Reference > Windows >
Paint Layers window

Paint Layer Blend modes

The following describes the behaviors of the layer blend modes available from the Paint Layer drop-down list. You can select blend modes on a per-layer basis and affect the appearance of the composite result. For more information, see Blend paint layers.

NoteUsing layer blend modes on multiple layers does not necessarily produce the results described. Some experimentation with the settings (and changing the paint layer stacking order) are generally required.

Blend Paint Layers list

The following table lists the available layer blend modes in Mudbox and how they affect the appearance of the resulting texture for the layer to which the blend mode was set. That is, blend modes only affect layers at and below the layer to which the blend mode was set.

Layer Blend Mode | Description
--- | ---
Normal | Displays A without any blending. This is the default setting.
Dissolve | Edits or paints each pixel to make it the result color. However, the result color is a random replacement of the pixels with the base color or the blend color, depending on the opacity at any pixel location.
Darken | Compares the values of A and B, and, for each pixel, uses the darker of the two.
Multiply | Multiplies the color values of each A and B pixel. Because non-white color channels have values of less than 1.0 (using a range of 0.0 to 1.0), multiplying them tends to darken colors.
Color Burn | Colorizes darker pixels from B with the color from A.
Linear Burn | Same as Color Burn but with less contrast.
Darker Color | Compares channel values total for blend and base color and displays the lower value color.
Lighten | Compares the A and B pixels at each location and uses the lighter of the two.
Screen | Makes the light areas much lighter, and the darker areas somewhat lighter.
Color Dodge | Colorizes lighter pixels from B with the A color.
Linear Dodge (Add) | Same as Color Dodge but with lower contrast.
Lighter Color | Same as Darker Color except displays the higher value color
Overlay | Darkens or lightens the pixels depending on the B color.
Soft Light | If the A color is lighter than mid-gray, the image is lightened. If the A color is darker than mid-gray, the image is darkened.
Hard Light | If a pixel color is lighter than mid-gray, screen mode is applied. If a pixel color is darker than mid-gray, multiply mode is applied
Vivid Light | Dodges or burns the colors by alternately increasing or decreasing the contrast, depending on the blend color.
Linear Light | Same as Vivid Light, except increases or decreases the brightness.
Pin Light | Replaces the B colors depending on the brightness of the A color. If the A color is lighter than mid-gray, B colors darker than the A color are replaced. And vice versa: If the A color is darker than mid-gray, B colors lighter than the A color are replaced.
Hard Mix | Produces either white or black, depending on similarities between A and B.
Difference | For each pixel pair, subtracts the darker one from the brighter one.
Exclusion | Similar to Difference but with lower contrast.
Subtract | Subtracts A from B.
Divide | Analyzes the color information in each channel, and then divides the base color from the blend color.
Hue | Uses the color from A; the value (brightness) and saturation from B.
Saturation | Uses the saturation from A; the value and hue from B.
Color | Uses the hue and saturation from A; the value from B.
Luminosity | Produces a result color from the saturation and hue of the base color, combined with the luminance of the blend color.

NoteUsing layer blend modes on multiple layers in combination will not necessarily produce the results described. Some experimentation with the settings (and changing the paint layer stacking order) may be additionally helpful.

Paint Layers menu

Items available from the Paint Layers ( ) menu.

New Layer

  Creates a new layer directly above the selected layer.

Delete Selected

  Deletes the selected layer.

Duplicate Selected

  Makes a copy of the selected layer. The duplicate layer is inserted directly above the selected layer.

Freeze from Selected

  Freezes the mesh based on the luminosity of your paint layers. Areas of low luminance (black) produce more freezing, and areas of high luminance (white) less freezing. If the layer has integer color, the freeze levels correspond to the full range of luminance. If the layer has floating-point color, the range of freeze levels is calculated relative to the lowest and highest image values. The lowest value produces the strongest freeze, and the highest pixel value produces no freeze.

  See also Freeze mesh based on a paint layer.

Refresh Selected

  Updates the selected paint layer with edits made to the texture image outside of Mudbox.

  For example, if an image is edited and saved in Photoshop while that image is referenced in the current Mudbox session, you can refresh the paint layer associated with the edited image to update with those edits. When a paint layer is modified within Mudbox since the last file save, a warning message displays before executing the layer refresh to help avoid overwriting unsaved paint edits.

Merge Visible

  Combines the visible paint layers into a single merged layer and then deletes them. See Merge paint layers.

Import Layer

  Imports a bitmap image from disk and applies it to a paint layer.

Export Selected

  Lets you save the selected layer as an image file. File formats include: .psd, png, bmp, tif, gif, jpg, tga, and OpenEXR. See also Create and edit paint layers using Photoshop.

Export Channel to PSD

  Exports a paint channel containing one or more paint layers as a Photoshop .psd format file. The .psd file is 8 bit (RGBA). (Images that are 16 bit depth and higher are converted to 8 bit for the export).

  A color background layer (Mudbox Background) and mesh layer (Mudbox Base Mesh) containing an image of the UV layout are included with the file. See also Export a paint channel containing multiple layers to Photoshop.

Import Channel from PSD

  Imports a Photoshop .psd paint channel containing one or more paint layers that was previously exported from Mudbox. Mudbox determines what edits were made on the paint layers and imports only the layers that have changed since the original export, scales them if required, and converts them back to their original bit depth. The contents of the Mudbox Base Mesh and Mudbox Background layers are ignored during the re-import. See also Export a paint channel containing multiple layers to Photoshop.

Related topics

Create a new paint layer

Rename a paint layer

Duplicate a paint layer

Import a paint layer

Export a paint layer

Delete a sculpt layer