Dodge and Burn in Photoshop

Adobe’s Photoshop features a plethora of tools that can help you adjust any image however you like. One of the main problems that photographers face is unbalanced exposure in certain areas. The main subject of the photograph might not be properly exposed. Dodge and Burn in Photoshop are used to fix this problem. The article talks about two methods that we can apply in order to utilize the full potential of these techniques. Read along to understand more about the methods and the ways in which they differ.

What is Dodge and Burn?

Before we get to the main part, we must understand what exactly is Dodge and Burn in Photoshop. These are used to lighten or darken the images. It must be noted here that there not new techniques rather they have been around since even before the digital camera age. Before the rise of Photoshop, photographers did it in darkrooms. Dodge basically specifies the technique used to lighten a certain area of the image by increasing the light to them. Whereas, Burn specifies the technique used to darken a portion of the image by limiting the light on them. All this work was exactly as tedious as it sounds. Lucky for us, we do not have to deal with all of that thanks to Dodge and Burn in Photoshop. Both of these tools are extremely helpful in skin retouching Simply follow either of the two methods below to master these tools.

Simple Method

This method is quite simple, you just have to follow the steps as they are to get your desired result.

The first step is to select either the Dodge tool if you want to lighten or the Burn tool if you want to darken the image. After that, you have to select the Brush tip according to the area that you want to modify. Similarly, you should set brush options from the options bar according to your needs.
You also have the option to use the Brush as an airbrush if you fancy it. For selecting it, you can either click on the airbrush button or select it from the Brush panel.
The second step is to set the Range from the Options Bar. You can select any of the following.
If you want to change dark areas, then you can select Shadows. If your goal is to adjust the light areas, you can select Highlights. However, if you need to work between these two settings for the gray tones, you can select Midtones.
Tweaking the exposure of the image using Dodge and Burn in Photoshop might alter the natural colors and hue of the portions. In order to remedy this, you should use the Protecting Tones option which minimizes clippings in light and dark areas.
The last step is to simply paint over the portions that you want to Dodge or Burn using the selected Brush.

Non-Destructive Method

Although, Dodge and Burn in Photoshop are excellent tools. Yet, there is a flip side to it as well. Both of these tools modify the image permanently. The best course of action is to use these tools while also preserving the original data of the image. The following method will help us achieve that.

Firstly, the intial step in this method is to add a new layer. Anybody familiar with Photoshop will know that layers are the backbone of the best features. In the New Layer dialog box, change the mode to Overlay and select the checkmark underneath it.
Now, you need to select the brush tip. In this method, we are going to lighten or darken the areas by using white or black paint respectively because Overlay mode is on. However, you should reduce the Opacity of the brush to 10-15%. It is to keep the change done by Dodge and Burn minimum so that you have more precise control over the adjustment.
Now, you need to determine which portions you want to lighten or darken. For instance, if you want to lighten the foreground of your image, you must the foreground color to white. Similarly, if you want to darken the background of the image, the background color must be set to black. After you have set these, simply paint over them to make your desired changes.

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Conclusion - Dodge and Burn in Photoshop

An alternative method of protecting the source image is to duplicate it. Once you have duplicated it, you can freely make changes to it without the fear of consequences. Also, when choosing the brush tip, remember to choose the soft brush. We must keep it in proportion to the portions of the image that you want to modify. If the area is small, then you must keep the brush small as well so that the excessive size does not affect the other parts of the image. This will be helpful to improve the focus on subject.