Firstly make any adjustments to your image to make the foreground how you would like it to be (this can be adjusted later in layers if need be before you merge and flatten).

Add a new 'Adjustment Layer - Brightness/Contrast'
On this layer adjust sky to darken it. In the above example for an ND8 filter I choose: -125 in the brightness, 0 in contrast. You are adjusting for the darkest part of the sky at the top so it can be quite dark to add dramatic effect.

Next choose the 'Flood Fill' tool.

On the 'Materials Palette' click on the foreground colour box.

Choose the Tab at the top ' Gradient'

Click 'Edit'.

Click 'New' - to make your own filter rather than the ones that come already in PSP name it ND8 if you like.

Click box 'Fore'

Click the 'Colour' box next to 'Custom' and chose Black 0 from the Palette.

On the top slider bar click on the left pointer this will make that pointers colour black.

Then click on the right pointer - make this pointers colour white 255 by choosing White 255 in the 'Colour' box next to 'Custom'.

Now judge from the image roughly where you want the filter to work from. In the above image I choose 25% up from the bottom of the image so I moved the left pointer to read 25%.

Move the right pointer to read 90%.

(Moving the sliders about will affect the graduation and how much of the image is filtered)

Close and Save.

Now go back to your image and click on it to flood fill the whole layer with the gradient you have made.

Message edited on: 04/24/2005 08:08

And every one said, 'If we only live,
We too will go to sea in a Sieve,---
To the hills of the Chankly Bore!'
Far and few, far and few, Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a Sieve.

Edward Lear
http://www.nonsenselit.org/Lear/ns/jumblies.html