using the Dodge and Burn tool in photoshop...

jrky

Hello all,
So I have been lurking alot around the forum. everybodies pictures are just awesome. i'm looking for more of an example using the dodge and burn tool in photoshop. i've did some googling around, but was not able to find anything good. can anybody explain this more in depth and possibly give some good picture examples on this? much appreciated!

Thank you!

jjbong

jrky wrote:

Hello all,
So I have been lurking alot around the forum. everybodies pictures are just awesome. i'm looking for more of an example using the dodge and burn tool in photoshop. i've did some googling around, but was not able to find anything good. can anybody explain this more in depth and possibly give some good picture examples on this? much appreciated!

Thank you!

I know of at least two uses for these.

One is to lighten (usually) or darken part of a picture, say a face. Add a layer, fill it with 50% grey, and set it to Overlay mode. It should not change anything. Anything you lighten in the grey layer will lighten the underlying image, while anything you darken will darken the underlying image. Painting the grey layer with white or black can do this. However, the dodge and burn tools can be used to do this gently. I don't use this technique myself, so I don't have any examples. But it's quite easy to do.

I do use dodge and burn to create masks. Many times you find that one of the channels (say, R, G, or is a good basis for a mask. Along with other techniques (such as levels and steep curves), dodge and burn can be used to clean up the edges of the mask. I'll look for an example of this.

Diff

One method...

Click the New Layer icon & change the mode in the Layers palette to "Soft Light." Set white as the Foreground color & you can dodge on this layer. I use a Brush set to about 30% opacity. For Burning, switch to black .

Joe M

The method Diff described is often called the modern dodge and burn.

I do it also with CS3 though a bit differently. Instead of a 30% opacity brush I use a 12% brush. Experts recommend between 15 and 25%. I like to be able to build up the effect by using a low opacity brush. Once you start using it you'll see why.

You can also use Overlay blend mode instead of Soft Light. Use both and you will see a slight difference.

With Photoshop I use Edit>Fade Brush Tool to adjust the opacity of the white, black, or saturation I've added. This tool will only adjust the last thing you painted with your brush.

Another thing you can do is add selective saturation using this method, Instead of using a black or white brush, use a bright colored brush, such as bright green or bright red. Make a blank layer, change the blend mode to saturation, set your foreground color to a bright color and paint saturation on parts of the image that need it. You are not painting the color, you are painting the intensity of the color.

The best thing about this technique is that it's completely non-destructive. If you make a mistake or don't like what you've done simply delete the layer and start over. I suggest using a different layer for black, white, and saturation.

There is a course at Kelby Training called Drawing with Light that explains this technique very well. It's free for the first three videos.

cbcortez

thanks joe

Joe M wrote:

The method Diff described is often called the modern dodge and burn.

I do it also with CS3 though a bit differently. Instead of a 30% opacity brush I use a 12% brush. Experts recommend between 15 and 25%. I like to be able to build up the effect by using a low opacity brush. Once you start using it you'll see why.

You can also use Overlay blend mode instead of Soft Light. Use both and you will see a slight difference.

With Photoshop I use Edit>Fade Brush Tool to adjust the opacity of the white, black, or saturation I've added. This tool will only adjust the last thing you painted with your brush.

Another thing you can do is add selective saturation using this method, Instead of using a black or white brush, use a bright colored brush, such as bright green or bright red. Make a blank layer, change the blend mode to saturation, set your foreground color to a bright color and paint saturation on parts of the image that need it. You are not painting the color, you are painting the intensity of the color.

The best thing about this technique is that it's completely non-destructive. If you make a mistake or don't like what you've done simply delete the layer and start over. I suggest using a different layer for black, white, and saturation.

There is a course at Kelby Training called Drawing with Light that explains this technique very well. It's free for the first three videos.

wow joe, thanks on the tip regarding color saturation, ill be able to use that one of these days.

since you know a lil bit about painting with light, maybe you can help me reverse engineer a photoshopped picture.

this is from PamR over at dpreview.com, he knows his PS as you can see.

ill provide the links to the pictures.

heres the before shot : http://www.pbase.com/pam_r/image/91637675.jpg

heres the after shot : http://www.pbase.com/pam_r/image/91637856.jpg

He used dodge and burn to get the foreground popping out like that, but i cant get how she was able to give the lion that golden look. The vibrance might also be from the dodge and burn but i think theres something extra there.

maybe you can play around with it a bit.

hehe thanks!!

SloYerRoll

Huh....
Cletus used to have a pretty bang up Dodge & Burn tut in the hall of wisdom forum, which turned into the tutorials page.

Any idea why it's not there any more O great mods?

Richard

SloYerRoll wrote:

Huh....
Cletus used to have a pretty bang up Dodge & Burn tut in the hall of wisdom forum, which turned into the tutorials page.

Any idea why it's not there any more O great mods?

The original thread is here.

SloYerRoll

Richard wrote:

The original thread is here.

TYVM Richard. Bookmarked.
Any reason that this was removed from the tut's section? Or is it nonya?

Richard

SloYerRoll wrote:

TYVM Richard. Bookmarked.
Any reason that this was removed from the tut's section? Or is it nonya?

Don't know why it was removed. BTW, I had to Google nonya...the first page of results was all about Indonesian cuisine, and I figured that can't be it. Finally found it in the Urban Dictionary. Guess I'm getting out of touch.

Cheers,

schmoo

SloYerRoll wrote:

TYVM Richard. Bookmarked.
Any reason that this was removed from the tut's section? Or is it nonya?

AFAIK there is/was no formal tute gallery on the matter. The thread is chock full o' info, though.

SloYerRoll

schmoo wrote:

AFAIK there is/was no formal tute gallery on the matter. The thread is chock full o' info, though.

It was in there. But no worries. I have it bookmarked now