The Toolbox: The Dodge and Burn Tool

The Toolbox is going to be a series of articles in which we go one by one discussing the tools available in iPiccy Photo Editor and we’ll talk about the strengths, weaknesses, and appropriate times to use these tools. Last time we talked about the The Retouch Tab, but today we’re talking about the Dodge and Burn Tool.

The Dodge and Burn tools go hand in hand. So while they are separate tools, they are generally used in tandem together. They’re fairly straightforward tools once you begin to use them. The Dodge tool will brighten an area up similar to increasing the exposure. The Burn tool will darken an area, which generally you would use on areas that are overexposed.

How To Use The Dodge and Burn Tool

1.) Make sure you’re on the Basic Editor Tab
2.) Scroll down, under the advanced section you will see both the Dodge and Burn Tools.
3.) Select which one you would like to use first. My personal preference is probably the one I’m going to use more on a particular photo.
4.) Select the size of the brush, and begin darkening or lightening your chosen areas!

Why Use The Dodge and Burn Tool

So in this example, with a white background and heavily overblown spots all over the subjects face. We should definitely use the burn tool to erase some of the shine off of his face, otherwise a lot of him just blends too much with the background.

So now I’ve used the burn tool to darken the shiniest spot on him. I’ve probably overdone it to the point where it looks a little off. On top of this there are parts on him that are still too shiny, so it isn’t necessarily just a matter of finding the single over/under exposed area. It is more a matter of bringing balance to the picture and the subject.

This edit to me is a much better balance than the previous two. There are still shiny spots on the subject, but none where he is also touching the white background so you can clearly see him.

And now I’ve gone back and used the dodge tool to blend the skin a bit better together, and went over some more shiny spots. Scroll up and compare the two photos, the difference in a picture that was way overexposed, and now a better balanced picture in terms of color tones.

No reason to have overexposed areas in your shot now! Go ahead and start editing!