How To Edge Burning in Photoshop

Creative Photography 

In landscape photography, one of the most basic image manipulations is edge burning, which darkens the edges of an image to visually frame it and force the viewer’s attention toward what is in the center of the image.  Most landscape photographers perform edge burning on every print they make.  In Photoshop, you can do the same thing.

1.       Open an image in Photoshop.

Ø  Save As  - name it, save it as a “TIFF” file, and then click on “copy”, then “okay”

Ø  Image  > Image Size – change the Document size width to “8” ” and the height will change itself, then “okay”

2.       Create a new layer by going to:

Ø  Layer > New > Layer  - call it “edge burn 1”

3.       Select the Gradient Tool from the toolbar menu and place the curser at the edge of the image that you want to darken.

Ø  Left-click and hold down the mouse button as you move the cursor toward the center of the image.  How far you move the cursor and whether you change the angle of the line it forms determines the width and the angle of the final burn.  Let go of the mouse button when you have the amount of burn you want.

4.       The image disappears and shows you the shape of the burn.  Go to the Layers palette and select Multiply from the drop-down menu.  This turns the edge burn layer transparent so you can see the image again.

5.      In the Layers palette, adjust the Opacity of the edge burn, so that it darkens the layer enough without looking too obvious.

6.      Repeat this procedure to darken other edges. 

7.      Once you have finished burning all the edges, go to :

Ø  Layer > Flatten Image

8.      Remember to continually save your work every few minutes. 

Edge Burning – A basic digital-image manipulation that darkens the edges of a photograph to visually frame it, directing the viewer’s eye to whatever is in the image’s center.