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Yelnats1
Known Participant
June 2, 2012
Open for Voting

Photoshop: Make "Blend Colors Using Gamma" a document setting

  • June 2, 2012
  • 28 replies
  • 3100 views
"Blend Text/RGB Colors Using Gamma" should be a document or layer setting instead of a global setting. The user should have the ability to set the default option. There could still be a global setting for documents that don't have specified gamma blending settings.

Here's a simple scenario:
A designer makes a graphic in Photoshop CS5. The Star shape and text layers are each set to black with layer fill set to 45%. All Photoshop color settings are at default. The file is sent to a user with CS6 or the designer upgrades to CS6. The Shape and Text layers no longer look the same. Mass confusion.


The current settings are hidden away, like they aren't supposed to be messed with, yet I am seeing recommendations to disable Blend Text Colors Using Gamma: http://bjango.com/articles/photoshopc...

I was tempted to label this as a "Problem" rather than an "Idea."

There are simple workarounds for this issue, but you can't expect users to know what is happening in the first place, especially with how well hidden the gamma blending preferences are.

    28 replies

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    marcbjango
    marcbjango
    Known Participant
    June 3, 2012
    Is this just a text layer with a bitmap mask layer? I'm trying to replicate your example exactly and failing.
    Y
    Yelnats1Author
    Known Participant
    June 2, 2012
    For those who don't understand how the antialiasing and opacity changes are linked, considers this (quite extreme) example: ( I enlarged the image to 300% using nearest neighbor.)



    I masked the text with a white to black gradient. You couldn't have the clean edges of the second example while still making the other opacity changes like the first example.
      F
      FeedbackCommunityMember
      Inspiring
      June 2, 2012
      The fix works for all opacity settings and colors - it just isn't what you're used to. The text team thought we were doing this all along, but there was a miscommunication years ago -- and CS6 fixes that. Unfortunately, you can't get the correct blending for text and match the blending for other layers at the same time unless you also blend all layers with the same gamma adjustments.
      PECourtejoie
      Community Expert
      PECourtejoieCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      June 2, 2012
      Chris, the Aliasing fix is supposed to work at all opacity settings, or was it created mainly for black text? I was wondering if it could not be disabled when the opacity is not 100%, given the issues demonstrated here.
      marcbjango
      marcbjango
      Known Participant
      June 2, 2012
      Sorry Chris, I'm with David Jensen on this one. I like being able to control text antialiasing, and I like that text in CS6 looks nicer than CS5, but the opacity differences seems like a bad thing. Same colour type and shapes not matching when they're the same opacity seems like a real issue.

      Were the text gamma changes supposed to change the appearance of non-opaque text?
      F
      FeedbackCommunityMember
      Inspiring
      June 2, 2012
      And then the old documents wouldn't get any of the bug fixes in the blending, and users would be even more confused about what was going on.
      Text blending is a bug fix, and should stay on. Only people who know how blending works have a need to change it.
      Y
      Yelnats1Author
      Known Participant
      June 2, 2012
      A newer version of PS could just open older files with the default settings of the PS version that created it.
      There could still be a global option for files with an unknown origin.
      F
      FeedbackCommunityMember
      Inspiring
      June 2, 2012
      The settings aren't supposed to be messed with.
      Most people should not change them.

      And even if it was made a document setting - that wouldn't help compatibility with older versions.
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