Dodging and Burning

This is a traditional darkroom technique used to selectively lighten and darken areas of a photograph during the enlarging process. A mask in the shape of the area to be lightened is attached to a thin wire and held in position just above the photo paper in the enlarger, so that it shadow prevents exposure. Slight movement softens the edge and prevents the wire from adversely affecting the exposure. This is known as “dodging”. Burning is the opposite effect, in which the area to be darkened is cut out of a larger paper mask to prevent exposure to other areas.

In digital retouching we use this effect on a daily basis to control local contrast in order to extend the apparent dynamic range of the photo. It’s a relatively simple process of selecting part of the image and applying an adjustment to alter its luminosity value. However for finer control, we can create adjustment layers that we can use to “brush in” the effect.

The many adjustment tools and blend modes in Photoshop can be used in many combinations to achieve advanced effects. For this tutorial however, we are going to concentrate on three techniques using The Overlay, Multiply and Screen modes.

---

Creating a Dodge & Burn Layer
For subtle adjustments, nondestructive dodging and burning can be performed in a single layer. For a more pronounced effect and to gain more control over color, we can use a separate layer each for dodging and burning as explained below.

1. From the menu bar, select Layer > New > Layer… or press Command + Shift + N.

2. In New Layer dialog, select Overlay from the mode menu and check the “Fill with Overlay-neutral color (50% gray)” box. Rename this layer “Dodge & Burn” if desired. Click OK.

3. Press D to set the background colors to their default black and white.

4. Press B to switch to the Brush tool.

5. In the Brush Options bar, set the opacity and flow to a low value, such as 10%.

6. Select an appropriate brush size and hardness.

7. Begin brushing in the document window to darken areas which are too light using black. To lighten dark areas, press X to exchange foreground and background colors in order to use white.

How it works
When the Overlay mode is applied to a layer, values in that layer that are lighter than 50% gray lighten the pixels of the layers beneath, while values which are darker than 50% gray darken them. This is also true of the Soft Light, Hard Light, Vivid Light, Linear Light and Hard Mix modes, which can also be used to achieve varying effects.

---

Creating a Burn Layer
When a stronger effect needs to be applied, and/or more control over color is desired, a separate burn layer can be created using the Multiply Mode.

1. From the menu bar, select Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation…

2. In the New Layer dialog, select Multiply from the Mode menu; rename the layer “Burn” if desired.

3. With the layer still selected, fill the layer mask with black by selecting Edit > Fill… from the menu bar and select Black from the Use menu.

4. Press D to set the background colors to their default black and white.

5. Press B to switch to the Brush tool.

6. In the Brush Options bar, set the opacity and flow to a low value, such as 10%.

7. Select an appropriate brush size and hardness.

8. Begin brushing in the document window to darken areas which are too light using white. White is painted into the layer mask, revealing the effect of the Multiply blend mode.

9. To undo the effect, press X to switch to the background color (black) which then hides the effect of the Multiply mode.

10. To vary the overall intensity of the effect, adjust the layer’s Opacity slider

10. To vary the overall hue and saturation of the effect, adjust the respective sliders in the Hue/Saturation panel.

11. To darken the effect starting from the highlights, drag the Lightness slider to the left.

12. To lighten the effect starting from the shadows, drag the Lightness slider to the right.

How it Works
When the Multiply mode is applied to a layer, values in that layer darken those in the layers beneath, with the effect becoming progressively stronger as the tones become darker. This has the effect of darkening the image while adding contrast. Applying this mode to a non-modified adjustment layer is the same as duplicating the pixel layer itself, but takes up far less disk space. By using a Hue/Saturation layer, we have subtle control over the hue, saturation, shadows and highlights of the effect.

---

Creating a Dodge Layer
When a stronger effect needs to be applied, and/or more control over color is desired, a separate dodge layer can be created using the Screen Mode.


1. From the menu bar, select Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation…

2. In the New Layer dialog, select Screen from the Mode menu; rename the layer “Dodge” if desired.

3. With the layer still selected, fill the layer mask with black by selecting Edit > Fill… from the menu bar and select Black from the Use menu.

4. Press D to set the background colors to their default black and white.

5. Press B to switch to the Brush tool.

6. In the Brush Options bar, set the opacity and flow to a low value, such as 10%.

7. Select an appropriate brush size and hardness.

8. Begin brushing in the document window to lighten areas which are too dark using white. White is painted into the layer mask, revealing the effect of the Screen blend mode.

9. To undo the effect, press X to switch to the background color (black) which then hides the effect of the Screen mode.

10. To vary the overall intensity of the effect, adjust the layer’s Opacity slider

10. To vary the overall hue and saturation of the effect, adjust the respective sliders in the Hue/Saturation panel.

11. To darken the effect starting from the highlights, drag the Lightness slider to the left.

12. To lighten the effect starting from the shadows, drag the Lightness slider to the right.

How it Works
When the Screen mode is applied to a layer, values in that layer lighten those in the layers beneath, with the effect becoming progressively stronger as the tones become darker. This has the effect of lightening the image while reducing contrast. Applying this mode to a non-modified adjustment layer is the same as duplicating the pixel layer itself, but takes up far less disk space. By using a Hue/Saturation layer, we have subtle control over the hue, saturation, shadows and highlights of the effect.