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How to use the Dodge Tool in Photoshop?

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Earlier to lighten some specific parts of the image, photographers in the darkroom used some specific techniques to enlighten areas of an image, that process is called dodging, Dodge tool in photoshop is used to do the same. The Dodge tool in Photoshop is used to lighten the area of the image without affecting hue or saturation. It can also be used to highlight some details from the image. If we use it extensively, then saturation can be seen, making the dodges areas light grey. Some artists believe that the dodge tool falls into the category of “destructive image editing”, because changes made can not be undone.

How to use the Dodge tool?

The use of marquee tool is quite simple:

Step 1: Open a document or image in Photoshop, 

Step 2: Select the dodge tool (icon is a magnifying glass as shown in the above image), but before using it remember to make a copy of your layer because the effects of the dodge tool are permanent.

Step 3: Now drag over the image to use the dodge tool.

Example:

In the image below, the dodge tool is used to lighten some parts of the “GFG”. The difference can be clearly seen. However, the real-world use of dodge tools could be to remove spot marks from a person’s face or to make some parts lighter.

Image before using dodge tool:

Image after using dodge tool:

Options of Dodge Tools

The dodge tools have some properties that are very important to know so that we can use this tool effectively on our artwork. The properties of the dodge tool are shown in the below image:

Now we will learn each of the properties of marquee tool one by one:

1. Brush Size: Using this property we can change the size of the brush according to our requirements. When you click on this option you will get a pop-up box, In this pop-up box, you can change the size of the brush and change the hardness of the brush. 

2. Brush Setting: Using this property we can add some additional settings to our brushes. 

In this brush settings, we get plenty of options for our brushes, as shown in the below image:

3. Range: When you click on the range option you will get a drop-down menu and that menu contains these three options:

  • Midtones: This option changes the middle range of grays. It is the default option of range.
  • Shadows: This option changes the dark areas of the image.
  • Highlights: This option changes the light areas of the image.

4. Exposure: This option defines how strong the tool’s effect will be, like a more or less exposed photograph. The default slider is 50 but it can vary from 0 to 100 according to the requirement.

5.Airbrush: This option is used for airbrushes. If you want to use an air brush, then select this option.  It will make your brush finer.

6. Protect tone: This option keeps the tonal quality of the image while lightning, it will prevent colors from changing to different hues.


Last Updated : 25 Oct, 2022
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