How to dodge/burn smoothly

[Stewx]

Hi,

Do you guys have any tips for dodging or burning smoothly in Photoshop (CS3, to be specific)? I just find that when using my mouse, the strokes I make are really uneven and you can clearly see the circle shapes where I used the dodge or burn tool.

Thanks,
Stew

[SoCal69]

I'm not sure this answers your question directly, but this tutorial may help...

http://www.dpchallenge.com/tutorial.php?TUTORIAL_ID=55

[lecherro]

It Takes practise iether way, but what i do is set my dodge or burn tool to a lrager softer edge, and sett the intensity very low. That way the "stroke" is not as obvious and the effect is low, and if I need more effect go over it agian. Better to use to little than too much. Also good to copy major layers before effecting in any way to save what ma eventually get screwed up. I know there is undo, but these are also computers that have a mind and will of thier own sometimes and its better to be safe than sorry. Hope this helps.

[Robf]

as above, soft edge, lower % and working on a duplicated layer. After a while you can gain more confidence and just use the % higher and hit it in one go.

[Mcary]

Tip #1 Don't use the dodging and burning tools

1. Open Image
2. Add new layer -Mode choose Overlay and check the box that say fill overlay with 50 gray
3. Press the D key to return the for ground and background colors to Black/White
4. Select the brush tool and choose soft edge brush set the opacity to 30% to start and adjust as need to get the desired results
5. For the areas you want to dodge set the for ground color to black and for the areas you want to burn.

Mike

[queenbee288]

Originally Posted by Mcary

Tip #1 Don't use the dodging and burning tools

1. Open Image
2. Add new layer -Mode choose Overlay and check the box that say fill overlay with 50 gray
3. Press the D key to return the for ground and background colors to Black/White
4. Select the brush tool and choose soft edge brush set the opacity to 30% to start and adjust as need to get the desired results
5. For the areas you want to dodge set the for ground color to black and for the areas you want to burn.

Mike

This is what I do too but I start off with opacity of 5%.

[Jon, The Elder]

Thanks folks ......comes in handy for those Western style hat shadows I'm always fighting.

[cosworth]

I take three RAW files, one 0 EV, one +1 and another -1 EV. I layer mask the +1/-1 and paint them in to avoid pixel bruising.

ACR 4.1 has reduced my dependence on this by easily %50.

[Stewx]

Originally Posted by Mcary

Tip #1 Don't use the dodging and burning tools

1. Open Image
2. Add new layer -Mode choose Overlay and check the box that say fill overlay with 50 gray
3. Press the D key to return the for ground and background colors to Black/White
4. Select the brush tool and choose soft edge brush set the opacity to 30% to start and adjust as need to get the desired results
5. For the areas you want to dodge set the for ground color to black and for the areas you want to burn.

Mike

Ah, now that is smart... this works much better

[lnterestlng]

Originally Posted by Mcary

Tip #1 Don't use the dodging and burning tools

1. Open Image
2. Add new layer -Mode choose Overlay and check the box that say fill overlay with 50 gray
3. Press the D key to return the for ground and background colors to Black/White
4. Select the brush tool and choose soft edge brush set the opacity to 30% to start and adjust as need to get the desired results
5. For the areas you want to dodge set the for ground color to black and for the areas you want to burn.

Mike

If you want even more control you make 2 curves adjustment layers. One lighter and one darker. then mask em out and paint them in where you want. Same principle but just more control. You can go back and change the adjustment layers if you want to.

[XTremeSLR]

+1 to what smdevo says. It's much better to do it this way.

[SeanH]

One more-


Quick mask.......use whatever brush fits you image (area your working)....but always a soft edge
Brush the area you want to darken / lighten
Filter / Gass. blur.........change the radius till the red (quick mask) blend nicely and stays in the area you want.(you can erase some by clicking the black if you want.....again soft edge, and before next step)
Click out of quick mask
Select / inverse
new adjustment layer.........levels or curves, whatever you like.
make your adjustments and flatten.


This is the way I do 95% of my dodging & burning, not to mention all of my vignetting.

[ayotnoms]

It seems to me that masking 2 adjustment layers is more labor intensive than one 50% grey Overlay layer and alternate between black and white brushes.
...but that's just me.

[lnterestlng]

Originally Posted by ayotnoms

It seems to me that masking 2 adjustment layers is more labor intensive than one 50% grey Overlay layer and alternate between black and white brushes.
...but that's just me.

The amount of control this gives you far outweighs the minimal effort of switching between layers(which is the same labor output as switching paint colors.) It's one click or key either way. I use a Wacom so it's a matter of tap here or tap there. I like the individual control of each layer's intensity after the fact for fine tuning. Also, I have the whole layer creation process set up as an action so I just press my F9 key and then start scribbling. As a heavy user, the little things like creating layers seem like normal breathing compared to the actual creative work that I need to spend mental energy on.

Most would be fine with the 50% grey route.