The ABSOLUTE best Layer Blending Technique in Photoshop

The Unrivaled Blend If Panel: f64.co/Blend-If-Panel
I love Blend If. That's no secret.
I routinely praise it here on f.64 Academy, BUT it has problems. There are things I don't like about it. There are things I wish Adobe would do with it. There are things I wish were easier with it.
I could sit here and hope that my wishes came true. Or I could do something about it. SO that's what I did. You are about to see Blend If on a whole new level thanks to my great buddy Tonee Gee who codes my panels. I firmly believe the Gee stands for Geenius!
Chapter:
00:00 Common questions about Blend If
00:39 How to quickly use Blend If
02:50 Why Blend If is so great
04:30 What is NOT so great about Blend If
06:03 The BLEND IF Panel for Photoshop!
07:12 How to use the Blend If Panel
07:50 The Unrivaled Blend If
____________________________________________
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[@brandonmjohnsonphotography]

Since you are the Master at Blend If, no one is better at it. You creating a Blend If panel is perfection! Now, I'll be waiting on a color theory one. 😂

[@f64Academy]

:) There are already color theory buttons on it ;)

[@NeluCiorba]

Bcz you supporting veterans I'm diving in without any hesitation. Bless you and thank you for your PS education lesson, following you for awhile now!

[@f64Academy]

Very much appreciated! Thank you!

[@marthaglotzhober4335]

I purchased this, and have been working through the lessons while working on some of my own photos (the ones I felt were my best editing). So far, this has been a real game changer for me!

[@f64Academy]

That's incredible! Thanks for sharing that with us!

[@SumitSingh-vc7jm]

We can clearly see the hardwork put on making this video. Big round of applause👏

[@f64Academy]

Thank you so much 😀

[@TallyTechandTroubleshooting]

VERY powerful, lightweight panel! This will get utilized 100% of the time. Fantastic job to the both of you, Blake !!🙏

[@f64Academy]

Thanks so much!

[@stephenwoodburn2970]

I am early on in the education for the panel, Blake, but WOW, what a game changer. I use blend-if quite a bit as I have been following your education for a while. This is a game changer having it all right there and is very easy to use. I often don't use color blend-if, but that is all about to change. Thanks to you and Tony for creating another go-to panel to help us all with our workflow. I hope you and your family are well.

[@f64Academy]

Thank you! We are all good here. Thanks a ton for your support, we really appreciate it!

[@photonsonpixels]

Buying this course/panel was one of the easiest decisions I've had to make recently. The panel is awesome and quite intuitive. Once installed it becomes a constant reminder for us to consider incorporating Blend If adjustments in the editing workflow. Brilliant. Thank you Blake!

[@f64Academy]

You're the best! Thanks so much Jorge!

[@quirkworks4076]

Once again you have made our jobs easier! Thanks, Blake!

[@f64Academy]

Sweet! That's what I am all about ;)

[@DavidRamsey1]

Just bought the panel on Friday and went through the training videos this weekend. I knew Blend If existed but found it non-intuitive and therefore rarely used it. Blake's panel makes it so easy and - at least to me - easy to understand, that I suspect I will use it on most of my images. I already have two of the most well known luminosity masking panels and in a number of ways this allows me to do some of the same tricks you can do there, but easier and, occasionally, it's more flexible as well. Recommended.

[@f64Academy]

Wow! That's awesome! Thanks so much for supporting my work, it really means a lot to me!

[@DavidRDay]

Just finished the class for this technique last week. It is a must for photographers who what to level up their post-processing game.

[@f64Academy]

Thanks, David 😁 you rock!

[@bala1000mina]

Thank you so much Blake! Really interesting, The panel saves a lot in job and very efficient!

[@f64Academy]

Great to hear!

[@iancxxx]

I never knew about that blend if color options thank you very much!

[@f64Academy]

My pleasure!

[@kathygabriel768]

This is so cool!!!! I’m sold…. Is there like a gold star that people get that purchase every single thing you’ve ever made 😅

[@f64Academy]

😁 I really appreciate your support, that means the world to me! ⭐⭐⭐

[@MvRPhGy]

Fantastic!!! A must have!!! The best tool I ever used... Robert VM

[@f64Academy]

I love it! Thank you :)

[@theartofsellingart]

learned something new today

[@f64Academy]

That's good. I can teach you some things in Pop: One too. For starters, charge your battery and get a portable charger 🤣

[@sunilchristian3430]

Thank you!

[@f64Academy]

You're welcome!

[@aaz148a]

That was a masterclass!

[@f64Academy]

Thanks ;)

[@sanjibpaul3917]

Thank you 🙋‍♂️

[@f64Academy]

No problem 👍

[@deleon9111]

You had me at “Color Blend-If” :-)

[@f64Academy]

The Color Blend If quick access buttons are probably my favorite next to that gorgeous slider!

[@djerfiyoucef4066]

Thank you bro

[@f64Academy]

My absolute and sincere pleasure!

[@silvanodifatta8049]

Wonderful! I wanted to know if the course videos have the ability to display subtitles in Italian. Thanks

[@f64Academy]

No, sorry, I did not make subtitles for the course material.

[@Randyrocker1]

Bought it without question, knowing how legit and dedicated you are Blake Rudis. I'm sure the people at Adobe are freaking out, that you beat them to the punch, which should tell everyone, just how undedicated and lazy the people at Adobe Photoshop are with their own products, as if they really cared about their customers HA!

[@f64Academy]

They are pretty prolific in their updates. They just have this thing hidden and its been there forever. Out of sight out of mind. Who knows if they will ever move it out of there, but it's all good, we have a solution now :) Thank you for your support! I do appreciate it.

[@melissam731]

Blend If was hard to learn because it isn't very intuitive for me. I just bought this course and can't wait to learn how to use this in many different ways for my photos. This brief tutorial really helped so I can only imagine how helpful this course will be. Thank you!

[@f64Academy]

Woohoo! I think you'll love it and if you need any help asking the way, respond to any email that comes from me and I can help.

[@rogalaphotography]

We to your channel and purchased the plugin. I didn’t watch the tutorial videos so the plugin wasn’t intuitive…So I guess I’ll watch the videos!

[@f64Academy]

;) that's why we make the education. It ain't for my health, haha

[@williamcarter6374]

Looks great Blake! Does the panel have a way to add the color overlay for viewing the mask without double clicking the layer?

[@f64Academy]

It sure does!

[@josephstanski5180]

Good Morning Blake - I know you are the best on the Internet for "Blend If" with your pannel on the subject - Question: Can you use "Blend If" when you you "focus stack" without getting those soft edges between the layers. I 've searched your KZbin videos and haven't seen any info on this subject (if any). I know photoshop has a focus stacking fix, but it doesn't work all that well, and thought maybe "Blend If" might do it a lot better (a little better) Thanks so much Blake.

[@f64Academy]

Thank you! I wouldn't rely on it for Focus Stacking as FS looks at objects and focus of objects to create the mask. Blend if doesn't really care about objects, it looks at tonal value, so it's a different approach altogether, in my opinion. I prefer Helicon focus for focus stacking over PS.

[@josephstanski5180]

@@f64Academy Thanks so much for the referral and your great honest opinion. J

[@reesmarkham2140]

It will probably make my editing easier,faster, and more precise.I plan on getting it this week. Love you, man. Where is your Bible on the right-hand side? Keep up the good work 🎨 👏

[@f64Academy]

Thanks! It's great for any workflow! The Bible is still there just closer to my desk next to my monitor outside the view of the camera 😉

[@michaelcolburn3985]

Did you add a button to the panel that will apply the magenta color layer so you can see where the blend-if is affecting?

[@f64Academy]

Of course 😉

[@mrlarrybull]

Bought the 'Blend If' course and as usual - excellent tool and teaching! Thank you! Question that will likely reveal my ignorance: is this a tool that can be used for Real Estate photography editing to bring back the windows that are blown out? I use HDR most the time but the windows are too bright. Can I take one of the 5 exposures where the windows look great but the interior is dark, layer the HDR with it in PS and then make the windows pop?

[@f64Academy]

Awesome! Thanks for your support! For sure, you can use it for that purpose. Although, when I shot real estate 10 years ago, I would expose for the windows and place fill flash inside the rooms. The result was a much better quality and natural looking image that I prefer over the HDR images I see today in Real Estate. I still have no idea why people are using garish HDR techniques in 2023 when there are better and easier methods. (not saying you use those techniques, but we looked into a house recently and the photos made me want to throw up, lol)

[@timeslikethese6379]

Is there a way to turn off the 'help' fly outs? Enjoy the module. Thanks.

[@jeffrifkin3603]

I’d like to see how you use the panel for in studio portraits

[@f64Academy]

All images have colors and tones, so no matter the material there is a way to work with it. Like putting a color overlay just in the eyes and using blend if for the midtones only. Or color grading darker tones to make them warmer or cooler.

[@jacksonteague876]

Do you have a few more videos of using this panel?

[@f64Academy]

Not at this time. I JUST released it. I'll have more soon.

[@alanm.6096]

Good review...like all the other 3rd party panels out there, it does make you wonder why Adobe does not work to simplify the process and tools, that these panels aim to do.

[@f64Academy]

SHHHHH! This is job security for me ;)

[@stevechan5985]

Hi Blake, I have a mac that is running macOS Mojave due to the need for some older 32 bit applications. I'm locked into Photoshop 2019 on this computer. Does your Unrivaled Blend If panel support the older CEP framework?

[@f64Academy]

No. Sorry, this is a UXP panel and the framework behind Ps 2019 does not support this code.

[@toine1915]

Hi, Blake. Is it also useful with black and with black and white work? I only work in black and white. Antoine.

[@f64Academy]

yep! Anything you bring into Photoshop, that's what its good for.

[@composedlight6850]

Looks good --- but does it work in Adobe Elements with Elements XXL additions ?

[@f64Academy]

Not that I know of. I don't teach or use Elements. Elements and Photoshop are like apples and bananas, two entirely different fruits. Completely different programs with different infrastructures.

[@hans-jorgfritsch1663]

Will the panel work on M1/M2 Processors and will it work with the German version of Photoshop? Thanks for your answer.

[@f64Academy]

It will, it is a CCX panel. The words will be in English but it will work.

[@antoniobruno8538]

Is it possible to purchase the Blend If panel without buying the entire course, for a different price? Thank you Blake!

[@f64Academy]

Unfortunately not. I do not separate my courses from their panels or vice versa. Actually, even if I sold the panel by itself I'd sell it for $47 so consider it like you are getting the education for free ;)

[@cnicolo]

Yeah I always forget Blend if… even when I’m struggling with luminosity masks… mama doesn’t want me use blend if … lol 😂

[@f64Academy]

That's a shame ;) its a lot more powerful :) But then again, I'm biased

[@Neuromindart]

How do we just get the blend if panel without buying an entire course?

[@f64Academy]

you don't :) I only package them together. There's a method to my madness. They rely on one another.

[@gezapapp-vid9749]

This is habit forming.

[@f64Academy]

Blend if starts as a habit, then it becomes a way of life ;)

[@d1m18]

Sad if you are building a channel to teach people about photoshop and direct them to a plug in, one which hides all the knowledge and key techniques

[@f64Academy]

Far from it. I should be able to plug my own plugin. How many free hours of content are on my channel? Come on man. And no, that is also a course that is 3 hours long that gives ALL knowledge. Feel free to learn from someone else on KZbin if you find my shameless plug a burden.