Dodge and Burn in the online photo editor app

Pros and cons of "Dodge and burn" service in photo editor

• Why is it important to brighten and burn photos?
• How to use Dodging and Burning in photos?
• Recommended methods of dodge and burn

Dodging and Burning in photography, more commonly known among industry professionals as “dodge and burn,” is a photo retouching technique in which certain areas are manually lightened while others are darkened. The purpose of retouching with Dodging and Burning is to give the face (or object) in the photograph a smoother tone and texture, proper shape, enhance or add necessary volumes, and create a play of light and shadow. It sounds fairly simple. However, an experienced retoucher understands that in practice, the method requires meticulous and time-consuming work.

Dodging and Burning, translated from English, mean lightening and darkening. Less frequently, this method is referred to as “dodge and burn,” which also describes its essence. Any imperfections on the skin are changes in its surface elevation, creating the play of light and shadow that makes them visible. When working with dodge and burn, we zoom in on the photograph, lighten the desired areas, and darken some others.

Why is it important to brighten and burn photos?

Dodging and Burning is most commonly applied in beauty retouching, where the retoucher's task is to bring the model's face to a flawless state. Even with perfect makeup before the shoot, the results may not meet the high standards of glossy magazines or advertising photography.

Through dodge and burn, one can achieve impeccable skin while preserving its natural appearance, reduce under-eye circles and nasolabial folds, refine makeup, perform facial contouring and sculpting, alter highlights and shadows, and overall refine every millimeter of the photograph. It's evident that not every shoot requires such meticulous retouching, when the goal is to process multiple photos in a short timeframe, Dodging and Burning might not be the most optimal choice. However, working with portrait photography demands meticulousness and precision, which can ensure the highest quality result. An experienced digital artist may spend anywhere from a few hours to several days retouching a beauty shot using various methods, but the resulting photograph will be worthy of the finest glossy magazines and will undoubtedly captivate viewers. Often, Dodging and Burning are used in conjunction with frequency separation for achieving the maximum outcome.

How to use Dodging and Burning in photos?

If you're faced with the task of conducting extensive photo retouching, we recommend utilizing the services of professional photo retouchers at RetouchMe. The retouchers at RetouchMe possess years of experience, practical knowledge in the field of photo retouching, and work with professional equipment using the latest software. If you'd like to first understand how the Dodging and Burning tool works in practice, we invite you to familiarize yourself with the main methods.

Broadly speaking, Dodging and Burning can be divided into two main categories:

• Macro-level retouching. Here, the contouring is done, highlights and shadows are adjusted, contrast is enhanced, and highlights and shadows become smooth and graphic. This work is performed using large brushes as if painting a mask on the layer.
• Pixel-level retouching on a micro level. This method is nothing but retouching with a focus on the model's face in close-up (editorial retouching, portraits, beauty shots). The image is magnified to the maximum, and then retouching is done with the smallest brushes (with a diameter of about a couple of pixels). Skin tone is balanced, skin pigmentation is refined, and pores and fine wrinkles are smoothed out.

Recommended methods of dodge and burn

There are several main ways to work with dodge and burn. Let's consider them step by step.

• Dodge and burn using Curves. In this method, two curves are created, one of which will brighten, and the other darken. The work is done with a white brush. On the brightening curve, you need to lighten areas that are too dark, adding light. On the darkening curve, conversely, darken highlights and emphasize shadows. In this method, brightening and darkening are separated, allowing you to either lighten or darken as needed. However, when working, you will need to switch between layers all the time.

• Dodge and burn using the Multiply and Screen blending modes. Painting on empty or neutrally colored filled layers. This method differs in its greater impact, the ability to work with different colors on one layer, and the simplicity of color selection.
• Working with a mid-gray layer in Overlay blending mode. In this method, we create a new empty layer, choose the Overlay mode, and fill the layer with 50% gray. Work on this layer is done with black and white brushes. This method is more time-efficient (no need to switch between layers), but you can't separately brighten or darken.

Retouchers at RetouchMe combine photo processing methods in their work, taking into account the client's preferences and the context of the shot. The best result for your retouching with just a couple of clicks - RetouchMe is ready to make your photos perfect!

How to use the service “Dodge and burn”

The RetouchMe application is available on iOS and Android platforms. You can download it from the Apple App Store, Google Play or Amazon App Store. The download is free. However, to use the service within the application, you will need a certain number of credits, the price of which depends on the selected services. To add credits to your balance, you can either buy top-up packages or subscribe on a monthly basis.

1. Launch or download the RetouchMe application.
2. Select a photo from your gallery that you want to use the “Dodge and burn” service on.
3. Choose the category “Pro edit”.
4. In this category, select the desired service “Dodge and burn”.
5. Price of the “Dodge and burn” service: 300 ⭐.
6. After selecting the services you want to use for the photo, click on the "Proceed" button.
7. Review your order once again and click "Send to designer."

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