Dodging / Burning suggestions

[sothoth]

I use the dodging and burning tools to lighten/darken areas. However, I've found it very easy to overdo it or run off the edges with this tool (and lighten or darken the wrong area).

I'm sure there is a better way to do it but I am by no means a PS expert. Can you select a subset if your picture for lightening/darkening without running the circular cursor over everything? That seems too prone to human error.

Please advise!

 

[Peacemaker636]

Create a duplicate layer for the dodge tool and another for the burn tool. Then go to layer>layer mask>reveal all for both layers. If you go over the edge, click on the layer mask, and paint in the mask so that it hides where you went over.

 

[ksmattfish]

The dodge and burn tool are "destructive" methods of editing, meaning they discard information, or alter it in a significant manner. I use the lasso tool (usually with a feathered edge), or a mask, to select the areas I want to burn/dodge, and then use curves to adjust (can be done in separate layers). This is supposedly "non-destructive". It's like combining burning and dodging with split contrast filtering, which is something I've found very useful in the darkroom.

 

[Digital Matt]

Create a new layer, and fill it with 50% grey. Set the blend mode to "soft light", and dodge and burn on this layer. It will affect the layer below, non destructively. You can adjust the opacity of layer if desired, and give it a mask. If you dodge an area too strongly, you can burn it to bring it back in, once again, "non destructively".

 

[Jazz]

Proving that there's 17 ways to do everything in PS, here's another.

Let's say you have a hotspot on a model's forehead. Select the healing brush. On the options bar, set the mode to darken. Then "sample" a darker area nearby by alt + click. Now brush with short strokes over the hotspot.

This will replace ONLY the pixels that are lighter than your sample area, with the darker pixels from your sample area. I've found this is very effective for small areas. It works the opposite if you choose "lighten" mode on the options bar.

The key to this method is the brush shape. Try setting roundness to 25%, and change the angle as needed. The angle setting is intuitive.