Limit the tonal range of brushed adjustments

You can limit the adjustment you’re about to brush on an image to a specific tonal range. For example, if you want to brush an adjustment on an image and have the adjustment affect only the shadows, you choose Shadows from the Brush Action pop-up menu and then brush the adjustment on the image. If the brush touches a midtone or highlight, that part of the image is not changed.

Tip: This feature is particularly useful when burning and dodging, because you can limit the exposure adjustment to the tonal range you want to modify without having to worry about adversely affecting details in the tonal ranges that are correctly exposed.

Limit a brushed adjustment to a specific tonal range

  1. Select a photo.

  2. Do one of the following:

    • In the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, choose either “Brush [adjustment] in” or “Brush [adjustment] away” from the Action pop-up menu for the adjustment you want to apply to the image.

    • Choose a Quick Brush adjustment from the Quick Brush pop-up menu in the tool strip.

    • In the Adjustments inspector or the Adjustments pane of the Inspector HUD, choose Quick Brushes from the Add Adjustment pop-up menu, and choose a Quick Brush adjustment from the submenu.

    • In full-screen view, choose a Quick Brush adjustment from the Quick Brush pop-up menu in the toolbar.

  3. In the Brush HUD, choose a tonal range for the adjustment from the Brush Range section of the Brush Action pop-up menu.

    Note: If you don’t want the brushed adjustment limited to a specific tonal range, choose All.

    Figure. Brush Range options in the Brush Action pop-up menu in the Brush HUD.