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Lighten or darken image areas

You can lighten or darken areas of a texture image using the Dodge and Burn tools. These tools work in a similar manner as those found in other popular 2D image editing applications.

NoteThe Dodge and Burn tools only work on the active paint layer. That is, they do not have any effect on the underlying shading material color.

The tool names are derived from traditional photographic darkroom work where localized areas of a photographic print can be lightened or darkened as a result of receiving less or more exposure.

Lighten an area using the Dodge tool

The Dodge tool lightens the color values on pixels on a texture map in the areas that you stroke and is useful for revealing highlights. However, Dodge can be set to lighten highlights, mid-tones, shadow areas, or all tonal regions in the areas you stroke.

1. Click the Layers tab to display the Layers window, and set the layer display to Paint.
2. In the Layers window, select the paint layer that you want to lighten.
3. In the Paint Tools tray, select the Dodge tool.

4. In the Dodge properties window, set the Affect tool property to the desired tonal range you want the tool to affect. You can adjust highlights, midtones, shadow tones or all pixel values.
5. Stroke across the painted texture in the areas you want to lighten.

   Color value for the pixels are lightened in the areas you stroke. Hue and saturation are not affected. Stroking repeatedly in the same area on the texture image causes more lightening of the pixels to occur.

   Reduce the Exposure property value if the tool lightens pixels too much with each stroke. The default setting is 1 (maximum). The Strength property controls how much buildup of the effect is applied with each successive stroke.

Darken an area using the Burn tool

The Burn tool darkens the color values on pixels on a texture map in the areas that you stroke and is useful for toning down highlights. Burn can be set to affect highlights, mid-tones, shadow areas, or all tonal regions in the areas you stroke

1. Click the Layers tab to display the Layers window, and set the layer display to Paint.
2. In the Layers window, select the paint layer that you want to darken.
3. In the Paint Tools tray, select the Burn tool.

4. In the Burn tool properties window, set the Affect property to the desired tonal range you want the tool to affect.
5. Stroke across the painted texture in the areas you want to darken.

   Color value for the pixels are darkened in the areas you stroke. Hue and saturation are not affected. Stroking repeatedly in the same area on the texture image causes more darkening of the pixels to occur.

   Reduce the Exposure property value if the tool darkens pixels too much with each stroke. The default setting is 1 (maximum). The Strength property controls how much buildup of the effect is applied with each successive stroke.

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