Some overlays that you will find will not consist of well-defined elements, so they will come in JPG format. Although they will be layered on your photo just like the PNG overlays, they will cover your photo. But they still open up a wide range of effects that you can apply to your photos for unique results. How can you use those JPG overlays on your photos for stunning effects? Read more about using PNG overlays.
Using JPG overlays
Some overlays will not be in PNG format. They will tend to have elements that are not well defined, which explains why they were not extracted from their background. Those overlays can be fog, smoke, fire, etc.
Let's look at this photo:
A nice photo, for sure, with dramatic lighting, but how about adding some heat to that dancer? Let's add a "heat" overlay.
Notice that because it is not a png file, it has no transparency, so it covers the whole image, where it is. I am covering only the bottom of the image here since the overlay was horizontal while my photo was vertical, but it is a good thing since I would only want to have that heat around his feet. Let's change the Blend mode to Screen, which will show the lighter color of each layer over the other.
Much better! But you use an overlay that does not cover the whole image, you might have to manage a visible edge. This is what you see on the top of the heat overlay. To address this, you can use a very soft Eraser brush and brush off the edge or any area of your photo you might want to preserve (for a soft brush, reduce the Hardness to 0 and the Opacity to a low value like 10%).
I can add more heat with a different overlay.
Again, this layer has a Blend mode changed to Screen in order to make the dancer appear through the black that was inside that fire circle.
In this example, I am using the Screen blend mode but different photos and overlays will need different Blend modes. In fact, you can experiment with other Blend modes and be surprised. For example, as I was experimenting to see if other Blend modes would yield other interesting effects, I discovered that the Dodge mode gave a very cool result.
This was totally unexpected, but seems quite interesting, don't you think?
Using Light overlays
Other overlays might have various lights, whether they are light streaks, Bokeh, and can add an overall effect to your photos. Let's look at this photo:
Let's add this overlay.
With the Blend mode set to Screen (which will highlight the lighter colors of the two layers), we get this result.
This is the same combination with the Soft Light mode.
The Dodge mode gives a more saturated effect.
The Lighten mode will let you see more clearly the initial light "design".
Finally, the Multiply mode would seem to hide the subject a bit too much.
However, I can reduce the Opacity of the overlay to 65% and using a soft Eraser to remove the overlay where I want the subject to shine, I get a much better result.
Which one do you prefer?
Now, it is your time to find, purchase, or download overlays to create stunning effects on your photos. Don't hesitate to experiment with layering multiple overlays, change the Blend mode, and even apply other effects, like changing the colors, the opacity, the blur, and more. And come share your results in the forum. We would love to see some before and after pictures and mostly know how you achieved those transformations.
If you want to learn more about using overlays, check out the full Master Classes, Overlays and Textures & Overlays.
