On Sun, Sep 6, 2009 at 10:34 AM, Carusoswi <for...@gimpusers.com> wrote:
> Still working my way around this great program - still wondering if I am > proceeding in the most logical manner. > > Example: > I captured an image of my daughter sitting in the bow of our boat. Sky is > cloudless, sun is on her left right coming in at probably 10:00 over her > shoulder. > > Best exposure leaves her body a bit on the underexposed side, the sky a bit > overexposed. > > In Gimp, I copy the background layer and set it to screen mode, then add a > layer mask that hides this layer so I can paint the additional exposure > onto > her body. > > Next, I'd like to add another layer and follow similar steps that will > allow > me to darken the sky. > > My question: Is the proper procedure to merge the first copied layer to > the > background before adding the second (I've been doing this), or is there a > way > to add that second layer without it negating what I've already accomplished > using the first layer copy? > I keep all the layers, because I often have second thoughts about what I have done and then can change it. I propose a different approach to your problem. * add a transparent layer on top of your image. * set the layer mode to "Soft Light" * take a suitable brush and white as the foreground colour * paint on the parts you want to brighten up (dodge) * do the same with black for getting them darker (burn) * play with the opacity of the brush to control the effect You can always erase your changes with the eraser or paint them over in the opposite colour. > In my mind, I view a layer stack where I might go back and tweak just the > fourth of some twenty layers, but when I try that approach, I find that > subsequent layers either obscure or alter the visible results obtained by > previous layers. > It depends on the layer modes and the layer mass. I always try to use layer modes that don't do "damage". > More advice needed and much appreciated. > The docs about layer modes are good: http://docs.gimp.org/2.6/en/gimp-concepts-layer-modes.html And if you are into watching video tutorials, I can pimp my video podcast here: http://meetthegimp.org/episode-069-burn-and-dodge/ - fast forward to 14:20 to see the above described technique. (I prefer to read over watching video - but I like to make them. ;-) ) Rolf
_______________________________________________ Gimp-user mailing list Gimp-user@lists.XCF.Berkeley.EDU https://lists.XCF.Berkeley.EDU/mailman/listinfo/gimp-user
