Burn Tool Color

With the burn tool one can use it several ways. The direct way is to just click on the tool and select whether you want highlights, mid-tones, or shadows. Each option changes the burn shade slightly. Also there are a host of blend modes which again changes the burn shade.
One can also create a burn layer and change blend modes, all with different effects. Then you can also use the brush tool and select color burn or color dodge, with the foreground color changing the shade of the burn.
So all of these options give a great deal of control, but frankly I am just burned out on the process.
All I want is to have the burn deepen the color to more closely match the color in the shadows of the picture. It seems to work better on flesh and soft colors than on bright colors. In those cases I give up and resort to a brush in normal mode with color selected by eyedropper. But that can make the image more muddy as it covers up rather than intensify.
So wilh all the man-years of experience out there is there a more simple way to get the correct burn shade than going though 49 different variations? Or should I just stick with the brush and use a different blend mode?

I never interpreted the Highlights / Midtones / Shadows setting to control "shade" so much as whether it affect the bright tones, medium tones, or dark tones more. I guess I normally consider "shade" to have something to do with changing color. Perhaps "shade" in the context of your usage is what I'm describing. But if it isn't, perhaps a misunderstanding of what the tool does is part of the issue.
By the way, I fully accept that my own definition of "shade" may be flawed.
I find the Burn tool to have a LOT of uses, and I usually tend to edit the pixels directly (rather than doing a bunch of layer combinations) but I don't think I understand your question well enough to offer particularly specific advice...
One thing I CAN say is that I always try to work very conservatively with the Burn and Dodge tools and gradually build up to I'm trying to accomplish, usually using soft brushes.
Can you post an example of a troublesome image?
By the way, another whole approach that I've used sometimes is to make a duplicate layer and hide it, then go back to the layer below and do global adjustments on it - e.g., Curves and Hue/Sat - so that the parts you're trying to "rescue" look good, then make the upper layer visible again and either mask or erase on it (again, using subtle strokes) to reveal the better looking stuff underneath. You're still "painting on" the fix this way, but your destination is preset in this case.
-Noel

Similar Messages

Burn Tool: Protect Tones checkbox has no effect

Deleting this question. I was trying to darken an area of highlights that had too little color to protect, which is why the burned area was appearing grey.

>CS4 added "Protect Tones" to the Dodge and Burn tools with very little explanation about what it does, yet the default setting is Protect Tones on.
My Link was in answer to your question in that it tells you what "Protect Tones" DOES.
If you wish to turn it off, that is up to you but there is no Preference available to do that as far as I know be probably because the Photoshop engineers felt that using "Protect Tones" would benefit the User.

Burn tool turning skin green

I'm trying to darken overexposed parts of a face, but the burn tool turns them a light greenish-gray color. I have CS5.5, and I have Protect Tones turned on. Is there a way to fix this, or is there some other method I should use to selectively fix overexposure? Thanks.

Spread Peace wrote:
And yes, I have the RAW, but I don't want to post it.
If you have the raw file then I would suggest going back to the raw file and process out a new version of the image where you use a combo of a minus Exposure and plus Hightail Recovery to regain the blown highlights and simply copy/past them in. If your processed files have clipped tones in them inside of Photoshop there's little you can do to fix them. Best is to process the raw files optimized to tone and color and not try to "fix" them in Photoshop.

Dodging and burning tool freeze up on CC 2104

I have recently subscribed to CC Photoshop 2104 and when using the burn tool the programme just hangs, or takes a very long time to complete the action. i have to close down lose my work and re-open. Dont know how to fix it, help?

I recognize that you want to use the Dodge and Burn tools for local tone adjustment, but it would be to your advantage to use another approach for dodge and burn. Consider this:
Dodge and burn, techniques that provide subtle local adjustments in the tone values of an image, are familiar to anyone who has worked in a film & paper darkroom. Photoshop’s similarly named tools have one notable shortcoming; each dodge or burn dab is incorporated into the image. This makes it impractical or impossible to undo one or more of the changes minutes later, when other dabs have been added elsewhere in the image. Instead, you must then pile correction on correction rather than modifying the original image values. It is an inefficient and often destructive procedure.
There is a better way – one that puts the dodge and burn adjustments on a separate layer where they may be seen at any time and each adjusted or even eliminated, returning the area to its original value – all without corrupting the original image. This is how to do it:
1. Load a file to be retouched and add a blank layer by clicking on the Create a New Layer symbol at the bottom of the Layers panel to the left of the Trash. The blank layer is Layer 1.
2. Choose Edit > Fill and from the double-arrow options of the Use field, choose 50% gray. Then click OK. The image area will become gray overall.
3. Change the Blending mode in the Layers panel from Normal to Overlay. The Background image will return although you will be working on Layer 1.
4. Do not use the Dodge and Burn tools. Choose the Brush tool and adjust its size by tapping either of the square brackets to the right of the P key on the keyboard. To adjust the Brush hardness – a soft edge is best for this -- hold down the Shift key as you continually strike the left the square bracket. Set the Opacity of the Brush in the Options bar at about 10%.
5. Painting in white will Dodge (lighten) the area, Black will Burn (darken) the area. Strike the D key to place Black as the Foreground color and White as the Background color. To transpose them stroke the X key. Dab or stroke with the Black to slowly add density. To lighten an area, dab or stroke with White. Although the image will reflect the changes, they are being recorded on Layer1 and may be viewed by turning off the eye in the Background layer. Best of all: to undo any tone adjustment and return the area to its original value, simply return that area to 50% by cloning from an adjacent unretouched area in Layer 1.

Aperture 3 keeps crashing on me, consistently. More frequently after using Burn tool or skin smoothing - and even more often when I feather. What can I do? I already upgraded my RAM. I'm at a loss!

Aperture 3 keeps crashing on me, consistently. More frequently after using Burn tool or skin smoothing - and even more often when I feather. What can I do? I already upgraded my RAM. I'm at a loss!

4) When my computer crashes, once it starts again, it says "repairing" ... but I am not familiar with reparing permissions -- can you explain how I might do that?
If you are running OS X Lion, then you can restart your computer and then press and hold the 'Option' key immediately after you hear the start up 'gong' (usually heard when grey screen shows as it restarts).
You should see at least two Disks to choose from. Choose 'Recovery Disk' and wait for it to load, then choose 'Disk Utility' option in the Utilities dialog.
Once Disk Utility loads, do the following:
1 - In the left hand pane, choose your system partition (usually called either 'Macintosh HD' or 'Macintosh SSD'). Note - don't choose the actual hard drive listed above the partition when using Disk Utility in OS X Lion as this doesn't offer options for repairing due to it including the Recovery Disk you have loaded in memory.
2 - Click the 'First Aid' tab
3 - Click the 'Repair Disk Permissions' button in lower portion of main pane and allow to complete. Ideally, you will get a final message in main pane saying Disk Permissions are repaired.
4 - At lower right of same pane, click the 'Repair Disk' button and allow to complete. Ideally, you will get a final message indicating that Disk Repair is completed and all appears to be good.
5 - Quit Disk Utility > Close Utilities dialog window > Click 'Restart' button (confirm as needed).
You should boot straight into the system partition when complete.
Note - any red text in the main pane text while running the repairs will be issues and you will need to follow the advice given or post back.
If you are running Snow Leopard; then (as David mentions) boot from your first OS X reinstall disc and run the Disk Utility the same way; except you select the actual hard drive listed at top of left pane (not the partition below it). This is because Snow Leopard does not use a 'Recovery Disk' partition and repairs can be run on the HD or SSD itself.
Hope that helps.

Why doesn't my burn tool work?

I'm creating cartoon/painted imagery in CS 5, in doing so, I'm using multiple vector masks. My burn tool works sometimes, and other times it doesn't. I use the dodge tool, it works fine, then I try switching to the burn tool, and nothing happens. Meanwhile, it's working on similar layers that I made previously. I can't fathom what would cause it not to work, considering that the dodge tool is working on the same layer, and the the burn tool is working on other layers that I created the exact same way.
I'm not photoshop incompetent, so YES, I do have the layer selected. I'm doing everything correct to my knowledge. I provided a printscreen. Ignore my plethora of layers and my half completed Macklemore. As you can see, I have the neck layer selected. which I just finished using the dodge tool on, but when I go to switch to the burn tool, it doesn't work. Any suggestions?

Ok so im trying to crop this to make a .gif for a friend and here's what it does:
This is what I'm trying to crop, with my settings as stated above.
This is what happens when i use the move tool and pan over to see that it's not cropped.
This is what happens when i try to see if it will be different on another page, so i post is on a whole new layer document

Photoshop CS6 crashes when using burn tool, crop tool, and dodge tool?

Just recently upgraded from Photoshop CS5.5 64bit to Photoshop CS6 64 bit. Crashes when using burn tool, crop tool, or dodge tool? Thanks for your help!

Turn off OpenGL in the prefs and update your graphics driver before re-enabling it.
Mylenium

Burn tool issues

This is going to sound stupid, but I can't access the burn tool. Photoshop defaults to the dodge tool, but when I go to click on the the corner, it won't display the burn and sponge options. Am I missing something? None of the tools will show me the other options. Am I doing something wrong or do I have a faulty program?

Depending on your Preferences you should be able to select the alternate Tools either with repeated hitting of O or shift-O.
But as with all unexplainable Photoshop-problems You might try trashing the prefs (after making sure all customized presets like Actions, Patterns, Brushes etc. have been saved and making a note of the Preferences You’ve changed) by pressing command-alt-shift on starting the program or starting from a new user-account.

How do you change a brush tool color in Photoshop13. The color chart that has always been on the right side of the screen is gone and I cannot find out how to turn it on

How do you change a brush tool color in Photoshop13. The color chart that has always been on the right side of the screen is gone and I cannot find out how to turn it on

I now have the pallete on the right side of my screen. But, I am unable to change the color of the brush. I move the eye dropper over red and click on it. A panel comes saying 'Pure Red', I click ok but the brush color does not change.
David Miller
[email protected]

Eye Dropper Tool (Color Picker Tool) not working correctly - Premiere CC - Windows 8 - Multiple Displays

I'm running Windows 8, Premiere CC 2014 with two monitors. The eye dropper tool (color picker tool) isn't working correctly. It is selecting colors that are not the colors being hovered over. I've reasearched and see solutions to the problem when occurring with Mac, but do not see a solution for Windows. When I disconnect the second monitor, the eye dropper tool works correctly (as described by Mac users). I deleted any profiles for the montors that weren't the same, and still having the issue. I've also tried putting the source monitor on the second monitor, and tried sampling color from there... same result.

Hello All,
Problem solved...I reset all tools in the Tool Preset window. Seems to be working.
Hope this helps someone...
Cheers!

Dodge and Burn Tool basicly stopped working.

For some reason the Dodge and Burn Tool in Lightrooom 5.4 basicly stopped working. It will only make a slight adjustment no matter how much I change the exposure value. Does anyone know what could be causing this?

Do you have the flow and/or density of the Adjustment Brush set to a very low level?

Script and burn tool

Hello all !!
How can the burn tool parameter : range, exposure, size, be place in a script ??
Thanks.
Janou.

range
    Values: 'burnInS' | 'burnInM' | 'burnInH'
    Get by script: True
    Set by script: False
exposure (or 'opacity' in this burn tool)
    Values: 1% - 100%
    Get by script: True
    Set by script: False
size
    Values: 1% - 1000%
    Get by script: True
    Set by script: True
Also all this ones can be get and set by script:
Diameter [1-500], Hardness%, Angle [-180/180], Roundness%, Spacing [0-1000], Flipy Boolean, Flipx Boolean
The problem is exposure
My suggestion would be to do this workarround:
For each tool, create a group of presets like this:
'burnInS010', 'burnInS020', 'burnInS030', 'burnInS040', 'burnInS050', 'burnInS060', 'burnInS070', 'burnInS080', 'burnInS090','burnInS100'
where 'burnInS010' means Burn Shadows opacity 10%, etc (you could have more accuracy with more opacity values, of course)
Then do the same for the other Ranges using
'burnInM010', 'burnInM020',...
'burnInH010', 'burnInH020',...
'dodgeS010', 'dodgeS020',...
'dodgeM010', 'dodgeM020',...
'dodgeH010', 'dodgeH020',...
Then by script you could pre-select the preset you want and put the other preferences by code.
After you have ALL the presets created you can use this code:
// Select BurnTool with all parameters
// collected from several sources and compiled
// If the preset doesn't exist, it gives a warning, telling how to create a new specific preset so the error doesn't comes again
app.currentTool = "burnInTool";
var Range = 'S'; // 'S' shadows | 'M' midtones | 'H' highlights
var Exposure = 30; // 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100
selectPresetBurnDodge(Range, Exposure);
setBrushFeatures_Burn(150, 80,undefined,undefined,undefined,undefined,undefined);
///////////////////////////////////////// Use Range and Exposure to choose the right Preset
function selectPresetBurnDodge(range, exposure) {
    exposure = (exposure < 100) ? '0'+exposure.toString() : 100;
    var presetName = app.currentTool.replace(/Tool/,'') + range + exposure;
    var Presets = getPresetList();
    var thisPresetExists = false;
    for(var v in Presets){
        if (String(Presets[v]) == presetName) {
            thisPresetExists = true;
            break;
    if (thisPresetExists) {
        if (app.currentTool == "burnInTool" || app.currentTool == "dodgeTool") {
            var desc = new ActionDescriptor();
            var ref = new ActionReference();
            ref.putName( stringIDToTypeID( "toolPreset" ), presetName );
            desc.putReference( charIDToTypeID( "null" ), ref );
            executeAction( charIDToTypeID( "slct" ), desc, DialogModes.ALL );
    } else {
        alert("This Preset name '"+presetName+"' doesn't exist.\n\nCreate new " + app.currentTool + " preset.\nName:\t"+presetName+"\nRange:\t" + range+ "\nExposure:\t" + Number(exposure));
///////////////////////////////////////// Set Brush
// Diameter [1-500], Hardness%, Angle [-180/180], Roundness%, Spacing [0-1000], Flipy Boolean, Flipx Boolean
function setBrushFeatures_Burn (Diameter,Hardness,Angle,Roundness,Spacing,Flipy,Flipx) {
    var ref = new ActionReference();
    ref.putEnumerated( charIDToTypeID("capp"), charIDToTypeID("Ordn"), charIDToTypeID("Trgt") );
    var appDesc = executeActionGet(ref);
    var toolDesc = appDesc.getObjectValue(stringIDToTypeID('currentToolOptions'));
    var brushDesc = toolDesc.getObjectValue(stringIDToTypeID('brush'));
    if (Diameter == undefined) Diameter = brushDesc.getDouble(stringIDToTypeID('diameter'));
    if (Hardness == undefined) Hardness = brushDesc.getDouble(stringIDToTypeID('hardness'));
    if (Angle == undefined ) Angle = brushDesc.getDouble(stringIDToTypeID('angle'));
    if (Roundness == undefined) Roundness = brushDesc.getDouble(stringIDToTypeID('roundness'));
    if (Spacing == undefined) Spacing = brushDesc.getDouble(stringIDToTypeID('spacing'));
    if (Flipy == undefined) Flipy = brushDesc.getBoolean(stringIDToTypeID('flipY'));
    if (Flipx == undefined) Flipx = brushDesc.getBoolean(stringIDToTypeID('flipX'));
    var desc = new ActionDescriptor();
    var ref = new ActionReference();
    ref.putEnumerated( charIDToTypeID( "Brsh" ), charIDToTypeID( "Ordn" ), charIDToTypeID( "Trgt" ) );
    desc.putReference( charIDToTypeID( "null" ), ref );
    var desc1 = new ActionDescriptor();
    desc1.putDouble(stringIDToTypeID('diameter'), Diameter);
    desc1.putDouble(stringIDToTypeID('hardness'), Hardness);
    desc1.putDouble(stringIDToTypeID('angle'), Angle);
    desc1.putDouble(stringIDToTypeID('roundness'), Roundness);
    desc1.putDouble(stringIDToTypeID('spacing'), Spacing);
    desc1.putBoolean(stringIDToTypeID('flipY'), Flipy);
    desc1.putBoolean(stringIDToTypeID('flipX'), Flipx);
    desc.putObject( stringIDToTypeID('to'), charIDToTypeID( "Brsh" ), desc1 );
    executeAction( charIDToTypeID( "setd" ), desc, DialogModes.NO );
// get all Presets
function getPresetList(){
    var ref = new ActionReference();
    ref.putEnumerated( charIDToTypeID("capp"), charIDToTypeID("Ordn"), charIDToTypeID("Trgt") );
    var appDesc = executeActionGet(ref);
    var List = appDesc.getList(stringIDToTypeID('presetManager'));
    var presetNames=[];
    var list = List.getObjectValue(7).getList(charIDToTypeID('Nm '));
    for (var i = 0; i < list.count; i++) {
        var str = list.getString(i);
        presetNames.push(str);
    presetNames=ReturnUniqueSortedList(presetNames);
    return presetNames;
function ReturnUniqueSortedList(ArrayName) {
    var unduped = new Object;
    for (var i = 0; i < ArrayName.length; i++) {
    unduped[ArrayName[i]] = ArrayName[i];
    var uniques = new Array;
    for (var k in unduped) {
        uniques.push(unduped[k]);
    return uniques.sort();

Sharpen / dodge / burn tool changes from circle to bullseye

Why does the sharpen / dodge / burn tool sometimes change from a circle to a bullseye in CS6 ? I have pixels adjusted up.

Good day!
Is caps lock set?
Regards,
Pfaffenbichler

Dodge/Burn Tool

Hi. Just been playing with PSE8 and having problems with the dodge/burn tool. Know it's usually located with the sponge tool but for some reason I can't access them. The sponge tool is visible in the tool box but when highlighted, the options at the top are only for brush type/brush tool/Mode and Flow. Any thoughts?

when highlighted, the options at the top are only for brush type/brush tool/Mode and Flow
Just FYI, this is going to be true for all grouped tools--the other tools in a subgroup no longer appear in the options bar, only in the toolbox itself, but you can still switch by repeatedly tapping the letter shortcut key for the tool group.

Burn tool problem - Elements 7

When I select the burn tool it used to display a circle as the cursor (showing the area to burn) now it has changed to a cross hair and i have no idea where the edge of my burn radius is... anyone know how to change it back?

Hi,
Do you have Caps Lock on?
Windows or MAC?
Brian

Burn Tool Color

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