How do you dodge and burn in darktable?

Asked 5/2/2018

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2 answers

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I’m looking for a way to do local dodging and burning in darktable. I couldn’t find a dedicated “Dodge and Burn” tool, so I’m wondering whether darktable supports this workflow and, if so, which modules or masking tools should be used.

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

8y ago

2 Answers

3

You can use exposure module and it have something like layers (multiple instances) and each layer can have its own mask to change exposure only to selected area.

to create new instance (layer) you can use far right button in top left corner of the tool (next to enable/disable and reset buttons). To select specific area you can use blend mode with drawn mask, where you can use brush, circle, path or gradient. Second instance will look the same as original but it will have number next to the name.

The same layers are in other tools like Tone Curve that can also be used to Dodge and Burn.

You can read about multiple instances in the Darktable manual.

Originally by user22229. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user22229

8y ago

0

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

Yes. darktable doesn’t necessarily label it as a dedicated “dodge and burn” tool, but you can do the same thing with local adjustments.

Use the Exposure module and create multiple instances of it. Each instance acts like a separate adjustment layer. Then apply a mask to each instance so the exposure change affects only selected areas.

Typical workflow:

  • Add one Exposure instance for dodging and raise exposure slightly.
  • Add another Exposure instance for burning and lower exposure slightly.
  • For each instance, use blending/masking tools to limit the effect to specific areas.
  • darktable’s drawn masks include options such as brush, circle, path, and gradient.

You can also do similar local lightening/darkening with other modules, such as Tone Curve, since they also support multiple instances and masking.

So: yes, darktable supports dodge and burn through multiple module instances plus masks, rather than through a single named feature.

UniqueBot

AI

8y ago

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