Burning-in is a term used in the photography industry. Burning-in is a technique used during the printing process to darken a specific portion of the print. For example, blue skies often appear a dull white in black and white pictures. The printer can burn-in the sky section of the photograph to darken the sky. This often helps to bring out the contrast between the sky and any clouds that may be present.

To burn-in a print, the print is first given normal exposure. Next, extra exposure is given to the area(s) that needs to be darkened. A card or other opaque object is held between the enlarger lens and the photographic paper in such a way as to allow light to fall only on the portion of the scene to be darkened.

Ansel Adams elevated burning and dodging to an art form. Many of his famous prints were manipulated in the darkroom with these two techniques. Adams wrote a comprehesive book on this very topic called The Print.