Photo Backgrounds: Step 12: Turn The Horizontal Pattern Layer Back On

Now that we have our two patterns, let's look at a few simple ways that we can blend them together to create an interesting background. First, we'll need to turn our horizontal pattern layer back on, so click inside the small empty square on the left of "Layer 2" in the Layers palette, which will bring back the eyeball icon and make the layer visible inside the document window once again:

Photo Backgrounds: Step 13: Select The Horizontal Pattern Layer

We also need to have the horizontal pattern layer selected, and simply making the layer visible again doesn't actually select it. We need to click on the layer in the Layers palette to select it:

Now that we have both of our patterns visible, let's look at how we can easily blend the two of them together.

Photo Backgrounds: Option 1: Lower The Opacity Of "Layer 2"

One way to quickly and easily blend the two patterns together is simply by lowering the opacity of the horizontal pattern layer. With "Layer 2" selected, go up to the Opacity option in the top right corner of the Layers palette and lower the opacity of the layer down to 50%:

You can adjust the opacity value to your liking to fine-tune the effect, but here's my background after blending the two patterns together by lowering the opacity of the top layer:

Photo Backgrounds: Option 2: Change The Blend Mode Of "Layer 2"

Another way to blend the two patterns together easily is by using layer blend modes. First, I'm going to set the opacity of "Layer 2" back up to a full 100%. Then I'll change the blend mode of the layer by going up to the blend mode option in the top left corner of the Layers palette (directly across from the Opacity option), clicking on the down-pointing arrow to the right of the word "Normal", and selecting a different blend-mode from the drop-down list. Try each of them to see what sort of effect you get. Here, I've changed my blend mode for "Layer 2" to Multiply:

The "Multiply" blend mode is one of the most commonly used blend modes when working in Photoshop, and here's the background effect I get with it. The background now appears darker than before with richer colors:

Here's another variation on the background effect, this time using a combination of the blend mode and opacity options. I've changed the blend mode to Hard Light and lowered the opacity to 50%:

Here's my new background effect:

Again, try each of the blend modes and keep an eye on your image in the document window to see what sort of effect each blend mode gives you.

Photo Backgrounds: Option 3: Use A Layer Mask

Let's look at a third way to blend the two patterns together. This time, we'll use a layer mask. First, I'll set my layer blend mode for "Layer 2" back to "Normal" and I'll increase the opacity back up to 100%. Then, to add a layer mask to "Layer 2", I'll click on the Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers palette. Nothing will seem to have happened in the document window, but if we look in the Layers palette, we'll see a layer mask thumbnail to the right of the preview thumbnail for "Layer 2":

With the layer mask added, select the Gradient Tool from the Tools palette, or press the letter G to quickly select it with the keyboard shortcut:

With the Gradient Tool selected, right-click (Win) / Control-click (Mac) anywhere inside your image and select the black to white gradient from the gradient selection box that appears:

Let's use the layer mask to fade the patterns into each other diagonally. Click with the Gradient Tool somewhere up in the top left corner of the image, then drag your mouse down to the bottom right corner:

Release your mouse button and Photoshop adds the layer mask, blending the two patterns from the top left down to the bottom right:

Now that we've looked at a few simple ways to blend the two patterns together, let's finish things off by seeing how we can use this effect as a background for the same photo we created it from!