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How Do I Enable Fill in Photoshop?

Last updated on September 23, 2022 @ 9:50 pm

Photoshop’s Fill command is one of the most basic and commonly used tools in the program. It allows you to fill a layer or selection with a solid color, gradient, pattern, or even another image. In this article, we’ll show you how to use the Fill command and its various options.

To access the Fill command, go to Edit > Fill. Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut Shift+F5. This will bring up the following dialog box:

The first option in the dialog box is the Source. This is where you select what you want to use to fill the layer or selection. You can choose from a solid color, a gradient, a pattern, or even another image.

If you select Color, you can then choose any color from the color picker. If you select Gradient, you can choose from a variety of preset gradients or create your own custom gradient.

PRO TIP: When enabling fill in Photoshop, be aware that the fill layer will only affect the layer directly below it in the layer stack. This means that if you have multiple layers, you will need to enable fill for each one individually. Also, be aware that fill will only affect pixels that are within the layer mask; any pixels that are outside of the layer mask will not be affected.

If you select Pattern, you can choose from any of Photoshop’s patterns or a pattern from another image. Finally, if you select Image, you can use another image to fill the layer or selection.

The next option is Mode. This determines how the fill will interact with the pixels already on the layer or selection. The different modes are:

Normal: This is the default mode and simply replaces the pixels with the new color, gradient, pattern, or image. Multiply: This mode multiplies the new color with the colors already on the layer. This darkens the overall image. Screen: This mode screens the new color with the colors already on the layer.

This lightens the overall image. Overlay: This mode combines Multiply and Screen modes. Soft Light: This mode darkens or lightens colors depending on the color of the new fill. Hard Light: This mode multiplies or screens colors depending on the color of new fill. Color Dodge: This mode lightens colors by increasing contrast between pixels
Color Burn: This mode darkens colors by decreasing contrast between pixels
Linear Burn: This mode darkens colors by decreasing brightness
Linear Dodge (Add): This mode lightens colors by increasing brightness
Exclusion: This mode creates an effect similar to that of Difference but not as extreme
Difference:This mode compares the pixels and inverts any that don’t match
Hue:This mode replaces colors with hues that match but preserves saturation and luminosity
Saturation:This mode replaces colors with those that match in saturation but preserves hue and luminosity
Color:This mode replaces colors with those that match in both hue and saturation but preserves luminosity
Luminosity:This mode replaces colors with those that match in luminosity but preserves hue and saturation

Now that we’ve gone over all of the options in the dialog box, let’s see how to put them into practice!

Dale Leydon

Dale Leydon

Sysadmin turned Javascript developer. Owner of 20+ apps graveyard, and a couple of successful ones.