# Making a black backround in Photoshop using the Burn tool



## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

Using the Burn tool is pretty straightforward. You basically drag the tool along the edges of a plant. The background becomes dark but the plant leaf changes very little and often it doesn't change at all.

This first photo is an original picture which background was darkened using only the Burn tool. Save this image to your computer, open it in Photoshop, and try to use the Burn tool on it as described later in this post. 









The image below is the final image the way I like it. You may have a little different view what is "best". Note that I have removed the green filter strainer by the heater on the left. I did that using the Burn tool too! 









Here are the few details that need to be noted about the Burn tool. Note where the tool is located and the two settings called "Range" and "Exposure". By adjusting these two settings you can clean up an image in very little time. In my case I've set it to "Midtones" and "20%". Play with these settings to learn how they work, it's very simple indeed:









Here's how the Burn tool is used. Basically you drag the tool along the edge of a plant leaf. Part of the tool is on the leaf but the majority of the area of the tool is on the background. The result is immediate - the background is darkened, but the leaves don't change almost at all:









The APC Photo Gallery has some compression functionallity that renders the images not at their best. So here's another shot of how it all looks. Maybe this one will show in a better way how things are done:









As most Photoshop tools you can adjust the size of the circle by using the "[" and "]" keys on your keyboard. Also if you press the "F" key a few times you will be able to place the image on a true black background (not just the plant, but the entire image). That background can be used as a guideline if your "black" is "black" enough.

After traversing all the plant leaves that you care for you can enlarge the Burn tool's circle and quickly darken the rest of the aquarium background.

--Nikolay


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Oh that rocks! Sorry we don't say so enough but thank you very much Nikp for all you photography tips.

I use Gimp, it takes me a little expiramenting but usually I can make your Photoshop stuff work for Gimp.


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

Gimp? How do you find it? I need some type of photo editing program and was thinking of PhotoShop but the price...


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## turbomkt (Mar 31, 2004)

Try http://gimp.org/


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

Sorry, my question wasn't well worded...

I meant how did he like the program?...  

Anyone tried both?


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## czado (May 26, 2005)

I'm no photographer but a few people I work with swear by _the_ GIMP though they're provided Photoshop, and like it so much they correct people who call it "GIMP."  Near as I can tell the GIMP is so good its personal preference, but most of those guys write thier own plugins for it.

HTH

** Thanks Nikolay!


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