Blend modes, groups & layer styles

Blend modes#

Open the Blend mode menu on a layer's properties. Ambersprite has the full Photoshop-style set:

Normal · Multiply · Screen · Overlay · Darken · Lighten · Color Dodge · Color Burn · Hard Light · Soft Light · Difference · Exclusion · Hue · Saturation · Color · Luminosity · Addition · Subtract · Divide · Pin Light

For pixel art the most useful are Multiply (shadows), Screen / Addition (glow, highlights), Overlay / Soft Light (colour grading a finished sprite), and Color (recolouring while keeping the value).

Groups#

Layer ▸ New Group creates a folder. Drag layers onto it to nest them.

• Hide / lock / set opacity on the group and it applies to every child.
• A group can have its own blend mode — the children composite together first, then blend as a unit.
• **Collapse*a group (chevron) to hide its children in the list without hiding the art.

Clipping masks#

A clipping mask confines a layer to the opaque shape of the layer directly below it — paint freely, only the part over the base shows. Perfect for shading, texture and colour passes that must stay inside a character silhouette.

Toggle it on the layer properties or with Layer ▸ Clipping Mask.

Layer styles#

Non-destructive effects rendered under / around the layer's pixels. Toggle each in the LAYER STYLE chips of the layer properties:

Styles don't change the pixels — turn a style off and the layer is exactly as you drew it. They are baked in on flatten and on most exports.