Darken and Lighten...is it broken??

Talk about Pixelmator Pro, share tips & tricks, tutorials, and other resources.
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2022-11-22 16:38:43

So I'm trying to dodge and burn. But there isn't anything named dodge and burn. Only darken and lighten. Well ok, what ever. That will work. Only it's not. Below is what is happening to an image when trying to do so.

I'm on version 3.1.1

Image

I'm not sure what purpose this is supposed to serve, but it's definitely not darkening or lightening. So I can only assume that it's broke.
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2022-11-23 11:23:20

You need a coloured background object to make Blend Modes to do their work.
Image
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2022-12-06 19:33:23

You can do Dodge and Burn using Gray layers with curves.

Check out this article to get a handle on the concepts: https://digital-photography-school.com/ ... photoshop/
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2022-12-11 23:44:56

by EllenM You need a coloured background object to make Blend Modes to do their work.
<p><img src="//support-cdn.pixelmator.com/uploads-new/cuf_1669202596_BlendModes.png" class="postimage is-shown is-visible" alt="Image" width="900" height="525"></p>
Rather than knowing that you have to do this, wouldn't it make much more sense for the software to create this all behind the scenes so that the user can just do what they expect the tool to do?
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2022-12-11 23:46:59

by Lysander You can do Dodge and Burn using Gray layers with curves.

Check out this article to get a handle on the concepts: https://digital-photography-school.com/ ... photoshop/
That is over 6 years old. You would think it would be more advanced in where the user can just click the Burn or Dodge tool and the software just does all those time consuming steps for you.
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2022-12-12 08:22:54

by Sensored Lens
That is over 6 years old. You would think it would be more advanced in where the user can just click the Burn or Dodge tool and the software just does all those time-consuming steps for you.
True enough, but unlike DxO Photolab 6 Elite (which I use for my RAW processing) Pixelmator Pro does not have Local Adjustments. In PL6 you can create as many local adjustments as you wish and apply all the development controls to a single area. So PL6 has no D&B tool, but local adjustments are much more powerful.

To emulate this in PMP you would need to use gray layers with curves and masks, one to Dodge and one to Burn. Then you can paint your light and dark areas as needed.

I do not need to use the layering technique because PL6 has local adjustments. This makes things much easier. If you need to D&B a lot of your work then look into PL6.
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2022-12-14 14:35:07

by Lysander
True enough, but unlike DxO Photolab 6 Elite (which I use for my RAW processing) Pixelmator Pro does not have Local Adjustments. In PL6 you can create as many local adjustments as you wish and apply all the development controls to a single area. So PL6 has no D&amp;B tool, but local adjustments are much more powerful.

To emulate this in PMP you would need to use gray layers with curves and masks, one to Dodge and one to Burn. Then you can paint your light and dark areas as needed.

I do not need to use the layering technique because PL6 has local adjustments. This makes things much easier. If you need to D&amp;B a lot of your work then look into PL6.
Ah if only that wasn't so damned expensive. But hey, thanks for the knowledge. And this is yet another feature that isn't even on the radar of the pix developers.

Ya know, after reading requests posts from many years back from other customers and reading replies from pix staff about how "it's not on the plan but maybe it will some day. And then the staff also mention about not being able to share their road map... I'm thinking there really isn't a road map. Which is why they can't share it...in their eyes, it's embarrassing for them to not have any ideas that are their own and all the ideas are coming from the better minds of their customer base. *which isn't a bad thing at all.

Copying and improving on that copy is how you gain traction and a huge customer base. If Samsung and all the rest never copied Apple, those phones would have never existed. The same could be done here. But maybe Pix staff doesn't have the proper person/people in charge pushing them to where they could be rather than holding them back to where they are.
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2022-12-16 11:47:01

The folks at DxO are still running a 30% off holiday sale, just saying.

I really like PMP but it can not do everything and I am sure the developers would not dispute that.
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2022-12-19 14:02:42

by Lysander The folks at DxO are still running a 30% off holiday sale, just saying.

I really like PMP but it can not do everything and I am sure the developers would not dispute that.
I'll shop around, thanks.

No, pix can't do everything. And pix staff certainly know that. But it makes no sense to have pix do things that most customers aren't even looking for. If a business is going to have a request section, but then never really fulfill those requests (or take year beyond year to do so) people will lose interest.
It's easy...cater to the requests of customers and this app will grow to something the staff never knew it could.