In terms of its basic function, the Burn tool is the opposite of the Dodge tool. The Burn tool will darken the regions you drag your mouse over, where the Dodge tool lightens them.

 

 In the options bar, you can select a brush type and size, a tonal range, and set an exposure value. When using the burn tool, setting your exposure values high will make the effect darker, and setting the exposure to a lower value will make the effect less dark.

 

If you select the burn tool and click the left mouse button, the spot under the mouse pointer will darken with each click. If you click the air brush button in the right of the options bar, holding the left mouse button down will make the spot under your mouse pointer grow continuously darker.

 

To use the burn tool, first select it from the toolbox.

 

 

The burn tool is grouped with the dodge tool and the sponge tool. The symbol for the burn tool is a hand. If you do not see the tool in the toolbox, just click and hold the dodge tool or sponge tool until the variant tools for the group appear.

 

After you select the burn tool, set your brush qualities, your tonal range, and your exposure strength in the options bar. To create a burn effect, drag your mouse pointer (brush tip) over the region of the image that you want to darken. Be careful when using the burn tool, as its effects can be quite pronounced when you use a high exposure setting. To start, choose a small to moderate brush size, and a low (5% to 15%) exposure setting. To distribute the effect evenly over a larger area, use a larger brush size with a low hardness setting.

 

 

Here you can see that the eagle’s head has been darkened in the image on the left. The brush used was 69 pixels in diameter, the Highlights tonal range was selected, and the exposure setting was 13%.

 

If you want, you can adjust the opacity of the burn effect by choosing Edit->Fade Burn tool.