Dodge and burn your image in Photoshop

Paint on your contrast exactly where you want it using two digital emulations of classic wet darkroom tools

1 Dodge the highlights

Once you’ve made your mono conversion, copy the image with Ctrl/Cmd+J, then select the Dodge Tool. In the Options bar, set Range to Highlights and Exposure to 5%. Use a soft brush and play the tool over the brighter tones.

2 Burn the shadows

Copy the image again (Ctrl/Cmd+J) and select the Burn Tool. Set Range to Shadows and Exposure to 5%. Play the brush over the darker tones. Vary the brush size with the square bracket keys [ and ] to suit the area you’re working on.

3 Assess the results

If you go too far with either tool and lose detail, press Ctrl/Cmd+Z and try again. To check your progress, switch the eye icons off and on in the Layers Panel to see the difference dodging and burning has made compared with the base layer.