Lighten blend modes:

The following blend modes create lighter results than all layers. In lighten blend modes, pure black colors in the top layer become transparent allowing the background layer to show through. White in the top layer will stay unchanged. Any color that is lighter than pure black is going to lighten colors in the top layer to varying degrees all way to pure white.

Lighten blend modes can be useful when lightening dark colors of the top layer or removing black colors from the result. The plus, lighten and screen modes can be used to brighten layers that have faded or dark colors on a dark background.

Darken blend modes:

The following blend modes create darker results than all layers. In darken blend modes, pure white in the top layer will become transparent allowing the background layer to show through. Black in the top layer will stay unchanged. Any color that is darker than pure white is going to darken a top layer to varying degrees all the way to pure black.

The multiply blend mode is often used to highlight shadows, show contrast, or accentuate an aspect of a map. For example, you can use multiply blend mode on a topographic map displayed over hillshade when you want to have your elevation show through the topographic layer. See the intro to layer blending sample.

The multiply and darken modes can be used to have dark labels of the basemap to show through top layers. See the darken blending sample.

The color-burn mode works well with colorful top and background layers since it increases saturation in mid-tones. It increases the contrast by tinting pixels in overlapping areas in top and bottom layers more towards the top layer color. Use this blend mode, when you want an effect with more contrast than multiply or darken.

The following screenshots show how the multiply blend mode used for creating a physical map of the world that shows both boundaries and elevation.

Contrast blend modes:

The following blend modes create contrast by both lightening the lighter areas and darkening the darker areas in the top layer by using lightening or darkening blend modes to create the blend. The contrast blend modes will lighten the colors lighter than 50% gray ([128,128,128]), and darken the colors darker than 50% gray. 50% gray will be transparent in the top layer. Each mode can create a variety of results depending on the colors of top and background layers being blended together. The overlay blend mode makes its calculations based on the brightness of the colors in the background layer while all of the other contrast blend modes make their calculations based on the brightness of the top layer. Some of these modes are designed to simulate the effect of shining a light through the top layer, effectively projecting upon the layers beneath it.

Contrast blend modes can be used to increase the contrast and saturation to have more vibrant colors and give a punch to your layers. For example, you can duplicate a layer and set overlay blend mode on the top layer to increase the contrast and tones of your layer. You can also add a polygon layer with a white fill symbol over a dark imagery layer and apply soft-light blend mode to increase the brightness in the imagery layer.

The following screenshots show an effect of the overlay blend mode on a GraphicsLayer. The left image shows when the buffer graphics layer has the normal blend mode. As you can see, the gray color for the buffer polygon is blocking the intersecting census tracts. The right image shows when the overlay blend mode is applied to the buffer graphics layer. The overlay blend mode darkens or lightens the gray buffer polygon depending on the colors of the background layer while the census tracts layer is shining through. See this in action.

Component blend modes:

The following blend modes use primary color components, which are hue, saturation and luminosity to blend top and background layers. You can add a feature layer with a simple renderer over any layer and set hue, saturation, color or luminosity blend mode on this layer. With this technique, you create a brand new looking map.

The following screenshots show where the topo layer is blended with world hillshade layer with luminosity blend mode. The result is a drastically different looking map which preserves the brightness of the topo layer while adapting the hue and saturation of the hillshade layer.

Composite blend modes:

The following blend modes can be used to mask the contents of top, background or both layers.

The destination-in blend mode can be used to show areas of focus such as earthquakes, animal migration, or point-source pollution by revealing the underlying map, providing a bird’s eye view of the phenomenon. Check out multiple blending and groupLayer blending samples to see composite blend modes in action.

The following screenshots show feature and imagery layers on the left side on their own in the order they are drawn in the view. The imagery layer that contains land cover classification rasters. The feature layer contains 2007 county crops data. The right image shows the result of layer blending where destination-in blendMode is set on the imagery layer. As you can see, the effect is very different from the original layers. The blended result shows areas of cultivated crops only (where both imagery and feature layers overlap).

Invert blend modes:

The following blend modes either invert or cancel out colors depending on colors of the background layer. These blend modes look for variations between top and background layers. For example, you can use difference or exclusion blend modes on two imagery layers of forest covers to visualize how forest covers changed from one year to another.

The invert blend mode can be used to turn any light basemap into a dark basemap to accommodate those who work in low-light conditions. The following screenshots show how setting the invert blend mode set on a feature layer with a simple renderer turns the world terrain basemap into a dark themed basemap in no time.