Darkening and brightening a photograph. Simple Secrets to Dodging and Burning in Photoshop
Peripheral dimming or "vignette" used by masters to concentrate the viewer’s attention on the central part of the image. It is worth noting that vignettes can be not only dark, but also light and blurry.
In this lesson we will talk specifically about dark vignettes and learn how to create them in different ways.
For the lesson, a photo of a birch grove was selected and a copy of the original layer was made ( CTRL+J).
Method 1: Manual creation
As the name suggests, this method involves manually creating a vignette using a fill and a mask.
Opacity is selected individually for each work.
Method 2: Feathering the Selection
This is a method using shading of an oval area followed by filling. Don't forget that we are drawing the vignette on a new empty layer.
1. Select a tool "Oval area".
2. Create a selection in the center of the image.
3. This selection needs to be inverted, since we will have to fill the edges, not the center of the picture, with black. This is done with a keyboard shortcut CTRL+SHIFT+I.
4. Now press the keyboard shortcut SHIFT+F6, calling up the shading settings window. The radius value is selected individually; we can only say that it should be large.
5. Fill the selection with black ( SHIFT+F5, black color).
6. Deselect ( CTRL+D) and reduce the opacity of the vignette layer.
Method 3: Gaussian Blur
First, let's repeat the starting points (new layer, oval selection, invert). Fill the selection with black without shading and deselect it ( CTRL+D).
1. Go to the menu “Filter – Blur – Gaussian Blur”.
2. Use the slider to adjust the blur of the vignette. Note that too large a radius may darken the center of the image. Don't forget that after blurring we will lower the opacity of the layer, so don't go too hard.
3. Reduce the opacity of the layer.
Method 4: Distortion Correction filter
This method can be called the simplest of all the above. However, it is not always applicable.
There is no need to create a new layer, since the actions are performed on a copy of the background.
1. Go to the menu “Filter – Distortion Correction”.
2. Go to the tab "Custom" and set up a vignette in the corresponding block.
This filter will only apply to the active layer.
Today you learned four ways to create dark edges (vignettes) in Photoshop. Choose the most convenient and suitable for a specific situation.
Improve your landscape photography skills by using a variety of advanced dodging and burning techniques to fine-tune the light and shade of your photos.
When it comes to making final adjustments to landscape photos, dodging and burning becomes an art form in itself. This process has been an integral part of photography for many years, but these days, adjusting light and shadow is much easier than it ever was in a dedicated darkroom.
Here we will look at several techniques. However, this is not a case where simply knowing how to selectively adjust brightness is enough: it is much more important to determine which area of the photo needs processing.
When looking at a photograph, the eyes first focus on the lighter areas. We need to take this into account when working. Imagine your eyes wandering around the image: emphasize the main lines and draw your eyes to the desired subject.
1. Separate the earth and sky
Select the sky using the tool Quick selection(Quick Selection Tool), then click Ctrl+J to copy the area to a new layer. Create an adjustment layer Levels(Levels). Set its blend mode Multiplication(Multiply), darkening the photo. Select the layer mask and click Ctrl + I to invert it.
2. Darken the sky
Press and hold the key Ctrl based on the thumbnail of the sky copy layer. Click on the layer mask Levels(Layers). Select a tool Brush(Brush Tool). Set white as the foreground color and the Opacity(Opacity) reduce to 20% . Sketch the areas of the sky you want to darken. When ready, click Ctrl+D, deselecting it.
3. Raise the Foreground
Create a new adjustment layer Levels(Layers). Set its blending mode to Screen(Screen) to brighten the image. Click on the sky layer while holding down the key Ctrl and then go to menu Select > Invert(Select > Inverse). Invert the mask of the new Levels layer and use a white brush to paint over the foreground areas that need to be brightened. When you're done, reset the selection.
04. Highlight the stones
Click Ctrl + Shift + Alt + E, creating a merged layer. Right click on the new layer and select Convert to Smart Object(Convert to Smart Object). Go to menu Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask(Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask). Set the following parameter values: Effect(Amount) - 120 , Radius(Radius) - 45 , Isohelium(Threshold) - 4 , adding clarity to the stones. Invert the layer mask that appears and paint the stones white.
5. Attract the eye
Press and hold the key Alt by the new layer icon at the bottom of the panel Layers(Layers Panel). In the layer creation window, set Mode(Mode) on Overlap(Overlay), then check the box next to " Fill..." (Fill with…) and click OK. Install Opacity(Opacity) brushes on 10% . Paint with white to lighten areas, black to darken; use this layer to draw attention to the subject.
6. Highlights and shadows
Click Ctrl + Shift + Alt + E to create another merged layer. Select a tool Clarifier(Dodge Tool), install Exhibition(Exposure) - 10% , A Range(Range) - Backlight(Highlights). Paint over the areas you want to highlight. Use the tool Dimmer(Burn Tool) with By exposure(Exposure) - 10% And Range(Range) - Shadows(Shadows) to add depth to the shadows.
Today it’s hard to believe, but there was a time, not so long ago, when cameras were not digital, and photo processing was carried out in a laboratory and not on a computer.
Digital cameras and Photoshop have brought photo editing from the darkroom to your living room ( or where you have your computer), but many of Photoshop's tools and features have their roots in traditional development.
Two prime examples of this are Photoshop's Dodge and Burn tools, both of which are located in the Tools palette. The terms "lighten" and "darken" refer to methods that were used to either lighten ( Dodge) or darken ( Burn) specific areas of the photo, increasing or limiting exposure to reagents in certain areas.
Photoshop's Dodge and Burn tools are digital versions of these techniques and are often used to either lighten underexposed areas of a photo or darken overexposed areas.
While these two tools are very useful, they both have one very serious drawback: they can cause permanent distortion of your image. It's best to save a copy when starting to work in Photoshop so that you can always return the original photo. This is often referred to as "non-destructive" work in Photoshop, and you should always use it whenever possible.
Luckily, Adobe has provided us with a variety of non-destructive image manipulation techniques, and in this photo editing article, we'll look at one of them. We'll look at a great technique for selectively controlling a photo's exposure by dodging and darkening specific areas.
It produces results very similar to what we could achieve with the Dodge and Burn tools, but without damaging the image's pixels.
We have a photo of one of the very common problems. The newlyweds should be the main focus of the image, but due to the direction of the sun's rays and the lack of fill flash, the couple looks too dark while the background comes out too bright:
Original photo
Using just Photoshop's Dodge and Burn tools and a layer blend mode, we can easily correct the imperfections in this image:
Photos after lightening and darkening specific areas
Let's get started!
Step 1: Add a New Layer
Open the image, then press and hold the Alt key ( Win) / Option ( Mac) and click on the “ New Layer” icon at the bottom of the layers palette:
Hold down Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) and click on the New Layer icon
This way we add a new layer on top of the current one. But holding down the Alt key ( Win) / Option ( Mac) When we click the New Layer icon, we tell Photoshop that we need to open the New Layer dialog box before the layer is added.
This will give us the opportunity to name the layer and also allow us to change a few important parameters. Since I'll be using this layer to lighten and darken some areas, I'll call it "Dodge and Burn". You don't have to name the layer individually if you don't want to, but naming layers is a very useful habit:
Name the new layer "Dodge and Burn" (optional)
However, what we really need the “ New Layer” window for is to change the option at the very bottom of the window - Mode. "Mode" is an abbreviation for " Layer Blend Mode”, and by default it is set to “ Normal”. Change " Blend Mode" to "Overlap":
Change the new layer's Blending Mode to Overlay
In short, the “Overlay” blending mode belongs to the “Contrast” group of modes and is often used to increase the contrast of an image. Any areas of the layer that are lighter than 50% gray ( meaning a shade of gray exactly halfway between black and white) are used to brighten an image.
While areas darker than 50% gray are used to darken them. Any areas that are exactly 50% gray are completely ignored by Photoshop and become transparent. We will now see how this works in practice.
In the Overlay blending mode, you will see a new option in the dialog box - “ Fill with a neutral color (50% gray)" Check the box to enable this option:
Check the box to enable the "Fill with neutral color (50% gray)" option.
This tells Photoshop to fill our new layer with 50% gray. Once you're done, click the "OK" button to exit the dialog box. If we look at the Layers palette now, we'll see a new layer called "Dodge and Burn" located above the background.
We have this layer's blending mode set to Overlay, and if we look at its thumbnail to the left of its name, we can see that this layer is filled with gray:
New "Dodge and Burn" layer in the Layers palette
I noted earlier that when a layer's blending mode is set to Overlay, any areas of the layer that are 50% gray become transparent. And, if we look at our image, we can see that even though the “Dodge and Burn” layer is filled with solid gray, we can see our original photo. The gray color of the "Dodge and Burn" layer is completely transparent:
The solid gray of the "Dodge and Burn" layer is transparent in the document window
Step 2: Select the Brush Tool
We're going to lighten and darken different areas of the image by simply painting white or black areas over them. Areas painted with white will become lighter, areas painted with black will become darker. Again, this is because we will be painting them on a layer that has its blending mode set to Overlay.
However, before we can paint over anything, we must select the Brush tool. To do this, either select “Brush" from the tool palette, or press the "B" key on the keyboard:
Select the Brush Tool
Step 3: Set the Foreground Color to White
I want to start by brightening a few areas. This means I need to paint white areas on them. This means I need to set the Foreground color to white, since the Brush tool paints with the color that is set as the Foreground color. Press the "D" key on your keyboard, which resets the text and background colors to their default settings. Black is set as the foreground color, white as the background color.
To swap them, press the “X” key on your keyboard. If we look at the Foreground and Background color swatches side by side at the bottom of the Tools palette, we can see that white is now set as the Foreground color:
Foreground color swatch in the Tools palette
Step 4: Reduce Brush Opacity to 10 - 20%
It's best when working with this technique to gradually increase the amount of dodge and burn we apply, because even a small amount can sometimes be enough. Therefore we need to work with a low opacity brush. Make sure you have the Brush tool selected, then go to the Options bar at the top of the screen and reduce the Opacity to 10-20%. I set the value to 10%.
This way, every time I paint the same area, I'll increase the intensity of the highlight or dark by 10%, which gives me more wiggle room:
Reduce brush opacity in the Options Bar
Step 5: Paint over the areas you want to lighten
With the Brush Tool selected, white as the Foreground color and the Opacity reduced, simply paint over the areas of the photo that you want to lighten. The first time the effect will be quite subtle due to the low opacity of the brush.
But if you need to lighten certain areas more, just paint over them several times. You can change the brush size if necessary. If you want to use a soft-edged brush, you can soften the edges of the brush by pressing the left arrow key several times while holding down the Shift key. Pressing the right arrow while holding Shift makes the edges harder.
I want to paint over the couple themselves, so I need to paint a few strokes on them with a medium soft brush. Each time I paint over areas, I will increase their brightness by 10%. Therefore, go over the figures of the newlyweds 3 or 4 times.
The faces in the photo look particularly dark, so this area may need to be further processed.
Paint white areas of the photo that you want to brighten.
Step 6: Set Foreground Color to Black
When you're done with the areas you're highlighting, press the "X" key to swap the Foreground and Background colors:
Color swatches in the Tools palette. Black set as foreground color
Step 7: Paint over the areas that need to be darkened
With the foreground color black, paint over areas of the photo that should be darkened. Again, each time you paint over the same area, you will increase the intensity of the darkening. In my case, I want to darken the area behind the couple, so I need to use a large brush and paint the area around the couple several times:
Fast and effective way lightening or blackouts image areas at photo processing as a replacement for tools Lightening And Blackout.
I became acquainted with this method in the book by S. Kelby “Handbook for processing in Photoshop,” pp. 196-197. Here the method is presented as a replacement for Photoshop tools Dodge (Lighten) And Burn. I liked the method so much that I wrote it in the form Action, and I use it all the time. And the other day I came across a description of the same method in the magazine “Practical Photoshop” (No. 9 for 2011, p. 55), but in a slightly different vein, and - which is absolutely wonderful! — it uses exactly Dodge And Burn! To replace imperfect tools, we use these very tools!
But enough confusion, I’ll describe the method.
For darkening/lightening problem areas of the image (sky, sea, deep shadows, areas of the face - what am I listing - everyone knows about them very well) - a variety of methods are used. Levels with masks, Curves with masks, blending modes (with masks), Shadows/Lights. The above-mentioned ones are intended for local, local changes. Lighten And Dim.
So, here's an alternative.
Open the image whose areas require correction. In the main menu of the program, select Layers - New - Layer. Please note that this is exactly what you need to do - through the menu, so that a window appears, in which we will configure some parameters a little later. Or you can click on the button Create New Layer in the palette Layers, but holding down the key Alt.
In the window that appears, select the mode Overlap, and put the bird a little lower Fill with a neutral color in the “overlay” mode (gray 50%). As a result, a new layer appears above the original layer, filled with 50% gray, which in blend mode Overlap is ignored, so the image will not change at all.
Now, in the classic version (which is from Scott Kelby), select a soft brush and reduce the opacity to 25-30 percent. Pressing the keys one by one D And X, set the front color to white. We begin to move the mouse over the places that need to be brightened. If the lightening effect is not enough, we go over the area a second or third time.
To darken light areas, press D to set the foreground color to black, and move the mouse over the desired areas.
I also read this recommendation somewhere: when doing any work in Photoshop, you need to do the next operation, then squint, lean back in the chair, perhaps in a “hands on your head” pose, and after these manipulations reduce the force of influence by 10-15 percent. Laugh laugh, but I actually do this sometimes. So we have such an opportunity in the form of a general opacity gray layer.
This is where the classic method ends, and there is a reason to drink and remember the second opportunity. It is proposed to use the same tools as a brush - Lighten And Dim. What are the advantages? If a regular brush works with the same force in each movement, then this pair gradually increases its action when crawling in one place, without releasing the mouse button. When using these tools you only need to increase Opacity- up to one hundred percent. Additionally, it is necessary to clarify the range in which changes are necessary - Shadows, Backlight or Midtones. The result is a softer, more flexible and thinner instrument.
Well, as a bonus, let’s add the following to the collection of lightening/darkening methods:
At the very beginning, just add an empty layer (by clicking Create New Layer in the palette Layers), set the blending mode to Soft light. Take the same white or black brush with Opacity 30%, and perform the same steps as described. The result is softer and more moderate than the first.
In the end, I want to emphasize that all methods are very easy to write down in Action.
Good day to everyone, my dear friends and guests of my blog. Please tell me, has it ever happened to you that the photographs that you or someone you know turned out to be quite dark and not very watchable? Yes, such cases happen all the time. But thank God that all this can be fixed.
And our wonderful, famous graphic editor nicknamed Photoshop will help you and me with this). And by the way, what’s most interesting is that there are simply a great many ways to lighten a photo in Photoshop, so we’ll look at a few of the most optimal ones.
Well, for now, unpack your Photoshop and open the darkened image. I decided to take a photo of this dark alley.
Naturally, the first thing that came to my mind was to make the photo lighter using brightness and contrast. But in this article, if you don’t mind, I won’t talk about this method, as I talked about it in detail in the topic dedicated to this.
Light and shadow
Another way we will look at the so-called shadow and light effect. More precisely, this is not even an effect)
Blend Mode
Another very interesting technique is to use a blend mode. Let's take a closer look.
As you can see, for this photo I needed to duplicate the layers four times))). Well, nothing, but it became as bright as day.
Levels
A very popular type of image correction, with which you can give a photo a very interesting look. B since thanks to it you can shift the brightness levels of the image, this tool becomes simply irreplaceable in our case.
When you enter, you will see a small histogram of the input values. There are three points in total: Black (left), white (right) and gray (halftone in the middle). By moving one point or another, we change the levels of input values, and therefore change the brightness of the picture. OK. Quite a dry theory.
Curves
This correction tool is also very chic and I really love it. It can be used for powerful color correction. Well, it won’t be difficult for her to lighten the picture at all. In general, it might even be worth making a separate article about this. I'll see according to my mood. For now, let's make the picture lighter.
But of course, “Curves” and “Levels” can do much cooler things than simple lightening.
Well, now you know how to lighten a photo in Photoshop, and very easily and quickly. So now it won’t be difficult for you to make your photo much more pleasing to the eye.
And if you want to learn more about working with these functions, and also learn Photoshop from scratch from A to Z, then I strongly recommend that you study this powerful video course. No fluff, everything is straight to the point and told in human language. Moreover, I have it for my readers.
Well, if you liked my article, then you can subscribe to my blog updates to always be aware of everything new on the pages of my blog. And I will be glad to see you again on the pages of my blog. Good luck to you. Bye bye!
Best regards, Dmitry Kostin.
