Gray Layer for Dodge & Burn is STUPID!

Why do we use a 50% Gray Layer for Dodging and Burning in Photoshop? Why can't we just simply use an empty layer? In this video, I'll attempt to answer a unique retouching question asked by one of our brilliant viewers, Andrew McCarty.

I hope this video helps you. Thank you so much for watching :)

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[PiXimperfect]

Hey Awesome Creator! If you are want to learn how to fix banding, please watch the following videos:

[andrewmccarty]

Hey Unmesh! I want to thank you for taking the time to create a video in response to my question. I'm truly honored. You are by far the best teacher I've ever seen on YouTube and I have learned so much from you. I certainly agree with your reasoning and see the benefit of being able to check your work. I'll take that into account from now on. Best wishes to you, my friend :)

[WPatrickOfficial]

Honestly I thought at the start of this video that it was going to be sarcastic and you were going to throw shade, but the fact that you took the time to research, explain why he was right, and really praise him for teaching YOU something... That's different, man. You're brilliant, please never stop!

[donhendricks]

THIS is how you tell if someone has INTEGRITY. A true teacher and mentor! Your students love you, Unmesh! Another great video tutorial.

[GFXMentor]

You're right Gray layer is easier to see solo secondly it's much easier to recognize gray layer from layers panel.

[dalehardin]

Not realizing I was "supposed" to use a grey layer, I've always dodged and burned without it. I love the fact that you, as the instructor, are open to suggestion. A trait of true integrity.

[ChrisBeaver]

Howdy! My experience is speaking as a production artist for animation, and in this industry one of the challenges in painting is keeping everything as consistent and as repeatable as possible -- I work as part of a team of artists, and each of our paintings needs to match up as best we can. At any time someone on my crew might need to pull a color from my PSD, or replicate an effect. For that reason I really like the gray-layer method because it does make it easier to see and fine-tune painting of those values and their middle-ranges!

Say you need to refine paintwork in the midtones around the borders of a highlight or a shadow. To get that value, you might want to use the eyedropper set to Current Layer Only on the dodge/burn layer. If that value is a mix of the highlight and transparency, and you try to color-sample one of the middle values between the brighter or darker colors, it won't work. Color+Transparency= Same color. If it's applied over a gray value however, those middle ranges ARE their own unique colors and you can eyedrop them! In this way, the gray gives you more control.

This is mostly a need for graphic design/illustration of large projects. If exact consistency across many files is important, I'd recommend gray-values. If you're working on a single photo/illustration and you can be a little freer in your workflow, can go either way :)

[thinkingpixels]

That's actually an easy question to answer: The use of a 50% gray filled layer comes from many retouchers actually using the dodge tool for dodging and burning instead of painting with white and black. You can just set the dodge tool to midtones and paint with it to lighten and area and hold down the Alt/Option key while painting to momentarily switch to the burn tool to darken an area. That was the way non-destructive dodge & burn was done years ago. At some point someone was unhappy that lightening shadows often resulted in cooler or less saturated color tones and started painting on the gray layer instead of using the dodge tool. That person did not paint with black and white though, but with slightly tinted colors to fix tonal and color faults in one go. I personally prefer to fix color issues on a seperate layer, but yeah, that is how painting on the gray layer came into life and some younger people never knew the original method with the actual dodge tool that needed the gray to work. :)

[bobmusikk]

I use transparent layer, then I just create a 50% layer "under" it that click on-off if ever I want to see where I painted. Best of both technique.

[Snidel]

I appreciate that Unmesh not only provides great content, this also speak very well about you, the pursue for results with a humble and more scientific approach, kudos to you!

[DenisLoubet]

If I want to add film grain to an image, I'll create a 50% gray layer and apply the film grain filter to that layer. Then I can adjust the blend mode and opacity of the layer to get the level of grain I want. But the deal is, the film grain filter does not work on a blank layer. The gray is required.


So if you want to apply a filter texture to your image using the dodge and burn principle, you'll need a gray layer.

[pedrohxn]

I've been using a blank layer for a long time due to eraser convenience. Back in time I asked myself the same question, did basically the same tests and got the same results. You're the first YouTuber I see questioning the reason. Congrats on your channel, you are a great instructor!

[danielmonge]

If you want to have the cake and eat it too, just create 2 layers inside a group. The one on top is transparent and the other one below is 50% gray. Both are set to normal and the WHOLE GROUP is set to soft light / overlay. That way you can use the eraser on the transparent layer while still retaining the ability to put the group to normal and see the work you did.

[iPavReg]

Well, I think the answer is pretty simple.. Since we are dodging and burning we normally use the dedicated tools (dodge or burn tool), and if you want to work non destructively using these tools you need the gray layer instead of the transparent for their effects to appear. If you try dodging or burning on a transparent layer there is no info for the tools to work with, but in the gray layer there is. Hope this made sense :)

[arielrglaze]

My mind is blown by the simplicity of the whole thing. Clearly not everyone can’t teach. Thank you so much.

[ryut]

FYI.

I am a digital artsit.
When I do 'photo retouch' like most you guys do, yes, I quite often use the blank layer.
But when I do compositing, I make doezens of D/B layers and I always use Grey on purpose.
There are 2 reasons.

1. As already mentioned in this video around 8:00, Grey makes easier for you to check the D/B layer.

2. Before doing the previous step, you have to spot thr D/B layer itself first, of course.
But it's not easy if you have doezens of them amongst hundreds of other layers in the layer panel.
Grey makes way easier for you to search those D/B layers.
If a Grey layer is cumbersome, blank layers are a nightmare.

Once again, it'd not be a problem if you use only one D/B layer snd less than 10 layers over all for photo retouching, but it's critical for people like me who makes dozens of D/B layers.

You might say 'Why don't you organized them by naming, grouping & colouring layers?'
Of course I do all of them, but still one group sometimes contains 50 layers with a dozen of D/B layers.
Grey layers stand out.
Blank layers will slow me down like hell.

[fadedneon]

top layer: blank for dodge/burn
middle layer: hidden grey layer to check where you painted
bottom layer: subject

perfectly balanced, as all things should

[pratiknaikedu]

Oddly I've always used a blank layer for those reasons! It makes so much sense for working on the fly. :D Thanks for bringing this up!

[sjb]

Consider this as another plus for using the transparent layer: You can dodge and burn using a colour other than white or black to affect highlights and shadows. Consider dodging using the hex code ffdd99 which would add a warm sunshiny highlight, particularly if you target it using luminosity masks. This is just one example of d&b using colours.

[davidjames]

just put a grey solid color layer below the transparent one when you wanna see where your stuff is