May 04 2008

Non Destructive Dodging & Burning – Photoshop Video Tutorial

Published by Yanik at 10:42 pm under Photoshop Tutorials, TUTORIALS, Video Tutorials

PS_logo.jpg Hello once again! :)

Here’s a Photoshop ™ tutorial on Dodging and Burning with a twist. Doing it a a separate layer so as to not alter or “degrade” the quality of your original image. This technique is especially useful for stock photographers that go through severe quality control at certain stock agencies. Enjoy and have a great day.

To see my other video tutorials, click here.




Sakaasa from IstockPhoto suggested this and since the video is already up here’s her quote! It’s a great tip!

“It is an easy task to paint the grey layer back in place by choosing neutral gray (rgb=128-128-128) for your color, set the brush to 100% and paint over the area you want to repair. Once the grey is back, continue burning and dodging.”

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19 responses so far

19 Responses to “Non Destructive Dodging & Burning – Photoshop Video Tutorial”

  1. # Carolyn Marshallon 05 May 2008 at 3:38 pm

    Wow! I had really been doing it the HARD way. Your walkthroughs are excellent and very easy to understand. I look forward to seeing more tutorials from you and have bookmarked this. Thanks!

  2. # Etion 06 May 2008 at 5:22 am

    Thanks Yanik! Nice simple tutorial.

  3. # Keith McGaughranon 07 May 2008 at 7:56 am

    Thanks for this Yanik… I had read the original on DPC but had forgotten the bit about using soft light as the blend mode
    great blog keep up the good work

    Keith
    (Firsty)

  4. # el.chokrion 08 May 2008 at 2:48 pm

    Nice! you can also use the dodge and burn tool in this grey layer.

  5. # Jamieon 09 May 2008 at 3:52 am

    Brilliant! I’m going to try that today..
    Looking forward to the next one too – very interested in alternatives to polarizers.

    Thanks :)

  6. # Melindaon 13 May 2008 at 12:21 am

    Wow, if I could come over and give you a hug I would! I have been trying to figure out photoshop by myself for what seems like forever. I can’t wait to watch all your tutorials!

  7. # Ammaron 13 May 2008 at 4:19 am

    Very helpful, thanks
    Looking forward for more :)

  8. # silon 15 May 2008 at 5:19 am

    Great tutorial! Thanks for sharing :)

  9. # Debbieon 15 May 2008 at 9:24 am

    This was awesome – thank you! I immediately tried it on a pic of an outdoor shot that was a bit blown out. It worked like a charm AND I finally understand a bit of the mysterious world of MASKS! Mwah hahahahaha!

  10. # Amandaon 15 May 2008 at 1:57 pm

    I love seeing how other people get things done. I would have never thought of not using the dodge and burn tools to dodge and burn! Thanks. Look forward to more tutorials.

  11. # deb debon 16 May 2008 at 5:40 pm

    Great tutorial!
    Deb

  12. # Portrait Makeover Part 3 - Photoshop makeup | Yanik's Photo Blogon 12 Jul 2008 at 2:08 pm

    [...] notice that I didn’t use the non destructive dodging and burning technique like I showed you here. It’s just another way of doing it. [...]

  13. # Windmill Post Processing Video Tutorial |on 04 Sep 2008 at 12:06 pm

    [...] way” for the purpose of this tutorial but you can also do it the non destructive way as shown here. Enjoy! addthis_url = [...]

  14. # Anonymouson 09 Dec 2008 at 1:49 am

    Yanik – I am a brand new photoshop user and your tutorials are insightful, entertaining, informative, and easy to follow. I cannot thank you enough for helping me turn good photos into wonderful treasures. Keep up the great work!

  15. # candion 14 Feb 2009 at 7:24 am

    Hi Yanik- great tutorial on non-destructive dodge and burn. I have a question…as this is all happening on an adjustment layers so as not to damage pixels on original image layer ..what happens when you’ve finished work on the image and want to flatten ,or merge layers. Will this not then apply that damage to the underlaying image, or does this image need to be kept and used with separate layers. For example, if that image has to be used in a program that doesn’t support images with layers, or if it needs to printed by a commercial printer?

  16. # Yanikon 14 Feb 2009 at 9:36 am

    @ candi

    I can’t really give much technical details on what happens once you flatten your image but I can tell you that the main purpose of working with layer masks is to not “destroy” pixels during post processing. I always flatten my images. I rarely keep PSD files.

    Maybe some more technically savvy PS reader could answer… :)

  17. # Anonymouson 14 Feb 2009 at 1:19 pm

    Thanks for such a quick response….I would assume that if you are selling a lot of your work through istock etc, that this method is not damaging the underlying image , because as you say, they are quite fussy and sometimes refuse images that have artifacting due to such stuff as dodging and burning. I’ll have some test prints done and have a close look at this and will report back here in a few days in case this is of interest to anyone else here.
    By the way ….really good tutorials and thanks for putting in all the effort, love your work too.

  18. # Fionaon 16 Apr 2009 at 10:48 am

    Thanks a million for this excellent tutorial, that IS really helpful!
    Will be waiting for some more!
    Warmest wishes from snowy Russia :o )

  19. # C Jeffon 15 Jun 2009 at 8:36 pm

    You are doing a wonderful job of helping so many people in here. It’s people like you that make life meaningful…thanks a million Yanik…

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