Luminosity Blending With Blend-If Sliders

Like I’m sure most of us do, I use luminosity masks constantly in my retouching process – both through manual selections and plugins like Raya Pro, Lumezia, and so on. However, another way of selectively blending layers based on luminosity which I’ve been using more often is by using blend-if sliders.

In this video, Nemanja Sekulic explains in great detail what the blend-if tool is and how to use it.

In a nutshell, the sliders allow you to adjust how two layers interact with one another based on the luminosity values each one contains. It also gives you the option to feather and adjust the effect in a non-destructive way, allowing you to go back and re-adjust as required without the need to re-apply or modify a layer mask.

Having said that, you can also apply a layer mask to the layer you’re blending in (or out), meaning you can easily apply it selectively to only parts of your image.

Blend-if sliders coupled with luminosity masking can be a powerful way to make adjustments to your photos during post-processing. Is this a new technique for you, or one you already use? We’re looking forward to chatting with you about it in the comments below!