In last week’s post about “Thick Titles”, I showed you how to create a chipboard-esque look for your layout’s title.

Today I want to show you how to create a look for a chipboard title that will blend almost seamlessly into a layout and won’t be such a distraction…

Compound Blending

You may be wondering what exactly is compound blending? I’ll answer that in a minute but I first want to explain what it isn’t.

Frequently a layout will have a very simple background and it’s super easy to blend a title (chipboard or not) into that background so that it looks more subtle. So, what exactly do I mean by a simple background? One that doesn’t involve a lot of layers that are masked or blended together to create the background.

Earlier this year in my “More Blurring” post, I showcased a layout that used that effect:

You can see how subtle the title looks but is still fairly visible. If you’d like to see more details about that layout you can find it in my 2025 Gallery.

With a simple background, I tend to do one of two things. One is to simply change the Blend Mode of the title (as I did in that layout above).

The second is to make a rectangular selection around the area where the title is and create a copy of that simple background. I then clip that duplicate to the title and play with the opacity or even the blending until I’m satisfied with the look. And here’s how that layout looked using that option:

Even at this small size you should be able to see that there is a distinct difference in how the title looks now compared to the original. If you’re having trouble seeing the difference…just right-click on the image above and open it in a new tab. It should show up at a larger size.

Using the paper clipping method is all well and good if I have a simple background. But things can get a little trickier with a complex (compound) background.

Those are the ones that I mentioned above which involve multiple layers that are masked/blended. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes using a Blend Mode on the title will work…but not always.

That brings me back to compound blending. Trust me, it’s really not as complicated as it might sound.

I don’t know about you but a lot of my layouts have a background that is made up of multiple layers of blended papers, transfers, paint or masked graphics of some form. Here’s a really good example:

That layout is one I created for my work as part of Cindy Ritter Designs’ Creative Team. The background is made up of seven different layers. That’s right…SEVEN! Crazy, right?!?

Even I was shocked when I counted up everything I used to create that background. If you’d like to see more details about that layout you can find it in my 2025 Cindy Ritter CT Gallery.

I could have tried blending the title into the background. When it was all said and done, all I did was lower the opacity so it didn’t look too bold.

If blending the title into the background didn’t work and changing the title’s opacity didn’t look right either, the only other option would be to cut out a part of the background beneath and clip it to the title.

But cutting a section out of what could be as many as seven different underlying layers doesn’t sound like it would be fun.

With seven separate layers, to cut out a section of the complete background as it appears in the image above is something a lot of people wouldn’t even begin to think of. Or perhaps they would try but without knowing what I’m about to explain…it probably wouldn’t work out very nicely.

And if you paid close attention to the featured image at the top of this post, that background should look pretty familiar! I can promise you I did not cut out multiple sections of that complex background to blend that title 😉

Working with that multi-layered background is what I’ll be tackling today!

As I said last week, I usually don’t want my title to be front center. And sometimes I just want my title to be “quietly” visible even if it is a chipboard title. There’s a lovely way to accomplish that by using this “compound blending” technique.

Before I move forward, just a quick reminder that I use Photoshop Elements (PSE) 2024. If you use a different version, some of my screen shots may not look the same as what you see on your screen.

I’m actually going to go back to the example chipboard title I showed you last week before I clipped that lavender watercolor paper to it:

This is the black title (font name is Marisha Regular) with the “freehand” chipboard bevel; settings as follows: Lighting Angle = 120 degrees. For the Shadow; Size = 18 px, Distance = 2 and Opacity = 50%. For the Bevel; Size = 10 px and Direction = Up.

And this is that same white watercolor textured paper from “Watercolor Paper Textures Craft White” by Julia Dreams at Creative Fabrica that I used last week.

Note: If you’re following along, you can use any solid background paper you like and any title with whatever font that you like. But please do try to use the same chipboard settings (at least to start).

Now for the background…

Compound Background

Next, I’m going to create a complicated (compound) background behind that title. I promise, it won’t be seven layers 😉

I’m going to pull in a mask of my own creation and resize it so that it covers a fair portion of that white paper:

Note: If you’re following along, you can use any mask you like. Just try to re-size it so that it’s considerably larger than your title.

I’m going to hide the title for right now. Then, I’ll bring in a fairly artsy paper:

This paper is from “Melody Of Spring” by CarolW Designs. And I just clip it to that mask:

I’m going to pull in one last artsy bit to compliment the look:

This music note transfer is also from the same kit mentioned above. I love how this looks but I’d like the “orange” to be a bit less intense. So, I’m going to duplicate that layer and simplify it.

I want this new layer to be white. So, I click the Lock transparent pixels icon at the top of the Layers Panel (the checkered square with a lock at the bottom right). I first talked about the importance of this in my “It’s All About The Mask” post back in October of 2023.

Then I simply flip my color chips (press X) and using the Paint Bucket tool I click on an orange part of the music notes and it’s now all white:

Now I’ll just lower the opacity of this white layer until I’m happy. I ended up lowering it to 50%:

At this point I now have 5 layers that make up this pretty background; the white watercolor base, the mask, artsy paper and 2 copies of the music notes transfer. See how quick you can end up with so many layers in a background?

I’m going to unhide the title layer and see what happens if I try to just blend that layer into the background. The Blend Modes of Lighten, Difference and Exclusion looked okay (and all very similar):

But I know I can make this even more subtle than that. This is where the composite background comes into play.

In essence what I want to do is create a single layer (composite) background that I can clip to the title. I know that probably sounds like a lot of work but it really isn’t.

Single-Layer Background

I’m going to set the Blend Mode back to Normal for the rest of this. The next thing I have to do is select all five background layers in the Layers Panel (making them all active). This is what my Layers Panel looks like now:

There is a quick PSE shortcut for the next step but I want to walk you through things the “long way” first.

I’m going to duplicate these active layers (Ctrl+J). The duplicate set of those five layers is now active:

Now I can simply right-click anywhere within the selected layers and then select Merge Layers:

PSE then merges those five layers into one layer which is now directly below my title layer.

If you want to use the handy PSE shortcut for this it’s so quick. I’m going to pretend I haven’t already duplicated/merges the layers.

With the five background layers active in the Layers Panel, all I have to do is press Ctrl+Alt+E and PSE creates a merged copy of the active layers (which remain intact). And the new layer is active directly below my title layer.

Either process produces the same result. Sometimes those shortcut combinations are hard to remember. That’s why I wanted you to know how to do it the long way 😉

I now move that new single-layer, composite (merged) background above the title layer and clip it to title:

That looks virtually identical to what happened when I just blended the title above. But this time I have the option to play with some settings to get an even more subtle look. Something I couldn’t do when just trying to use a Blend Mode.

Making Adjustments

With the title layer active I can adjust the opacity which will make it appear softer and lighter. I generally try 50% first and go up or down from there until I’m happy with the look. This time, 60% seemed to give me the best result:

I know that may look a bit too subtle. But I was trying to make a point here. You can very easily make a title so subtle that it’s barely visible at all. Not that this option would often make much sense. But it is possible.

Note: The degree to which I adjust the opacity will change from layout to layout depending on the colors in the background. So, there’s really no exact science for picking an opacity setting. It’s totally a personal preference call.

The other way to adjust the subtlety involves adjusting the shadow settings. But first, I’ll set the opacity of the title layer back to 100%. Then I’ll go in and play around with the shadow settings.

I double-click on the Effects icon (fx) at the far right of the title layer. PSE opens the settings dialog box. The setting which I usually adjust is the shadow’s Opacity:

If you remember, when creating the bevel this was set to 50%. I’m initially going to drop that down to 20%:

Not quite as subtle as the last example but still an okay option. Unfortunately, I’m still really not all that happy with this.

When all else fails I can go in and get a bit more drastic with the shadow settings. Not something I’m a huge fan of but it can come in handy on certain backgrounds.

When doing this, the first shadow setting I change is the Distance to zero px. If you remember, when creating the bevel this was set to 2 px. By setting it to zero, the shadow will be equidistant around each letter. Thereby making the shadow Color, Size and Opacity the governing settings.

That’s right, playing with the shadow Color can be an option anytime I adjust the shadow for subtlety. But usually this only happens when I’m frustrated with everything I’ve already tried surrounding a bevel.

And if you read my “Stitching Realism” post back in August of 2024, you know I’m not usually a fan of black shadows anyway. I only make exceptions when a bevel is involved. Those almost always start out at black.

Given what I usually teach about shadowing, I went with one of the mid-green tones (#5e8c4b) in the artsy paper portion of the background. Then I monkeyed around with the Size and Opacity settings until I was finally happy:

The final shadow settings were: Color = #5e8c4b, Size = 40, Distance = zero and Opacity = 30. Yup, those numbers look pretty drastic for a “normal” shadow, right?!?

But in the end, this is a lot more subtle than just changing the opacity of the shadow. And I definitely like this option better than the results of the very first non-blend option…only changing the opacity of the title layer itself. At least with this new shadow option I feel like my title isn’t “too quiet” 😉

Cleaning Up

Before I close this out, I want to change things so I finish with a more appropriate title for this final example:

Clearly this isn’t a typical layout what with the “title” smack dab in the middle of the page. But I hope you get the concept of Compound Blending and will give it a try on any title…not just a chipboard title.

And now that I’m finally done and 100% happy with how this turned out I will do one more thing for space saving purposes.

I certainly don’t need the entire merged (composite) background that I created for the title. All I need is the portion that covers the text.

So, with the composite background layer active, using the Rectangular Marquee tool I make a selection around my title:

Then I create a new layer from that selection (Ctrl+J), clip that to my title and delete the full-sized composite layer.

Oh, and I thought you might like to see a layout where I used this technique:

If you want additional details about this layout, you can find it in my 2025 Gallery.

I hope you will give this a try the next time you’re trying to have a “quietly” visible title on a layout with a complicated background.

Extra Tips

Blending titles (chipboard or otherwise) into a complicated background can work out just fine from time to time. But sometimes it can get a bit tricky. And I can tell you this from my experience, even when it does work out “okay”, using this compound blending technique can generate surprisingly different/better results.

When working to blend a chipboard title, try not to mess with the size of the bevel. Concentrate instead on tweaking the shadow or even the opacity of the title itself.

When you create a composite (single) layer of a complicated background, it’s best to be certain that you include all of the layers that comprise the entire background not just the ones directly under the title. If you end up deciding to move your title at some point (happens to me a lot) you could run into a bit of a problem if you didn’t include the background layers for the new position.

Think about this if you create a composite layer of a complicated background; if you are 100% positive you’ll never have to make changes to any part of your background, you can replace all of the original background layers with the composite. Of course, this only matters if you save your layout file as a PSD 😉

Last but not least, please don’t let this title technique dissuade you from creating complicated backgrounds. If anything, I hope this inspires you to create more complex backgrounds in the future!

Thanks for reading this week’s Tuesday Tip. Remember, if you have any suggestions or questions please don’t hesitate to “Message Me“. Check back next week for some fun tips about title cut outs. Click “Follow Me” to stay in touch. I hope you have a wonderful week!