Dodge and Burn: Non-Destructive Contrast Adjustment in Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop’s Dodge and Burn tools are powerful, but it’s
frustrating to have to either work on the original image or stack multiple layers in
order to be able to correct mistakes easily. In this tutorial you'll learn a simple, effective
alternative that's completely non-destructive for black and white and colour images!
Photograph via Pixabay CC0 This
picture already has an amazing amount of character, but it has a very
flat, compressed tonal range. Let’s give it a little more contrast,
better local tonality and depth, by selectively lifting the highlights
and darkening the shadows.
Though our example is black and white, this method works equally well with colour. It also goes the opposite way around: if you
wanted to rescue highlights or shadows the same tools work. It's a very flexible approach.
1. Add a New Layer
We’ll work on a new layer, rather
than on our original picture, so that the original is preserved—that’s what we mean by non-destructive—and we can
go back to the original any time we like.
Add a new layerName your layer something
appropriate, I’ve gone for ‘Contrast Adjustment,’ and change the Blend Mode to
Overlay. Overlay works on the contrast in an image; it’s actually a combination
of Multiply and Screen, so where the lower layer is light, those areas become
lighter and where it’s dark, they become darker. Imagine an S-curve on a graph.
2. Fill Your New Layer With 50% Grey
Hit Edit > Fill and choose 50% grey.
Fill your layer with 50% greyYou don’t have to do this, you can paint on
the transparent layer but the grey really helps you to see what you’re doing.
3. Select Your Brush
Select the Brush Tool and choose white as your foreground colour:
Choose a white brushUse a soft brush and change the Opacity of
the brush to around 20%.A good tip is
to Increase your
brush opacity until it looks a little bit ‘too much’ and make your
changes. Don't worry if it looks imperfect; later on you'll reduce the
opacity of the contrast layer and makes some tweaks until everything
looks right. I find this helps save having to go over and over the same
area.
Use a low opacity and a soft brush
4. Dodge: Paint the Highlights to Lighten
Because we’re going for more contrast in this example, I’m
going to paint over the highlight area to further lighten them.
These are the areas I've focused on for my highlightsThe
areas I’ve circled above are the main focus of my highlights: the back
of the hand, across the face, and the cigarettes and fingernails. I’ve
also brought some of the white out in the hair of the eyebrows and
beard. Don't be too precious about your adjustments at this stage, just
rough it in.
You
can see on the contrast adjustment layer icon that it’s fairly easy to see where you’ve
painted.
If you make a mistake, no problem. Change your brush
colour to 50% grey using the Colour Picker and change the B value (of HSB)
to 50% (the other values of RGB below should change to 128) and paint over the area again. Voila, back to neutral!
For mistakes, use a 50% grey brush
5. Burn: Paint the Shadows to Darken
Change your brush to black and
this time brush over any shadows you would like to darken. You can use the same
settings as before and brush over your shadows:
These are the areas I've darkenedI’ve concentrated on naturally
dark parts of the image this time and also brushed over parts of the beard and
eyebrows again to further contrast it with the white areas.
6. Adjust to Taste
Now that your image that has been through a rough dodge and burn adjustment it's time to fine tune.
Adjust the Layer Opacity
First, reduce the contrast adjustment layer Opacity down from 100% until the image looks just right. Reducing Opacity changes how strongly the whole contrast adjustment layer applies to the image.
Make Fine Touch-Ups
Next, look for rough spots: places where the adjustment need a second touch. Adjusting the layer will get you most of the way, but there might be some spots that need a little more attention. Lower the Opacity of your Brush, down to 10% this time, and paint in these areas until they look perfect.
Blur the Layer
For
some images, the transition between areas benefits from a smoother
transition between the areas you've painted and neutral grey. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Adjust the Radius until the transitions in your image look right, and click OK.
Add a Layer Mask
For the ultimate in control you can add a layer mask to the layer. This lets you adjust your adjustments non-destructively! To add a mask, click the New
Layer Mask button in the Layers panel. Now paint on the white mask with a black Brush to selectively hide part of the layer.
And You Are Done!
I hope you find this non-destructive method for dodging and burning useful. Happy retouching!
A before and after of the image
Marie Gardiner
Photographer and writer based in north east England.
I'm a photographer and writer with a background in media. Love travel, adventures and coffee... Lots of coffee.