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The <blend-mode> CSS data type describes how colors should appear when elements overlap. It is used in the {{cssxref("background-blend-mode")}} and {{cssxref("mix-blend-mode")}} properties.

Syntax

The <blend-mode> data type is defined using a keyword value chosen from the list below.

Values

  • normal
    • : The final color is the top color, regardless of what the bottom color is. The effect is like two opaque pieces of paper overlapping.
  • multiply
    • : The final color is the result of multiplying the top and bottom colors. A black layer leads to a black final layer, and a white layer leads to no change. The effect is like two images printed on transparent film overlapping.
  • screen
    • : The final color is the result of inverting the colors, multiplying them, and inverting that value. A black layer leads to no change, and a white layer leads to a white final layer. The effect is like two images shining onto a projection screen.
  • overlay
    • : The final color is the result of multiply if the bottom color is darker, or screen if the bottom color is lighter. This blend mode is equivalent to hard-light but with the layers swapped.
  • darken
    • : The final color is composed of the darkest values of each color channel.
  • lighten
    • : The final color is composed of the lightest values of each color channel.
  • color-dodge
    • : The final color is the result of dividing the bottom color by the inverse of the top color. A black foreground leads to no change. A foreground with the inverse color of the backdrop leads to a fully lit color. This blend mode is similar to screen, but the foreground only needs to be as light as the inverse of the backdrop to create a fully lit color.
  • color-burn
    • : The final color is the result of inverting the bottom color, dividing the value by the top color, and inverting that value. A white foreground leads to no change. A foreground with the inverse color of the backdrop leads to a black final image. This blend mode is similar to multiply, but the foreground only needs to be as dark as the inverse of the backdrop to make the final image black.
  • hard-light
    • : The final color is the result of multiply if the top color is darker, or screen if the top color is lighter. This blend mode is equivalent to overlay but with the layers swapped. The effect is similar to shining a harsh spotlight on the backdrop.
  • soft-light
    • : The final color is similar to hard-light, but softer. This blend mode behaves similar to hard-light. The effect is similar to shining a diffused spotlight on the backdrop.
  • difference
    • : The final color is the result of subtracting the darker of the two colors from the lighter one. A black layer has no effect, while a white layer inverts the other layer's color.
  • exclusion
    • : The final color is similar to difference, but with less contrast. As with difference, a black layer has no effect, while a white layer inverts the other layer's color.
  • hue
    • : The final color has the hue of the top color, while using the saturation and luminosity of the bottom color.
  • saturation
    • : The final color has the saturation of the top color, while using the hue and luminosity of the bottom color. A pure gray backdrop, having no saturation, will have no effect.
  • color
    • : The final color has the hue and saturation of the top color, while using the luminosity of the bottom color. The effect preserves gray levels and can be used to colorize the foreground.
  • luminosity
    • : The final color has the luminosity of the top color, while using the hue and saturation of the bottom color. This blend mode is equivalent to color, but with the layers swapped.

Description

For each pixel among the layers to which it is applied, a blend mode takes the colors of the foreground and the background, performs a calculation on them, and returns a new color value.

Changes between blend modes are not interpolated. Any change occurs immediately.

Formal syntax

{{csssyntax}}

Examples

Example using "normal"

html
<div id="div"></div>
css
#div {
  width: 150px;
  height: 150px;
  background: url("br.png"), url("tr.png");
  background-blend-mode: normal;
}

Set other values for background-blend-mode, you will get different results.

{{ EmbedLiveSample('Example using "normal"', "100%", "300") }}

Comparison between different values with background-blend-mode

html
<div class="container"></div>
css
.container {
  width: 720px;
  height: 760px;
  display: grid;
  grid: auto-flow 190px / repeat(4, 180px);
  border-top: 1px solid #d8d8d8;
  border-left: 1px solid #d8d8d8;
}

.container > div {
  border-right: 1px solid #d8d8d8;
  border-bottom: 1px solid #d8d8d8;
}

.container div div {
  margin-left: 15px;
  width: 150px;
  height: 150px;
  background: url("br.png"), url("tr.png");
}

.container div p {
  line-height: 30px;
  margin: 0;
  color: #a33333;
  text-align: center;
}
js
const list = [
  "normal",
  "multiply",
  "screen",
  "overlay",
  "darken",
  "lighten",
  "color-dodge",
  "color-burn",
  "hard-light",
  "soft-light",
  "difference",
  "exclusion",
  "hue",
  "saturation",
  "color",
  "luminosity",
];

const containerElem = document.querySelector(".container");

list.forEach((item) => {
  const innerElem = document.createElement("div");
  innerElem.style.backgroundBlendMode = item;

  const textElem = document.createElement("p");
  textElem.innerText = item;

  const outerElem = document.createElement("div");
  outerElem.appendChild(textElem);
  outerElem.appendChild(innerElem);

  containerElem.appendChild(outerElem);
});

Create multiple div elements by traversing a list and set different backgroundBlendMode value for each.

{{ EmbedLiveSample('Comparison between different values with background-blend-mode', "100%", "780") }}

Comparison between different values with mix-blend-mode

html
<div class="container"></div>
css
.container {
  width: 640px;
  height: 800px;
  display: grid;
  grid: auto-flow 160px / repeat(4, 160px);
  border-top: 1px solid #d8d8d8;
  border-left: 1px solid #d8d8d8;
}

.container > div {
  border-right: 1px solid #d8d8d8;
  border-bottom: 1px solid #d8d8d8;
}

.container > div > div {
  position: relative;
  margin-left: 20px;
  width: 120px;
  height: 120px;
}

.container div p {
  margin: 0;
  line-height: 30px;
  color: #a33333;
  text-align: center;
}
.circle {
  width: 80px;
  height: 80px;
  border-radius: 50%;
  mix-blend-mode: screen;
  position: absolute;
}

.circle-1 {
  background: red;
}

.circle-2 {
  background: lightgreen;
  left: 40px;
}

.circle-3 {
  background: blue;
  left: 20px;
  top: 40px;
}

.isolate {
  isolation: isolate; /* Without isolation, the background color will be taken into account */
  position: relative;
}
js
const list = [
  "normal",
  "multiply",
  "screen",
  "overlay",
  "darken",
  "lighten",
  "color-dodge",
  "color-burn",
  "hard-light",
  "soft-light",
  "difference",
  "exclusion",
  "hue",
  "saturation",
  "color",
  "luminosity",
  "plus-darker",
  "plus-lighter",
];

const containerElem = document.querySelector(".container");

list.forEach((item) => {
  const innerElem = document.createElement("div");
  innerElem.innerHTML = `
    <div class="circle circle-1"></div>
    <div class="circle circle-2"></div>
    <div class="circle circle-3"></div>
  `;

  innerElem.querySelectorAll(".circle").forEach((circle) => {
    circle.style.mixBlendMode = item;
  });

  const textElem = document.createElement("p");
  textElem.innerText = item;

  const outerElem = document.createElement("div");
  outerElem.appendChild(textElem);
  outerElem.appendChild(innerElem);

  containerElem.appendChild(outerElem);
});

In the following example, we create multiple <div> elements by traversing a list and set different mixBlendMode values for each.

{{ EmbedLiveSample('Comparison between different values with mix-blend-mode', "100%", "820") }}

Blend mode comparison

In the following example, we have a <div> with two background images set on it — a Firefox logo on top of a linear gradient. Below it, we have a provided a <select> menu that allows you to change the background-blend-mode applied to the <div>, allowing you to compare the different blend mode effects.

HTML

html
<div></div>
<p>Choose a blend-mode:</p>
<select>
  <option selected>normal</option>
  <option>multiply</option>
  <option>screen</option>
  <option>overlay</option>
  <option>darken</option>
  <option>lighten</option>
  <option>color-dodge</option>
  <option>color-burn</option>
  <option>hard-light</option>
  <option>soft-light</option>
  <option>difference</option>
  <option>exclusion</option>
  <option>hue</option>
  <option>saturation</option>
  <option>color</option>
  <option>luminosity</option>
</select>

CSS

css
div {
  width: 300px;
  height: 300px;
  background:
    url("https://mdn.dev/archives/media/attachments/2020/07/29/17350/3b4892b7e820122ac6dd7678891d4507/firefox.png")
      no-repeat center,
    linear-gradient(to bottom, blue, orange);
}

JavaScript

js
const selectElem = document.querySelector("select");
const divElem = document.querySelector("div");

selectElem.addEventListener("change", () => {
  divElem.style.backgroundBlendMode = selectElem.value;
});

Result

{{EmbedLiveSample('Blend_mode_comparison', '100%', 400)}}

Specifications

{{Specifications}}

Browser compatibility

{{Compat}}

See also

  • The CSS compositing and blending module that defines the <blend-mode> values.
  • Properties that use this data type: {{cssxref("background-blend-mode")}}, {{cssxref("mix-blend-mode")}}

Description to various blend modes on other website: