Hey Awesome Creator! If you are want to learn how to fix banding, please watch the following videos: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/eNRyiLGnsMzOl2g.html kzfaq.info/get/bejne/l9ikicKqnaeaoKs.html

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 KZfaq 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 :)

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

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!

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

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.

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. :)

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.

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.

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 :)

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!

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.

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 :)

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 KZfaqr I see questioning the reason. Congrats on your channel, you are a great instructor!

Why not when using the transparent layer, put a gray behind your main image making it the background layer.? This will give you a canvas to see where your edits are, as you toggle on and off your main image.

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

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

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 <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="480">8:00</a>, 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.

When a photoshop tutorial gives you life advice: question everything

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

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.

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!

You are absolutely the best mentor from the internet! By far. Great noise and awesome video quality. I learned so much and want to learn a lot more from you. Thank you so much!!

Wow, this was a great class! Unmesh, you make me feel like a professional! Thanks for your hard work.

When I first learned about 50% gray layer dodging and burning layers (many years ago now) it was always used as a way of mitigating the possibility of overdoing the effects of the dodge and burn tools. This also avoided the issue of increasing saturation as we didn't have the protect tones option in dodge and burn either. We never painted directly on the layer with black and white paint. Painting with black or white paint directly was a separate technique used on a blank layer. I think, that, over time, people have amalgamated and confused the two techniques. This is perhaps understandable given the simplicity and controllability of painting and switching between black and white with the X key. It seems odd now, but we didn't seem to know about the alt-key trick to switch between the dodge and burn tools on the fly back then. Perhaps it wasn't invented yet?

My man andrew got some serious skills to question a master about his technique

So happy to find your channel, you explain everything super easy! Thank you for all your videos!

Question everything! thank you!

how do you explain things soo clear and simple? You can actually be a teacher, I can even imagine you being a teacher

Wow. This is a really good question, and your are really give answer to it all.Thanks again for your amazing videos.

You are indisputably the Best! You didn’t put anyone down and didn’t speak in absolutes… this is how every educator should behave

Love your attitude my friend, this channel really helping the community, magnificent work

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="556">9:16</a> 🔴 *ANSWER: You can still use the eraser tool in a gray layer 😐. That will work, it will make the parts that you erase transparent. Transparent and gray is the same thing in a soft light layer. But, when you use use a gray layer, It will be easier to see the edits. You can also use the dodge tool and the burn tool instead of using the brush tool*

My theory is that many years ago it was required for some kind of technique, maybe even Photoshop required it. Then things improved, but people got stuck to old habits.

Your preparation, insight capabilities e teaching style are simply incredible. It's a pleasure to learn by you.

Amazing UMESH a unmatched online Photoshop teachers ever seen. You defined and cleared the things very rare I've seen. You are great and master piece of Photoshop.

You're such a generous teacher.

Doesnt matter what was the actual reason , but your assumption ( to make it more visible) is quite useful and we can take it as a pro for using 50% grey ...

Great explanation again! Love your work - you taught me so much over the years

You are one of the best instructor that I know of. Thank you for all of the tutorials

It's an interesting technique. I use the empty layer most for highlight some parts. The argument of the eraser tool is reasonable. But I have another reason why you should use the technique with the empty layer. An empty layer is not as big as a grey layer. When you're working with more DB Layers (specially in High End Retouching), your file will be a lot heavier with grey layers than using empty layers. Thats a big point for me to use empty layers. And the eraser tool is a great idea.

Maybe the reason is you can apply filters on top of gray which you can't do on a transparent background. Like adding noise for example. If you add noise to the layer it won't affect the transparent parts and it will look weird. If you use noise on top a grey layer it will affect the whole picture. Also lighting changes with noise will look more natural and the banding with noise is less visible.

Very interesting and so helpful . Thank you very much .

Your contents are awesome and your work is truly appreciable.

Use 50% gray when using the dedicated dodge and burn tools to avoid color shifts. You use the brush tool when you D&B, so you don't get the color shifts inherent to the dedicated D&B tools in PS. Back in the day, PS's brush tools and layer qualities weren't so refined.

"No matter where you dab, it's gonna be the dab, the same dab"

Thank you for your open minded and positive approach. This not only made me think about "why" but it also helped me better understand what really is thought of as a fundamental skill, but isn't. You are a true professional and a true teacher.

Excellent explanation. Tks a lot Unmesh.

It is perfect, you read all the comments..thank you

The answer: Abandon both of those methods and use curves, one for dodge, one for burn, with inverted layers masks. Then do your dodging and burning. The masks let you see your work and make easy adjustments by simply switching between black and white brushes, it's non-destructive, and you can independently work on the dodging and burning.

You're awesome and humble, too. You are an outstanding Photoshop artist who has freely given his talents so others can learn. There aren't many people like that on this planet.

really infromative !!! good tutorial ,explains everything !!

first of all... I'm used to the gray layer (mad an action to quick start ist) and your argument is really strong. thx 4 sharing all that stuff. :-) cheers from Switzerland

I think you use the empty layer all the way until you have finished with D&B with all the erasing and touch-ups you need, and then merge that with a grey layer underneath and set the merged layer to the desired blending mode. That way you get the best of both worlds.

I almost missed the Question Everything advice at the end. Bravo!

I'm very impressed by how humble Unmesh is. Instead of acting like a "know-it-all" and ignoring the question, you took the time to do some research and address and humbly admit that the question is valid. Great job Unmesh. That's one of the reasons so many people watch your videos! Keep it up

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="491">8:11</a> you can easily create a new layer underneath and fill it with black so you can see the traces

I also use 50% gray for dodging and burning. Mathematics can be solved with different formulas, just like photography & post processing can be solved in different ways. But all the different paths may have some slight differences. This is user freedom only.

thank you unmesh for all the tutorials you made yes I am a beginner using photoshop and i want to master it. right now I learnt a little bit because of you more power to you and god bless.from Philippines

Your closing statement alone is worth more than any series of tutorials!!! I have seen so many false or questionable claims propagated and repeated over the years, and questions are responded with belligerent answers (evident that the person didn't have any supporting facts or ideas of his/her own) . Your one of my favorite instructors, often giving different approaches to solving problems along with a clear understanding of why things work -- not just a re-iteration of the same meaningless set of steps that can be found on hundreds of other videos.

Well, most people have already listed the reason - it’s because of the dodge and burn tool the comes with Ps. Here are the all the methods of dodging and burning as I understand: Method 1. Using Dodge & Burn tools of Ps on 50% grey layer Method 2: Using White and Black brush on a transparent layer in soft light/overlay (something even hard light for stronger highlights) blending mode. Advantage is both Dodge and Burning can be on a single layer. Method 3. Using White and Black brush on a 50% grey layer in soft light/overlay (something even hard light for stronger highlights) blending mode. No discernible advantage over transparent layer method except being able to visualize the brush strokes. Method 4: Using two separate curves (one for dodge & one for burn). My preferred method for skin retouch. Because it has most about of control and the effect can be easily dialed in separately for dodge and burn. Method 5: Using multiple Solid Fill adjustment layers in Soft Light/Overlay/Hard Light blending mode. My preferred method for dodge and burn with color to enhance makeup/blush etc on portraits or enhancing depth both via color and light simultaneously or for selective saturation painting. Refer “Dodge & Burn Master Class” by Greg Benz where he compares all the methods and lists advantages and disadvantages of each method.

I've been using photoshop for thirty years and I can remember the first time I used a grey layer for non destructive dodge and burn. I'm pretty sure the original reason for using the grey layer was so that you could continue to use the Dodge and Burn Tools (rather than changing to a black or white brush with low opacity).

Great video. Makes a lot of sense. I love your videos. You speak clearly and the level of understanding is perfect for me a hungry learner.

Wow, that was very insightful and mind-opening. Thanks for this video bro!

Definitely, to me the ability to see the progress of dodging and burning in the thumbnail (at least) would be the reason to do it on gray layer.

You could create a 50% grey layer beneath the transparent one and see the dodging and burning...well that would add an extra step but has the convinience of the 'E' key.

Wow. You changed my life with this one. Thank you 🙏

Just Love your work!! Thank you!!

I never filled the dodge layers with grey... ö_ö

Legend has it that he is also a legend on the piano. One day folks, one day.

Probably the best Ps channel! Keep up ! You should make narration for documentary as well. You got the voice to do it :)!

I'm Stanley Lema from Africa, Cameroon. I have been following and taking most of your lessons on Photoshop on your KZfaq channel. I wish to say that you're an amazing teacher any student can go for. Kudos with the outstanding job you're doing, especially for those of us who are not opportune to meet you personally.

why not just make a grey layer under everything, so you can use the eraser and also if you turn it on the dodge/burn is visible?

As many others, coming from the old years of Photoshop I learned to dodge and burn using the 50% gray filler. But over the years things have changed so why techniques can't change too? I started using the transparent layer a couple years ago and never looked back at the 50% gray. Using the eraser is so convenient I would choose it over a slight colour cast issue, if there was one (there isn't). In the meantime, I changed my technique again recently, moving to 2 separate layers for dodging and burning. Dodging with white brush on its layer with Overlay blending mode, and burning on its own with Soft Light. To me this gives me the best results. It may depend on the images and sometimes I need a quick turnaround and do it in one layer, but it works brilliantly and I have more control over my edits, which is the whole point. Frankly, I watched this video fearing I was doing it wrong but I'm glad so far it doesn't look like it's the case... phew 😅 Cheers Unmesh

Very good tip. Thanks for sharing.

Hey, I came across your video and actually have a pretty strong answer for gray that I've experience in my workflow- Working from 50% gray allows you to actually use the dodge and burn tools on the layer and not just black/white brush. This gives you the capability to limit stacking impacts on work already done. For example, if you add a little bit of highlight, but want to add a shadow adjacent, you can limit you burn to midtones and shadows, and it won't impact the highlights you just put in as heavily. Your range of capabilities in much greater this way when using a gray layer vs using a blank layer. Similarly, when using a blank layer, you're stacking absolute values. If you paint over a burned in shadow with white, you are taking a X% step based on flow rate towards absolute white (linear increase), while dodging the gray layer a little more dynamic, stepping away from the shadow by a percentage, midtones by a percentage, and highlights by a percentage. If all you're doing is adding white and black to the gray layer, there's not much difference, but if you use the dodge and burn tools on the gray layer, you open up a whole set of new tools where you can limit what previous work you affect, and you get a bunch more control over what happens. And, at the end of the day, if you're missing your eraser, just set your brush to 50% gray, and use dodge and burn for white and black, respectively. Then you're effectively using all tools, and gaining all benefits. Hope that helps.

love the little tests you did to debunk theories i think transparent layers for dodging and burning would be good for quick fixes and edits but the advantages of the grey layer still allow for precision and knowing that you have actually dodged and burned where you wanted it to be.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="344">5:44</a> Hank Hill: "Imma bout ta bust."

Love your videos man, you are an awesome person! Thank you for all your advices!!❤️❤️❤️

Awesome channel Unmesh! I’ve been using PS for 15 years! Your content is refreshing and your explanations are on point! Thanks

I am scrolling to see Andrew reply at this moment

I would recommend another method to make the dodging and burning visible: Instead of painting on grey, paint black and white on a transparent layer so you can use the eraser, but have a grey layer directly underneath the dodge/burn layer. Set that grey layer to invisible while painting. If you want to see where your retouches are located, just turn the visibility on to check. That is easier to do than changing the blend mode of your dodge layer to check. So now you have the best of both worlds. The one downside to this is that your layer stack will become very long if you use a great number of dodge and burn layers, but if that isn't the way you work you should be fine.

It just broke my brain. Completely. Thanks for another awesome video!

Love all you work , please produce more .

Grey layer: “Am I a joke to you?”

Why not create a 50% gray layer at the bottom of the stack, essentially behind the image you are dodging/burning, and then using the transparent layer method. This way, to see what you have done so far, you don't even have to change the mode of the layer, only hide the "picture" and you will see it right away. I think it provides the best of both worlds, while only adding a layer that, while it might look weird there in your stack, adds a lot of functionality, albeit occasionally. I might be saying something rly stupid or rly obvious, sorry, I'm not a photoshop guru.

This tut is exactly why I recommend fellow artist to watch your videos. Nothing is taken for granted, everything is explained VERY well and on top it is free for everybody. I learnt so much from your tutorials, thanks a lot..... and keep creating ;D

Dude, you are a boss. This is a perfect way to handle feedback. More people should be like you. Keep up the good work.

Think about it this way... You can't erase what you can't see!

Brilliant conclusion!!! Bravo. My opinion is next. My first Photoshop version was ...2.0 a long ago. Since then a lot of things have changed in the industry in the economy. About 10 years ago I realized that photoshop can be a Hobby and Business if you do a project for 10 minutes, it is a business. If you do the same job for 1 hour, it is a hobby. Of course, I am not talking here about Hi-End editing, when time is not (almost not) a factor. Here I think exactly the case Hobby/Business. In photoshop you can achieve same result by using a number of different techniques and none of those are a "Must Use Technique". So after this video, I definitely will use the Grey layer in my Hi-End editing projects (Some time I charge several hundred dollars per picture.). Thanks for the deep examination and "free" sharing.

Thanks! Clear info as usual.!!

I've been doing it on a blank layer for years because it just worked. I just figured that I was wrong but it got me to my result. win/win?

Hi Unmesh, can you make a tutorial for removing complex brackground. Im having a hard time to edit pics with complex background. if your curious about the pic I can email it to you :) looking forward for your reply :)

I learned more about Dodge & Burn in 10 min than in two and a half years in a private school where I (well my parents) paid hundreds - even thousands of euros at the end. And the best of all, I couldn't find a job after it... You are the best Photoshop teacher out there!

I like the clear layer way for one reason, it is a shortcut and saves lots of editing time! Thanks for the heads up! I am glad you spend the time to explain these things! Moonpie

50% gray layer has left the conversation

Clear and magnificent, as always.

Thanks so much all the way here from Nigeria your tutorial has really helped me

Very interesting video.Thanks for sharing.

Thanks man for your great tutorials 👍💪and I like the beard ! Cheers mate🔥