Dodge Tool (not producing listed effect)

Jolly Wolf

Working on another tutorial this morning!

This tutorial focuses on creating an Orb. I got to step 5 without any differences in the project, and this is where I'm using the Dodge Tool to create a lighter effect on the color.

In the tutorial, the author sets the Dodge Tool to a master diameter of 150px, with highlights and 27% exposure. I copied these settings. But, in his final image, the bottom of the Orb has a yellow glow to it. When I used the Dodge Tool, all I got was a light orange, no where close to that glow, and it doesn't matter how much pressure I apply with the Dodge Tool, it will only stay this lighter orange.

Here's the link to the tutorial: http://www.thedesignworld.com/photoshop-tutorials/web-design/sleek-orb/

Can I get some help with creating the lighter yellow glow at the bottom, and an answer about using the Dodge Tool correctly???

Thanks!!!

salvadore · Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 8:54 am Post subject:

Do you have the "air brush" effect On?

because his is Off.

Also I noticed on step 7 he uses a blend mode of overlay for what he calls the "shine' layer.

he also adds a "outer glow" layer effect

Kryn · Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 9:02 am Post subject:

It's little things like that, that you'll find to be the most frequently repeated mistakes for any tutorial.
Pay close attention to what he does and always check what his Blending mode is.

That should strike out 90% of the errors people make.

Edit: Here was my 5-10 minute attempt.

Instead of doing using the Dodge tool I just made a new layer, set the Blending Mode > Colour Dodge and just did a bit of painting. ^^
My gloss is just white or white-to-transparent gradient with opacity being tweaked.

There are plenty of ways that will give you roughly the same result. Just experiment a bit if you can't pull something off.

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Jolly Wolf · Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 2:32 pm Post subject:

I actually found out what the problem was.

In the options for the Dodge Tool, there is an option to 'Protect Tones.' That option was checked, so when I unchecked it and applied the dodge tool again, the result was a brighter color fading into a yellow glow.

Thank you both for your responses though!

JW

vampirelover · Posted: Fri May 08, 2009 9:11 am Post subject:

May I just poke my nose in for a second to point out (if you are not already aware of it) that the "Protect tones" option is new in CS4 and was added because the dodge tool often affected tones badly. For purposes of dodging and burning ( as opposed to your tutorial) this option should usually remain ticked.

Jolly Wolf · Posted: Fri May 08, 2009 2:36 pm Post subject:

vampirelover,

No, I was not aware of that, so thank you for your response. If I can dig a little deeper into your knowledge about this tool, I don't really know what a bad effect is from the dodge tool.

Could you better explain to me why I want to use the dodge tool with my work? All I can see is that the dodge tool lightens the color of specific areas, and unchecking the 'protect tones' option just makes the color lighter.

Thanks!

vampirelover · Posted: Fri May 08, 2009 3:24 pm Post subject:

The dodge (and burn) tools, as you rightly say, are to increase contrast in local areas. They can be excellent for turning a rather flat, boring sky into an interesting stormy one; or for giving some “punch” to an image. One major flaw in these tools is that, used in excess, they create “clipping”: areas where the highlights or shadows are blown out. In other words there is no tonal information left in these parts of the image, which makes them completely white or black....not an effect which is usually required. Another problem is that they tend to change hue, which may not be desirable either.
To make matters worse, the default opacity settings are far too high for most photographic work. Normally you should set the opacity to between 2% and 6%.

The idea of ticking the “protect tones” box is that, theoretically at least, clipping and hue change should not happen, or not so easily anyway. The thing is to experiment with your particular image.
I hate to be a prophet of doom, but there is yet another problem with these tools; you cannot use them on a blank layer.

It is because of these problems that many people use a different method of dodging and burning. You might want to experiment with this one. Create a blank layer by pressing ctrl/shift/n and fill it with 50% grey (edit/fill). Take it to a blend of soft light or (for a stronger effect) overlay . Get yourself a brush, set the opacity to, say, 15% (you will need to experiment with this). And brush with black over the area you want to darken. Do the same with a white brush (you can change from black to white by pressing x). This method has only one drawback: if you are not careful you may lighten (or darken) areas of the image you do not wish to. That is the advantage of the dodge and burn tools: they do tend to stay where you put them, and not interfere with other areas. Remember when using them that you need to select the precise area (shadows, midtones or highlights) from where it says “range” at the top left of your screen. Despite my moans, these tools can be very effective, and when they don’t seem to work to your satisfaction there is always the other method I have mentioned.

I hope this is helpful. If you have any more questions about this or anything else, please don’t hesitate to ask, and I or someone else will do our best to help

Vampirelover.

salvadore · Posted: Sat May 09, 2009 9:01 am Post subject:

For anybody that does not have CS4 to protect your tones,
if you create a new layer with a gray fill set to multiply, or maybe it is screen,

you can do all your dodgeing and burning on the gray layer, achiveing the same effect but with out altering the original image.

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