Burning and Dodging Non-Destructively

The Dodge and Burn tools in Photoshop are used for lightening or darkening areas of an image. Straight out of the box they can be a bit difficult to control and can be quite destructive.

Procedure for Non-Destructive Dodge and Burn

1. Open the image and make any basic adjustments.
2. Create a new layer by holding down the ALT key whilst clicking the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette. When the dialog box opens change Mode to Soft Light. Press ALT and F to select the Tick Box at he bottom of the box. The legend states "Fill with soft light neutral colour 50% grey.
3. Select an appropriate size soft brush, set opacity to 10% or slightly less. To start Burning in (Darkening), make sure the new layer is selected. Press D to ensure the colour palette is set to Black and White, make sure the top colour is Black, if it is not press X. You can toggle between Black and White by pressing X. Start brushing over the area you wish to Darken or Burn.
4. To Lighten or Dodge a dark area toggle the Palette to White and proceed as for Burning.
5. To make corrections you have to set the palette colour to 50% Grey. To do this open the colour palette by clicking the Black/White icon when the colour pallet opens, make sure Web Colors is NOT ticked. To select 50% Grey, in the box marked with # enter 808080.
6. Select an appropriate size soft brush, set opacity to 10% or slightly less. Start brushing over the area you wish to correct.

If you found this difficult to follow try this Video Tutorial by Geoff Riggs, he demonstrates the technique quite well.

Revised: 11th December 2007