TONAL CONTROL (DODGING and BURNING) – ‘OVERLAY’ METHOD’
Using an Overlay blend layer is to be preferred to using the actual ‘Dodge & Burn’ tools in Photoshop, which are destructive and less flexible. Before you start, you may wish to make a duplicate layer and work on that rather than the Background layer - although I don't always do that as it doubles the file size - but not duplicating would be probably be considered 'bad practice' by many!! It is also advisable to work in 16 bit with monochrome images, especially if these are JPEGs, as occasionally artefacts can occur in 8 bit due to the much more limited range of tones.
With your image open in Photoshop go to LAYER, then NEW LAYER. A window will come up in the centre of your screen. The default name is ‘Layer 1’ but you can change this if you want to e.g. ‘Dodge and Burn’ Click the arrow in the MODE box. This will drop down a list of numerous layer modes. Choose OVERLAY. You can also use SOFT LIGHT or HARD LIGHT for weaker or stronger effects, but that is very rarely necessary.
Leave the Colour box as ‘None’. Leave the opacity box at 100%
Leave the box ‘Use previous layer to create clipping mask’ un-ticked
Tick the box headed ‘Fill with overlay neutral colour [50% Gray]’
When you have completed the above, click on OK and the window will disappear
From the usual Photoshop tool list select the brush tool. (Short cut just tap ‘B’ on your keyboard). Choose a SOFT brush I use mine set to max softness 100% and hardness 0%. If you right click with the Brush tool open, a panel will appear and you can adjust the hardness (and size if you wish) using that. As you work It is easier to use the square brackets (to the right of the letter ‘P’ on your keyboard) to change the size of brush. 'Overlay' should appear in the box in the menu bar top left of your screen - Photoshop normally defaults this to 'Normal', so make sure Overlay is displayed.
Check the two overlapping squares near the bottom of the tool list (usually on the lower left of your screen). Make sure one of these is set at black and the other is white. With White on top, this will dodge (lighten) and Black on top will burn (darken), Whichever one is on top is the one that is operative - you can alternate between the two by tapping the letter ‘X’ on your keyboard. If there is another tone or shade in either of these boxes, first tap 'D' on your keyboard and this will then re-set to the default black & white squares.
Look at the OPACITY slider on the top menu bar. It will be defaulted at 100%. This is far too strong. I normally use between 5% and 20%, very rarely stronger, as it is better to build up an effect rather than try and do it all at once. You can adjust the slider appropriate to different parts of the image, as you burn and dodge, as some parts may need greater or lesser strength. The adjacent ‘Flow’ box should be left at 100%. Each time you click and hold down, tone will be added or reduced as you click and/or drag.
With the latest versions of Photoshop, with most landscape images, I usually start by using the Select Sky option from the Select section on the top tool bar and work on that first. I initially make a broad adjustment using Levels or Curves, and after which I will make more local adjustments. I tend to use big brushes for skies and sweep across the image, and then smaller brushes to darken/lighten in more detailed areas. It may help to enlarge your image on the screen when working on small areas (Control + (plus) to enlarge and Control – (minus) to make smaller on screen.
Having worked on the sky, I then invert the selection and work on the remainder of the image.
Experiment to get the effect you want. You cannot do any damage to your image, as it is reversible if you go too far, either by going back in the ‘History’ or dodging or burning back – but don’t click Save until you have completed the work or want to stop at that point. You can also use Control Z to go back In the later updates to Photoshop, use Control-Z repeatedly until you are back where you want to be. With earlier versions of PS, to go back more than one step, use Control-Alt-Z to go back, or you can simply dodge or burn back. Unlike the Photoshop ‘Burn and Dodge’ tool, this method does not destroy pixels and thus won't degrade your image.
If, in extreme cases (such as very dense black or a very light highlight), the overlay method may not work so well. You can then try ‘Hard Light’ as your blend mode instead of ‘Overlay’. Alternatively, you can open up a second ‘Overlay’ layer and repeat the process.- but beware, this will considerably increase your file size! As these layers do double your file size (they are not ‘Adjustment Layers’) you may wish to flatten, or ‘merge visible’ the layers when you are happy with the results.
For working on small or tonally well defined areas, I often used the Quick Selection tool to define these. Luminosity Masking is another option, but I don’’t use that myself.
You may find that when you next open Photoshop, and choose a Brush, 'Overlay' is still displayed on the menu bar, as the programme will remember it from the last time you used it. If that is the case, then you don't have to open a new layer. But, remember, if you don’t open a new layer, you will be working on the background layer, so you may wish to duplicate that first.
I normally flatten the layers when I have completed everything to my satisfaction, as an overlay later does double the file size. Some people may not consider this good practice though, as they prefer to keep the layers so that they can be returned to if desired.
HOW TO GET RICH BLACKS
A tip to maximise the rich black tones in your image (especially in monochrome) is to 'clip' the blacks in levels (or curves) - I normally use Levels. Open up a Levels adjustment layer and move the left hand slider slightly into the histogram pyramid. This will clip some blacks in small areas but this isn't usually a problem if not too large or important. If the clipped area is large i.e. no shadow detail over a significant part) you can carefully dodge back, using the overlay method above, by lightening just enough to bring out a suggestion of shadow detail – you won’t need much.
With this technique, your blacks will be enriched throughout all of the image, whereas in an ordinary histogram, only the extreme left part of it will give true black in your picture. That can make it appear flat as most of the darkest tones will be, at best, a dark grey and not a full black. You will need to trial and error to see how far you can, or want, to go. When moving the slider, you can check when and where the blacks are clipping by holding the ALT key down at the same time as you move the slider. The screen will go completely white, but black patches will appear where the tones are blocking. (Conversely if you want to check if your highlights are clipping, move the right hand slider o the left with ALT held down. Your screen will go black and white patches will appear where clipping occurs).
DEALING WITH BURNED OUT OR VERY BRIGHT HIGHLIGHTS
If there are very bright areas in your image, such as in a bright part of a sky or a cloud, burning them in may not work well or at all. They might go to a muddy, unattractive grey tone, There are two good solutions for this, the Clone and Remove tools.
If cloning, use tone from a nearby area e.g. clouds, at a reduced opacity, say between 20 & 40%. That should add a very light tone with a suggestion of detail or texture texture, depending on the clone source..
Another excellent method of eliminating unwanted small areas of highlight is to use the new Remove tool. This will take out the highlight and reconstruct the area, such as by adding cloud if it is a sky, or other detail if it is something else. As with all things, trial and error may be needed to get it right, as each time you use the tool, the result will be slightly different. But this tool has quickly become an indispensable addition to my workflow.
I hope this information has been helpful, but if you experience any problems when using any of the methods described, send me an email at [email protected] or phone 07887 887101 and I will talk you through it or demonstrate the technique via Zoom.
Colin Westgate (updated October 2024)
(I am indebted to the late Irene Froy, who showed me the Overlay technique in the very early days of my digital photography, over 20 years ago. It has been the mainstay of my processing ever since)
Using an Overlay blend layer is to be preferred to using the actual ‘Dodge & Burn’ tools in Photoshop, which are destructive and less flexible. Before you start, you may wish to make a duplicate layer and work on that rather than the Background layer - although I don't always do that as it doubles the file size - but not duplicating would be probably be considered 'bad practice' by many!! It is also advisable to work in 16 bit with monochrome images, especially if these are JPEGs, as occasionally artefacts can occur in 8 bit due to the much more limited range of tones.
With your image open in Photoshop go to LAYER, then NEW LAYER. A window will come up in the centre of your screen. The default name is ‘Layer 1’ but you can change this if you want to e.g. ‘Dodge and Burn’ Click the arrow in the MODE box. This will drop down a list of numerous layer modes. Choose OVERLAY. You can also use SOFT LIGHT or HARD LIGHT for weaker or stronger effects, but that is very rarely necessary.
Leave the Colour box as ‘None’. Leave the opacity box at 100%
Leave the box ‘Use previous layer to create clipping mask’ un-ticked
Tick the box headed ‘Fill with overlay neutral colour [50% Gray]’
When you have completed the above, click on OK and the window will disappear
From the usual Photoshop tool list select the brush tool. (Short cut just tap ‘B’ on your keyboard). Choose a SOFT brush I use mine set to max softness 100% and hardness 0%. If you right click with the Brush tool open, a panel will appear and you can adjust the hardness (and size if you wish) using that. As you work It is easier to use the square brackets (to the right of the letter ‘P’ on your keyboard) to change the size of brush. 'Overlay' should appear in the box in the menu bar top left of your screen - Photoshop normally defaults this to 'Normal', so make sure Overlay is displayed.
Check the two overlapping squares near the bottom of the tool list (usually on the lower left of your screen). Make sure one of these is set at black and the other is white. With White on top, this will dodge (lighten) and Black on top will burn (darken), Whichever one is on top is the one that is operative - you can alternate between the two by tapping the letter ‘X’ on your keyboard. If there is another tone or shade in either of these boxes, first tap 'D' on your keyboard and this will then re-set to the default black & white squares.
Look at the OPACITY slider on the top menu bar. It will be defaulted at 100%. This is far too strong. I normally use between 5% and 20%, very rarely stronger, as it is better to build up an effect rather than try and do it all at once. You can adjust the slider appropriate to different parts of the image, as you burn and dodge, as some parts may need greater or lesser strength. The adjacent ‘Flow’ box should be left at 100%. Each time you click and hold down, tone will be added or reduced as you click and/or drag.
With the latest versions of Photoshop, with most landscape images, I usually start by using the Select Sky option from the Select section on the top tool bar and work on that first. I initially make a broad adjustment using Levels or Curves, and after which I will make more local adjustments. I tend to use big brushes for skies and sweep across the image, and then smaller brushes to darken/lighten in more detailed areas. It may help to enlarge your image on the screen when working on small areas (Control + (plus) to enlarge and Control – (minus) to make smaller on screen.
Having worked on the sky, I then invert the selection and work on the remainder of the image.
Experiment to get the effect you want. You cannot do any damage to your image, as it is reversible if you go too far, either by going back in the ‘History’ or dodging or burning back – but don’t click Save until you have completed the work or want to stop at that point. You can also use Control Z to go back In the later updates to Photoshop, use Control-Z repeatedly until you are back where you want to be. With earlier versions of PS, to go back more than one step, use Control-Alt-Z to go back, or you can simply dodge or burn back. Unlike the Photoshop ‘Burn and Dodge’ tool, this method does not destroy pixels and thus won't degrade your image.
If, in extreme cases (such as very dense black or a very light highlight), the overlay method may not work so well. You can then try ‘Hard Light’ as your blend mode instead of ‘Overlay’. Alternatively, you can open up a second ‘Overlay’ layer and repeat the process.- but beware, this will considerably increase your file size! As these layers do double your file size (they are not ‘Adjustment Layers’) you may wish to flatten, or ‘merge visible’ the layers when you are happy with the results.
For working on small or tonally well defined areas, I often used the Quick Selection tool to define these. Luminosity Masking is another option, but I don’’t use that myself.
You may find that when you next open Photoshop, and choose a Brush, 'Overlay' is still displayed on the menu bar, as the programme will remember it from the last time you used it. If that is the case, then you don't have to open a new layer. But, remember, if you don’t open a new layer, you will be working on the background layer, so you may wish to duplicate that first.
I normally flatten the layers when I have completed everything to my satisfaction, as an overlay later does double the file size. Some people may not consider this good practice though, as they prefer to keep the layers so that they can be returned to if desired.
HOW TO GET RICH BLACKS
A tip to maximise the rich black tones in your image (especially in monochrome) is to 'clip' the blacks in levels (or curves) - I normally use Levels. Open up a Levels adjustment layer and move the left hand slider slightly into the histogram pyramid. This will clip some blacks in small areas but this isn't usually a problem if not too large or important. If the clipped area is large i.e. no shadow detail over a significant part) you can carefully dodge back, using the overlay method above, by lightening just enough to bring out a suggestion of shadow detail – you won’t need much.
With this technique, your blacks will be enriched throughout all of the image, whereas in an ordinary histogram, only the extreme left part of it will give true black in your picture. That can make it appear flat as most of the darkest tones will be, at best, a dark grey and not a full black. You will need to trial and error to see how far you can, or want, to go. When moving the slider, you can check when and where the blacks are clipping by holding the ALT key down at the same time as you move the slider. The screen will go completely white, but black patches will appear where the tones are blocking. (Conversely if you want to check if your highlights are clipping, move the right hand slider o the left with ALT held down. Your screen will go black and white patches will appear where clipping occurs).
DEALING WITH BURNED OUT OR VERY BRIGHT HIGHLIGHTS
If there are very bright areas in your image, such as in a bright part of a sky or a cloud, burning them in may not work well or at all. They might go to a muddy, unattractive grey tone, There are two good solutions for this, the Clone and Remove tools.
If cloning, use tone from a nearby area e.g. clouds, at a reduced opacity, say between 20 & 40%. That should add a very light tone with a suggestion of detail or texture texture, depending on the clone source..
Another excellent method of eliminating unwanted small areas of highlight is to use the new Remove tool. This will take out the highlight and reconstruct the area, such as by adding cloud if it is a sky, or other detail if it is something else. As with all things, trial and error may be needed to get it right, as each time you use the tool, the result will be slightly different. But this tool has quickly become an indispensable addition to my workflow.
I hope this information has been helpful, but if you experience any problems when using any of the methods described, send me an email at [email protected] or phone 07887 887101 and I will talk you through it or demonstrate the technique via Zoom.
Colin Westgate (updated October 2024)
(I am indebted to the late Irene Froy, who showed me the Overlay technique in the very early days of my digital photography, over 20 years ago. It has been the mainstay of my processing ever since)
