Burn Tool

The Burn Tool darkens areas of your image, the counterpart to the Dodge Tool. Based on the darkroom technique of burning (exposing areas to more light), it is ideal for adding depth to shadows, darkening overexposed skies, and creating dramatic contrast.

Like the Dodge Tool, you can target specific tonal ranges — shadows, midtones, or highlights — and control the exposure strength. Used together, Dodge and Burn form a powerful local contrast adjustment workflow.

Where to Find It

The Burn Tool is grouped with the Dodge Tool in the toolbar. Click and hold the Dodge Tool icon (lollipop), then select Burn Tool. Press Shift+O to cycle through the group.

How to Use

• Select the Burn Tool: Press Shift+O until the Burn Tool is active, or select it from the toolbar flyout.
• Set tonal range: Choose Shadows, Midtones, or Highlights to control which brightness range gets darkened.
• Adjust exposure: Set Exposure to a low value (5–15%) for gradual darkening.
• Paint to darken: Brush over the areas you want to darken. Apply multiple passes for a stronger effect.
• Protect skin tones: Enable this option in the Options bar to avoid muddy or discolored skin tones.

Pro Tips

• Use the Burn Tool on Highlights mode to recover detail in overexposed areas like bright clouds or white clothing.
• Burn the edges of an image slightly to create a subtle vignette that draws the viewer's eye toward the center.
• For non-destructive editing, use a 50% gray layer set to Overlay blend mode and paint with black (burn) or white (dodge) instead.