To touch up roots in Lightroom, you can use an adjustment brush to selectively darken the lighter root areas by adjusting exposure and shadows. This technique helps blend the roots with the rest of the hair.
Using the Adjustment Brush
The primary tool for touching up specific areas like hair roots in Lightroom is the Adjustment Brush. This allows you to apply localized edits only where you brush.
Here's a step-by-step approach based on common methods, incorporating details from the provided reference:
- Select the Adjustment Brush: Find the Adjustment Brush tool (it looks like a brush) in the develop module's toolbar.
- Adjust Settings Before Brushing: Before you start painting over the roots, set up the brush parameters.
- Exposure: Pull down the Exposure slider. Lowering the exposure will darken the area you brush over. The exact amount will depend on how light the roots are.
- Shadows: Pull down the Shadows slider. This further helps in darkening the darker tones within the brushed area, which can be effective for blending.
- Feather: Set the Feather to 100. As mentioned in the reference, a high feather ensures a soft edge to your brush stroke, creating a smooth transition between the adjusted area and the surrounding hair, making the touch-up look natural.
- Flow: Set the Flow to around 50. The reference suggests setting the flow to "right around 50". Flow determines how quickly the effect is applied as you brush. A lower flow means you can build up the effect gradually with multiple strokes, giving you more control.
- Density: You might also consider adjusting Density (similar to opacity). A density of 100 means the full effect is applied. Lowering it can also help build up the effect gradually.
- Brush Over the Roots: Carefully brush over the areas of the roots that you want to darken. Use the brush size (controlled by brackets
[and]) and feathering to stay within the root area. - Refine as Needed: After applying the brush stroke, you can still adjust the Exposure and Shadows sliders (and other settings like Contrast or Clarity if helpful) for that specific brush stroke to fine-tune the look. If you need to remove some of the effect, you can select the "Erase" option within the brush tool settings and brush over the areas where you want to lessen the effect.
By strategically applying these adjustments with a soft brush edge and controlled flow, you can effectively reduce the visibility of prominent roots.
