Related subjects →  Select , Transparencies .


Select by blend modes in PitStop.

This Enfocus PitStop command allows us to select objects in a PDF depending on the transparency mode ("Blending Mode") they have applied. As of today, the available modes are 17.

These same modes are available in the main Adobe programs, particularly Photoshop, which has more modes than any other: Normal, Compatible, Multiply, Screen, Overlay, Darken, Lighten, Color dodge, Color burn, Vivid light, Soft light, Difference, Exclusion, Hue, Saturation, Color and Luminosity.

Once we have marked one or more blending modes, the selection can be based on two criteria:

  • "Only these blending modes": Only objects that have these blend modes will be selected.
  • "Blending modes other than these": Only objects that do not have these blend modes will be selected.

Warning: The "Compatible" mode (actually "CompatibleOverprint blend mode") is not an available mode for your choice of blending modes in any graphic design programs. It is an special mode included by Adobe in the PDF format some versions ago to apply overprints to opaque objects (not transparent) under certain conditions. For this reason, this mode appears only in some PDFs created in some programs in specific cases (for example, with Adobe Distiller).

Its inclusion in this action is due to the fact that, despite having been created to solve problems, in many cases its presence (most of the time unnoticed) can cause troubles that only appear when printing, not on screen. These problems are usually fixed, among other things, by changing the affected objects from "Compatible" to "Normal" mode.