Dodge & Burn¶

Dodging lightens parts of a photograph and burning darkens them, as in the darkroom. In DBW Monochrome you paint the effect, and it is kept in a single adjustment layer, so you can change its strength afterwards.

Paint with it¶

1. Choose Dodge & Burn (O).
2. In Properties, choose Dodge to lighten or Burn to darken.
3. Set Size, Hardness and Strength. A low strength builds up gradually as you paint over an area again.
4. Paint on the picture.

Press X to swap Dodge and Burn. Hold Alt at the start of a stroke to use the opposite for that stroke. Press [ and ] to change the size.

The Dodge & Burn layer¶

The first stroke creates a Dodge & Burn layer above the layer you had selected, and later strokes go into it. If you add a Stamp Visible layer and paint again, a new Dodge & Burn layer is made above it.

Select the layer to change stops at full strength, which is how strong a full dodge or burn is. It has the same Step buttons and continuous Exposure slider as the Exposure adjustment (see Adjustments). Use the layer's opacity to fade everything you painted, or paint the effect away with the opposite mode. You can use a blend mode on it like on any layer.

Graduated dodge and burn¶

To lighten or darken from an edge of the picture, such as burning in a sky, use a Grad D&B layer instead of painting. See Grad D&B.

Limit it to an area¶

Make a selection first and painting stays inside it. See Selections.

Pen pressure¶

With a pen tablet, tick Pen pressure changes size or flow in the tool's settings.