The Incredible Math Behind the “Divide” Blend Mode! - Photoshop Tutorial

[@Photoshop]

This tutorial is great. Makes us wanna divide and conquer. (;

[@ssenkya]

Hey where did you get the beats in the intro

[@DebzLife]

*Rule No 1:* _never say_ *"Divide and Conquer"* 🇬🇧 _on an _*_INDIAN_*_ channel.. 🇮🇳😂_

[@bitslay]

@@DebzLife lmao ikr

[@bradstoonz4703]

@@DebzLife Yeah we dont want another partition 😔😔😔

[@designhiveofficial]

Divide And Rule

[@andreapetro420]

i went and did a photoshop course and learned maybe 10% of what you teach seriously this guy dosent just show you how things work he explains to you how they work fantastic teacher,wish you the best man

[@albwin4739]

+1

[@douchymcdouche169]

Photoshop courses aren't supposed to teach you everything, just the basics. The only way to become advanced is by watching videos like this. No book or course can cover all of Photoshops capabilities.

[@Coastfog]

He is indeed also a very good educator.

[@rafaelbastos3101]

Yeees! Best teacher EVER

[@TacDyne]

Yeah, he is one of the few I recommend frequently. :)

[@Abhishek-xr3hx]

why is no one talking about the perfect handwriting?

[@koldestever]

Thought the same thing...penmanship to match his photoshop skills.

[@DragonyCat]

Really amazing

[@SoFishfulTV]

@@brennholzvermieter was about to say the same thing.

[@DJVARAO]

Because its so perfect that looks like a font 😑

[@joshuaszeto]

@@DJVARAO "in the next episode, I will show you the method to transcribe anything you write into a font"

[@VignzCreationsVEVO]

Homework - this works in premiere pro tooo. Create a color matte over the clip and change it to divide mode. Simple boom

[@Jolontokhalilswork]

Also in filmora too 😍

[@ayushthetic]

Life changing information right here

[@AyuHonesty]

You know well, what actualy in my mind during listening to this awesome guy 😁 Problem Solver... 🤲🙌👐

[@SuranjayaPriyanath]

Wow.. thanks mate.. this is i am looking.. 😍

[@davidalanmedia]

Does anyone know how to do this in Adobe After Effects. I'm not sure how to do this. I'm creating a new solid layer over my footage and then selecting the color picker on something that should be white in my footage and changing the blend mode to divide but doesn't change anything. Any help would be appreciated.

[@thinktofly2091]

Hi Unmesh, I found another use for divide: advanced color masking! I noticed for any given color in your underlying image, there is a range of "Divide" colors that will make it turn white: anything from the underlying color itself, down to black (in brightness). Anything brighter than the underlying color will get closer to white aka doing nothing. So if you want to make a mask of a particular color in your image, pick that color in your Divide layer, then play with the brightness to adjust the strictness of the mask. Then merge your layers, desaturate, and use Levels to keep the white part of the image and make everything else black. Now you can copy this layer and paste into a mask, and bam, only a particular color is selected. It's like an alternative to the built in color range selector with more control

[@imaminidonut2792]

Oh wow. That's amazing! Thank you for sharing.

[@NicodCdP]

So Unmesh, when are you going to reveal to us that YOU are the creator of photoshop?

[@pulkitprajapat7862]

😯

[@dazzlingdeb8427]

Nicolas dc LOL!

[@collinsrandy8978]

Hahahah we can't wait

[@collinsrandy8978]

Hahahahahah we can't just wait, because this my teacher is just one of the best teachers on KZbin. Always on point

[@rupeshpatel2409]

😮😂😂😂😂😂

[@violahero4life]

I love everything about this video: 1. Your enthusiasm to teach 2. Your desire for people to understand the tools so they can use their imagination and accomplish more 3. The heartfelt message. Thank you, let's Keep Creating 🙏🏿

[@Cre8tiveWoman]

ADMIN HERE: Your great feedback is so greatly appreciated. Thanks so much.

[@cencinisbooks9669]

20 years wondering what the hell Divide did. 20. YEARS.

[@designfromhome]

i feel u bro..

[@douchymcdouche169]

Now spend 20 years wondering what Subtract does.

[@Dumindamadushan]

multiply adds color. divide removes color. I thought everyone knew that...

[@marvitoj.monrroy9357]

@@Dumindamadushan Multiply does not add as plus, it is multiplied

[@NathanHoang]

same here bro...mind-blown

[@ryedrengen6097]

HOMEWORK: I use the divide layer a lot when SCANNING DRAWINGS with my phone. The light is often not consistent over the whole page and I pick the color of the paper from different places and paint a new layer which I then blur and set to DIVIDE; this will render the paper white. I can also make a copy of the layer, blur it and use that as a divide layer, or even remove the drawing from the paper on the copied layer with content aware fill and use that as a divide layer. I sometimes paint on a light brown surface (unbleached titanium), and the color of the surface can be removed in tha same way. I think the formula is more intuitive when written as: base layer*(256/top layer), that is each of the RGB values are corrected with respect to ratio between the RGB value for white and the RGB value for the top layer. White has RGB values that will make the ratio 1 and there is no change. 50 % blue will reduce inly the B value by 256/128, that is take half of it off, and make everything white. I love the channel and though I've been using Photoshop since the last millenium I learn so much. Thank you very much! /Claus Rye Schierbeck, Illustrator, Denmark

[@myst2891]

Excellent tip ! I agree with you, your formula is more intuitive.

[@ankushjoy4322]

Nice one

[@antonivanov3142]

So do I for newspapers scanning, using a self-written Python plugin. However, the formula brings up text brightness along with background removal in an indiscrimitatory manner.

[@Moon-xp4ek]

this channel blows my mind. he's just SUCH a sweetheart & he offers more insight to a program i've used for 13 years than any course i've done in ANY trade.

[@shredorama]

yup he is my favourite.... i want his voice as my Siri, my GPS voice.... and I'll take his voice for my own voice as well. whenever I get stressed out I would just talk to myself.

[@LionelMessi-vv9ni]

I couldn't focus on the formula because your Handwritings took all the attention.. Btw.. Love your new intro

[@Majestic_King_Hunter]

The first thing I did was look at the top of the screen for the font he was using. Then I realized he wrote it by hand....*feels bad*

[@recidejayzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz18]

I have been watching your photoshop videos for about 2 years, and all i can say is that you're videos are clear and straight forward, keep it up man!

[@Guitarslngr]

Homework result: When bringing an image into Photoshop that has been split-toned, your divide technique brings back at least the illusion of neutral whites, without losing the rest of the chosen split-tone effect. Thank you Unmesh. There was always something about split-toning that I didn't like. This fixed it...

[@surendrachaturvedi3208]

i am an old retired man,having passion for photography since childhood.All my photography was SOOC,I was ,Still am,very scared of Photoshop.This lock-down gave me a chance to sneak into your channel.I was amazed by your technical tips.From the shadows of illiteracy,my curve of knowledge seems to be moving towards mid-tones.I am grateful to you to tutor me for free.I am mesmerized by your knowledge of Photoshop and your method of teaching intricate details in every episode.

[@rreonarudo]

This is expansive knowledge for FREE!

[@alieskandari6036]

You are best photoshop teacher I have ever watched his tutorials. Thank you

[@rhondamoore9842]

For all of you who said you’d never use algebra outside of high school! I was a teacher for 18 years, so you just proved me right!

[@macdonaldquammie4021]

Basic Algebra is like any tool e.g. hammer or chisel you use for the intended purpose. You should have taught that in your 18 years.

[@macdonaldquammie4021]

I won't call this algebra but rather substitution

[@bedrichmarek2715]

We don't use algebra. We use Divide. :-D

[@heroino89]

Who says they won't use algebra? Calculus I would understand, but just counting things is already algebra. But thanks for teaching math, it's a demanding subject and I am sure your students appreciated your hard work :-)

[@trialsrider1985]

I opened a photo to retouch in PS and decided I needed some music to work to.... When the KZbin homepage came up, this was the first recommended video - Had to click it!!!! ... Guess the first thing that I did to that image! Damn! I love it!! Being a portrait and fashion photographer, this really is a game changer for me! Thank you for your amazing tutorials, Unmesh!

[@foxtrotbr]

This is the only youtuber I give like to every video.. cause all the content is high quality

[@davidovuphotography6148]

Thank you so much. I learnt something new

[@jshetley2]

Wow - this blend mode works a treat on color casts. Unreal. I have struggled with different methods for correcting color casts and nothing is as good or as simply as this. Thanks for this tip!

[@briangray8924]

best explanation to remove colour casts from portraits I`ve seen. Thank you Unmesh

[@GFXMentor]

Awesome. :)

[@shadabvfx]

Ohho Imran Sir 😀

[@stephaniehgervais2587]

wishing you and your family stay safe! this video was another great help!

[@MentosCubing]

That just might be an easy fix to bad green screen footage. Thanks so much for sharing! Also, Unmesh, if you are reading this, I just want you to know that you have the kindest heart I have ever seen. It's really incredible that you care so deeply about your audience, and that you are willing to provide this content and share your talents with the world for free. You are a wonderful man, and I just wanted to give you my thanks. I don't know what the world did to deserve you

[@darklighthouse999]

Great video (as always)! For me, knowing the formula opens the door for virtually every combination... Eliminating color cast for sure - - and also, determining what color scheme is needed for the Divide Blend layer to create any "target" color you desire (just work the formula to solve for the variable needed).. When combined with layer masks, this gives the user the ability to quickly modify any image to the color mix desired.. Very cool!!

[@speterlewis]

How do you even find these little gold nuggets? Hope you are well and safe, and thank you for continuing to connect our little pixelated world!

[@fritzlermark]

Thanks so much for this and all of your great instructional videos! Super clear and concise.

[@carvrodrigo]

The best human being out there. 3 yrs following this channel and it always keeps getting better. Thank you bro!!

[@Hambonillo]

Your videos keep getting better and better. Really fine work and attention to the right details.

[@mardhiahjalal3229]

Unmesh: B stand for? Me: Blueeee (sipping water) Unmesh: Brightness Me: choked

[@jjfecik]

lololololol! SAME! 🙈

[@misakahou9474]

hahaha

[@Bananapocalypse]

haha i screamed out black. then he said brightness. lmao uhh..yea thats what i meant.

[@amberfisher]

@@Bananapocalypse same

[@untamedimage5325]

😂😂😂

[@IndianFitnessEvolution]

Your videos are 💕😍amazing bro. I love Photography and your videos helps me to get those Finishing result.

[@cristimitan]

Great method to remove color cast. I used you tutorial to de-aging old paintings images. I have "restaured" Davinci's Mona Lisa and it look even more beautifull.

[@micha5645]

Very helpful! Thank you and stay healthy!

[@pinknightmares4575]

You can use divide to remove folds and creases from paper and similar materials. It's great for isolating text.

[@lovefallcys]

Perfect!

[@dunnymonster]

A math and Photoshop tutorial all in one 😊

[@Roldanni]

You are just the best world's teacher/instructor that I have ever seen (and I am a very old person). Thanks for your tutorials and for sharing your knowledge in such and incredible way. Cheers!

[@Rajsinghvlog77]

U r true master of photoshop, I alway liked ur video before watch. Thanks again.

[@vasu9760]

Awesome video, your video quality is getting better & better, amazing, learning lots of amazing things from you, keep it going.

[@PaulNewman3503]

Just Wow! How simple to use such complex calculations. I quickly did a few samples and was in awe at how easy it was and how effective it was. Unmesh you truly are a very generous genius. Thank you!

[@levijanssenphotography4751]

I could see this being very useful for Real Estate photography. I tried it out on one of my photos and it worked wonderfully.

[@gangstershahnawaz1913]

Superb

[@jaydattanikalje3471]

Wow, this is great. I haven't found a tutor who explains concepts as you do. You made this seem so easy, Unmesh. Incredible stuff. And the last message is just too beautiful. You are such an inspiration to the whole creator and creative community. Power to you, man! Stay safe.

[@MrLemonbaby]

Thank you. You are the finest teacher I've ever had.

[@kentaylor1321]

The divide mode worked very well. I also used it for whitening teeth and eyes on separate layers with mask

[@mudassarhussain5229]

Homework- by using formula we can get our desired resultant color too. Suppose we want specific tone on our pictures, we can calculate the numbers and devide to get it. I love u unmesh so much & watch your every video. Love from Pakistan.

[@phurbasherpa7441]

it was really interesting to learn the maths behind the Divide blend mode. time to do put it to use then

[@sudiptaroy8478]

I started following you since 2017-18 maybe. Everything i know about photoshop,its because of you. The way you explain things, the concept gets clear

[@gavincrook2188]

This would be a great technique to use with filters with a known color cast, such as many ND filters. It would be an easy job to take a blank photograph using the filter and a white light source. The resulting image could then be used as the divisor default color for every shot taken using that filter; only needing possible adjustment of the brightness.

[@ChrisBackhouse]

Very neat idea, I've got a load of images with heavy ND color casts! I wonder if I could then load it as a preset into Lightroom?

[@oliviertorres8001]

I'm a real estate photographer. This trick is very useful to fix color cast in white wall and ceiling. Thanks a lot Unmesh

[@evanjoecool]

Did he just make a pun at 3:00 "nothin' can stop me I'm ALL THE WAY UP!" 😂

[@vinayk6409]

Wow your videos have really changed over time. Loving the intro animation, music, and the circle around where your mouse is going. Glad to see your speaking style hasn't been lost. Thank you!

[@alirezazarafshani]

Homework : we can add hue to the highlights Or in B&W photo change the brightness or make a monochrome photo out of it.

[@tonkaGuy888]

Brilliant. I was a commercial photographer for almost 30 years and used Photoshop nearly every day, but didn't know this. Would have saved hours of CC time. Never too late, I guess, so thanks!

[@christianbrault3520]

Amazing as always! Thank you so much for all that shared knowledge. With you my photoshop skills are in a permanent state of improvement !

[@anonymous-jc5xy]

Thank god I have found this channel three years ago.... Everytime I get hooked with your video....thanks unmesh for being a perfect teacher....love from Bangladesh

[@michelkeppens]

Just tried it for whitening eyes at the end of my retouching routine. You have to tune it down of course, but works like a charm! Thank you so much!

[@SophiesBackpack]

HOMEWORK: - applying a gradient to make the sky looks better - using spots of colors to drop dome warm light on objects (it can be also combined with bland if mode) I've learned sooooo much while watching your videos,I appriciate you so much for explaing how things works and showing use cases (normally people only do one of these!)

[@tube102000]

Apologize if already mentioned somewhere else. We can use it to do pencil sketch -- apply Gaussian Blur to the upper layer (with the Divide mode).

[@labatalain9914]

bonjour tres juste, merci

[@ndc-01]

I use to see your videos, they are so originals and didactics, but this one is out of words, just blow my mind. So easy method to get rid of color cast. I had learned many other methods, but way more steps and more complicated. Thank you for sharing this.

[@zain1045]

You know , you deserve every bit of success you have now !

[@the_trevoir]

As usual, you da man. Thanks for the great colour cast tip.

[@daniyarcacitti6300]

Your videos are always so amazing... Great job! As for the other uses and maths: You can replace any colour with any other colour: - Take the numbers of the selected background colour - Take the numbers of the colour you wish to change it to And figure out X (the numbers of the colour you need to divide by) with the formula. You can kind of colour grade with this if you have a colour palet :O Thx!!!

[@Evelyn_CGI]

Wow! That's brilliant!

[@sammadonline]

Thank you. That was a really simple way of removing colour casts. You are an amazing teacher

[@BroadOne53]

Another great video contributing your vast knowledge to the people! You sir, are an ambassador of not just photoshop, but of human compassion and sharing....it is readily apparent. Thanks for the lesson!

[@iharshitd]

Homework is to find another way to use divide blend mode and i know that this blend mode also used to align layer perfectly with each other if layers were aligned perfectly it will became all white if layers were not aligned it will show some art effect which indicates the layer were not perfectly aligned As simple as that.

[@sanjaykrdas4u]

Thank you Unmesh for such a nice tutorial. I usually use the Divide blend mode for Color Grading for ambiance & mood on Gradient Mask Adjustment layer by picking & adjusting colors from the layer(s) below, then adjusting the opacity / flow of the layer to taste along with blend-if corrections of available channels ... sometimes in combination with luminosity masks too. Thanks again : Sanjay Kumar Das

[@joeldcanfield_spinhead]

8:15 explains so much about my challenges using my massive math skills to play with CSS on websites.

[@bogdanpopescu8406]

And me playing CS

[@jacksco6884]

Sir. Full clear voice sir. Thanks to teaching

[@TheBeachHermit]

My 16 years old daughter says, 'This is how that guy can do all this stuff. Somehow he understands how all the math works and then makes up applications for it' :)

[@CalmedByNature]

this guy! love these tutorials

[@samuelsungstabtu7527]

I use this every once in a while. But i never knew the maths behind. This is useful. Thanks...

[@panicdispenser6586]

Thx a lot. I appreciate you effort. I started long time ago with Photoshop 2.0 but iam still learning and you are a great teacher. so keep up the good work. Greeting from Germany, Düsseldorf.

[@therandom-1-]

1: Divide takes dark stuff and makes it very, very bright 2:it also make ghost like effects... It learned these when I was understanding blend modes online 3:color correction ( learned from you)

[@correiodozac]

How can I add the "divided color" back? I want to apply the color that divide removed to another image. Does anyone know how to do it?

[@laiyanlin]

I keep watching your each videos. You are doing so cool.

[@nikhilrastogi7599]

Homework- Divide blend also works in Premiere and After effect .. to balance white color .. thankyou ... its really amazing ....

[@sven-olafrogowski6096]

Duplicate the layer and invert it, then set the blend mode to divide and choose a low opacity. you get vibrance in darker colors and glamour in highlights. I used this when I was shooting with a white beautydish and wished it was a silver one so I had more glamour on the skin. Although there might be a ton of other ways to achieve this, it is the only other situation where this blendmode is usefull.

[@alirezaghasemi5618]

wish u were my math teacher :) i've learned a lot from you in years... thanks for everything.

[@tulshinaik]

Yet again master class. Trying this for sure and exploring more

[@pratikkore7947]

Hi! as an Indian, I'm fine with the formula, however, for artists, an intuitive sense of its *behaviour* would be more useful. The formula can be rearranged as: 256*(b/a) which looks surprisingly similar to the upscaling / downscaling math problems everyone used to do as a kid. And, To think of it like that works really well: We're choosing the brightest color in the picture and UPscaling it to white while using the same ratio to upscale other colors as well. Another way to understand it is that we're *expanding* the color range of a picture with a limited(darkened)/skewed(color-casted) color range TO the full color range. So, we can use divide blend mode to brighten images without losing detail as well, though there are better tools for that.

[@alexh1687]

This is great ! People need to know about these things, why the multiply mode is called that way, etc. I recently started coding shaders for video games, and thinking of colors in terms of pure numbers blew my mind : "Oh yeah, it's called multiply because it's LITTERALY just a multiplication happening under the hood", it really changes your way of thinking about all this, and makes you a better designer over all !

[@funnyzumbija643]

Amazing application, Your Deep understanding of the tools makes you the best

[@JacobCarlson]

Excited to try this in premiere! Thanks for sharing

[@kieucuong4818]

greatest teacher in the world !

[@mohageme3290]

I'm not exaggerating..but you the most creative one that makes best use of anything in Photoshop..i do respect you for your creativity and the way you teach

[@judithnoble693]

Thanks--another perfectly clear explanation!

[@Buford_T_Justice]

I never knew what divide blend mode was for and never knew how easy removing a color cast could be. You the man!

[@user-ig7mb2dd7g]

After see two minutes only .. you are the bessssst

[@HassanMalikTW]

your tutorials are music to my ears. I am a technical writer not a designer, but I make sure to watch your video before starting work

[@AmKayYT]

Your writing is awesome brother...❤️

[@ThePanacon]

I've watched the video until 4 : 05 in order to learn something I immediately can work with and watched the remainder video because your tutorials totally rock. 🤗

[@zilleabbas3735]

Effects of lockdown, Unmesh got beard 😂 looking good and excellent tutorial as usual 💕

[@Ruffian_Xion]

Thank you Unmesh. I've tried this out on a couple of photos and it's going to make a huge difference to my retouching workflow.

[@ReclusiveEagle]

Whats the difference between correcting color cast with divide and selecting white balance from curves?

[@correiodozac]

@@MRorizs2 How can I add the "divided color" back? I want to apply the color that divide removed to another image. Does anyone know how to do it?

[@nagarajan.n1227]

@@correiodozac Try Multiply

[@DiegoBana]

That was awesome! Thanks for the tip!

[@cristinaacosta123]

Thank You! and Stay Safe :) Blessings

[@jacobrafaat1516]

this is single handedly the best color correcting tip i’ve ever received thank you so much

[@RolandoMoralesD]

You have to be kidding me, Unmesh. I would love to see a video reaction of yourself discovering something you didn't know in Photoshop.

[@johng3497]

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I have hundreds of old scanned 35mm negatives and prints that I have been doing one by one using Camera Raw Filter, Color Balance and any other color management tools I could think of. I used this method on one photo and used the same "white" sample to revise all of the photos that were taken at the same time. This was especially useful when there was nothing in the subsequent photos that should have been white. You have saved me countless hours and lots of frustration!