Color Modes

You can specify a color mode for the pixels of your layer. This will non-destructively restrict the colors used for displaying as well as blending. You will notice that certain visual elements, such as the palette and color picker, will change the colors they display in order to match the mode.

True Color

True Color is the default mode which does not apply any restrictions to the colors in the layer.

Grayscale

The Grayscale mode restricts your image to monochromatic colors only.

One use of this is in the Decompose feature which splits a layer into three layers, one for each color channel. The Grayscale mode here ensures an accurate representation of a single layer before it is blended.

Another use is when editing a layer mask, which is inherently monochromatic.

Indexed

The Indexed mode restricts your image to a specific color palette. The primary use of this is when you open an image in a format that only supports a limited number of colors.

See also:

• Blending Modes