Skip to main content
Participating Frequently
March 22, 2024
Question

Help! How to save a PNG and retain all blend modes for every layer

  • March 22, 2024
  • 3 replies
  • 3523 views

Hello, I am currently facing some difficulties while creating new key art for email marketing. I want to enhance the design of the key art images by using different effects. However, I encountered a problem when exporting the images as .png files, as all the blend modes disappeared. I attempted to solve this issue by following advice from a thread, which suggested stamping the top layer as a stamp image. Unfortunately, that didn't work for me. I also tried rasterizing the layers with 8-bit channels, but that didn't help either.

Can you suggest a way for me to export the images without having a background? Thank you.



This topic has been closed for replies.

3 replies

Conrad_C
Community Expert
Community Expert
March 23, 2024

Blending modes are applied by whatever software is doing the compositing. As long as the images are layers in one Photoshop document, the Photoshop compositing engine can apply the layer blending modes as it renders the document preview.

 

But if it isn’t acceptable to merge the layers into a single PNG file with overall transparency, because for some reason you need to export each layer as a separate file (in any format that supports transparency, not just PNG), when you bring those PNG files into another application to be re-combined they will no longer be composited by Photoshop and can no longer use Photoshop blending modes. They are now being composited by whatever software you brought them into.

 

For email marketing, you must already have an idea of which web and standalone email clients you are targeting. Because email marketing formatted to modern standards should support CSS, one potential solution is to apply blending modes to those PNG layers within the email itself, in the CSS code for that email. In that way, you let the email client app or web browser webmail client do the compositing using its CSS blending mode support.

 

Just be aware that some of your targeted email clients and web browsers may not support as many CSS blending modes as are available in Photoshop. If that happens, you must design using the blending modes that you can count on to be available in your targeted email clients and web browsers.

Participating Frequently
March 25, 2024

Thank you very much for clarifying what is possible and what is not. I will try to figure out something else for the pictures to be used with the blending modes. 

Legend
March 25, 2024

If you save to PNG, the blending modes are used to create that PNG file. If you want to save layers (where blending modes are used) you have to choose a file type that supports layers.

Trevor.Dennis
Community Expert
Community Expert
March 23, 2024

I would try selecting all layers, but with background turned off, and making a Smart Object.  This should retain the look of the combined document, so will save out to PNG with transparent background just like you created it.

Legend
March 22, 2024

PNG doesn't have layers, so there would be no blend modes. When you export a PNG, you can specify transparency. Have you tried using Save for Web?

Participating Frequently
March 22, 2024

Yes, I always use "Save For Web" with Transparency checked. 
So there is no way it is possible to save a picture without the background and still keep the blend modes?

 

Legend
March 22, 2024

Yes, save as a TIFF or PSD file. Those both support layers and transparency.