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Blend
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Blend

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Blend[{col1,col2},x]

gives a color obtained by blending a fraction of color col1 and of color col2.

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Blend[{col1,col2,col3,…},x]

linearly interpolates between colors coli as x varies from 0 to 1.

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Blend[{{x1,col1},{x2,col2},…},x]

interpolates to give coli when x=xi.

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Blend[{col1,col2,…},{u1,u2,…}]

blends all the coli, using fraction ui of color coli.

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Blend[{image1,image2,…},…]

blends pixel values of 2D or 3D images imagei.

Details

  • Blend implements additive color mixing as appropriate for colored light sources or light‐generating displays.
  • In Blend[{col1,…,coln},{u1,…,un}], the ui are normalized to have total 1. »
  • Blend[{col1,col2,…}] blends equal fractions of all the coli.
  • In Blend[{image1,image2},x], if image1 and image2 are of different dimensions, linear interpolation of the dimensions is used.
  • Blend[{image,col},x] blends every pixel of image with the color col.
  • In Blend[{image1,col1,…,coln,image2},x], coli is interpreted as an image whose dimensions are taken from a linear interpolation between dimensions of image1 and image2.

Examples

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Basic Examples  (4)Summary of the most common use cases

Blend two colors by fractions:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-c45yuj
Out[1]=1

Generate an array of blended colors ranging from red to blue:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-rxv
Out[1]=1

Represent the height as a blend from yellow to purple:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-r1n
Out[1]=1

Blend pixels of an image with a color:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-c617rx
Out[1]=1

Scope  (12)Survey of the scope of standard use cases

Colors  (6)

Average two colors equally:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-dkyals
Out[1]=1

Color a graphic:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-kece9y
Out[1]=1

Linear interpolation between two colors:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-elrede
Out[1]=1

Linear interpolation between colors with opacity:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-iphmxe
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-5enwq
Out[2]=2

Linear interpolation between multiple colors uniformly:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-db4mid
Out[1]=1

Linear interpolation between colors at specific values:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-pksm6
Out[1]=1

Blending colors with equal weights:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-gazpd6
Out[1]=1

Blending colors with specified weights:

In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-czls70
Out[2]=2
In[3]:=3
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-c5is
Out[3]=3

Images  (6)

Linear interpolation between pixels of an image and a color:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-ynaac9
Out[1]=1

Linear interpolation of an image and a color at a specific value:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-zn7b7j
Out[1]=1

Linear interpolation of two images:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-c6hwtr
Out[1]=1

Linear interpolation of two images of different dimensions:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-iby1hl
Out[1]=1

Blend images and their alpha channels:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-7fc6n0
Out[1]=1

Blend of 3D images:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-gl7kkr
Out[1]=1

Applications  (2)Sample problems that can be solved with this function

Use Blend to construct a ColorFunction from base colors:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-cxs32d
Out[1]=1
In[4]:=4
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-kvo42t
Out[4]=4
In[5]:=5
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-25dg0
Out[5]=5

Combine multiple images with different exposures into one image:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-scawmv
Out[1]=1

Properties & Relations  (7)Properties of the function, and connections to other functions

The weights are always normalized, so that the sum becomes 1:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-kwoiax
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-30lix2

The position values are always sorted:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-h92d9b
Out[1]=1

When colors are specified using the same color space, that space is used for interpolation:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-045ugx
Out[1]=1

When colors are specified using different color spaces, interpolation happens in the RGB space:

In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-vzacch
Out[2]=2

Lighter is a special case of Blend:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-gxnfx6
Out[1]=1

Darker is a special case of Blend:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-dd70t7
Out[1]=1

ColorData contains a large number of predefined Blend colors called "Gradients":

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-cjry8n
In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-c3ntr4
Out[2]=2
In[3]:=3
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-cycrq6
Out[3]=3

Gradients can be called by their names only:

In[4]:=4
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-gq2qfa
Out[4]=4

Polygon supports equal-weight blending of VertexColors:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-lzzww8
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-bib0m2
Out[2]=2

Possible Issues  (2)Common pitfalls and unexpected behavior

Values outside of the 0, 1 range will be clipped:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-hr06n3
Out[1]=1

In plot functions, use ColorFunctionScaling to control global scaling of variables:

In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-e1t1ms
Out[2]=2

Different colors can be given at a single position to generate discontinuities:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-dsrpbo
Out[1]=1

Interactive Examples  (4)Examples with interactive outputs

Continuous blend between two images:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-j9ec45
Out[1]=1

Linear interpolation of two images with different dimensions:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-0uvh5c
Out[1]=1

Blend of multiple images while going through a white background between each two images:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-odjkth
Out[1]=1

Interactive representation of the linear interpolation of multiple colors:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-nypfdl
Out[1]=1

Neat Examples  (2)Surprising or curious use cases

Use Blend with plots to generate synthesized textures:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-bgv0u2
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-dg3m4k
Out[2]=2

Simulated colors of stars:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0ldlcdd-13s1g
Out[1]=1
Wolfram Research (2007), Blend, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Blend.html (updated 2014).
✖
Wolfram Research (2007), Blend, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Blend.html (updated 2014).

Text

Wolfram Research (2007), Blend, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Blend.html (updated 2014).

✖
Wolfram Research (2007), Blend, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Blend.html (updated 2014).

CMS

Wolfram Language. 2007. "Blend." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2014. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Blend.html.

✖
Wolfram Language. 2007. "Blend." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2014. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Blend.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (2007). Blend. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Blend.html

✖
Wolfram Language. (2007). Blend. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Blend.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_blend, author="Wolfram Research", title="{Blend}", year="2014", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Blend.html}", note=[Accessed: 27-March-2025 ]}

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@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_blend, author="Wolfram Research", title="{Blend}", year="2014", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Blend.html}", note=[Accessed: 27-March-2025 ]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2025_blend, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={Blend}, year={2014}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Blend.html}, note=[Accessed: 27-March-2025 ]}

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@online{reference.wolfram_2025_blend, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={Blend}, year={2014}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Blend.html}, note=[Accessed: 27-March-2025 ]}