer set to overlay or multiply for instance. Adjust opacity to taste.

RandMan wrote in post #14608094
Is there a better way to get the same result but with a more highly-recommended method?

Use an adjustment layer (curves or whatever) without settings, set to the desired blend mode, for a smaller file size.

Scatterbrained wrote in post #14608277
here's an example of enhancing detail and contrast via a black and white adjustment overlay layer:
The difference in the sky between these two photos is just the B&W overlay layer. It's also how guys like Joel Grimes achieve their gritty/edgy portraits without getting that mottled look that tonemapping imparts.

Scatterbrained--would you mind walking me through this one? Is it as simple as adding a black and white adjustment layer, and just changing the blending mode to overlay? Or is there more to it? Also, what is doing that is different than just doing an overlay on a simple duplicated image as I orginally posted?

Would love to know!

RandMan wrote in post #14612655
Scatterbrained--would you mind walking me through this one? Is it as simple as adding a black and white adjustment layer, and just changing the blending mode to overlay? Or is there more to it? Also, what is doing that is different than just doing an overlay on a simple duplicated image as I orginally posted?

Would love to know!

I think he's just talking about that when you save it, the file size is smaller with an adjustment layer as compared to a duplicate background layer

Check out this:

http://www.photoshopes​sentials.com …er-blend-modes/page-4.php

It explains what you found and why it works. All 5 pages are a worthwhile read.