Burn Baby, Burn!
(Adobe Photoshop 7 Effect Tutorial)
Create a fiery foreground in ten minutes or less! Well, after the first try ;D
1: Create a black (ordark colored) 1024x768 image. Then go Layer > New> Layer with color set to "None" and name it "Fire." Now using the Soft Round brush at 100 pixels, add some color to your transparent layer. In an up and down motion, go from left to right with the air brush using the colors below to create a basic blend for your fire. Vary your painting heights. First use #C10909 then go over it in places with use #FF0E0E.Your image should look something like the one on the left.
2: Now with a smaller version of the samebrush, at 80 pixels, on the same layer go over the red with anorange color, moving the brush in an upward motion. I recommend thisshade: #FE830E. Now, go over the bottom areajust to give it a tone using the same brush with a pixel size of 200 and an opacity of 32% in this color: #FED40E. From here on out using the Dodge 
tool set to Soft Round Brush, 50 pixels, Range: Midtones and Exposure72%, highlight as you see fit. Remember, the more times you go overthe same place, the whiter it gets.
3: Smudge time. First, using the Smudge tool with the settings: Soft round brush 45 pixels, Mode: Normal,Strength: 52, go over the flames, dragging the tool in an upwardsmotion to create candle-like tips. Don't over do it though, too many makes it look cheesy. Remember, fire moves, so don't be afraid to squiggle thebrush a little here and there. After your first smudges, tweak the firetill it looks like you want it, varying the size of the brush. 
4: Okay, so now, let's duplicate our firelayer. Let's name it "top fire" to help keep things straight. We now have a total of three layers, 2 fire layers and a black back layer. On the bottom fire layer, go Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur 100 pixels. Using the Smudge tool at any brush setting you want (though I continued to use the same settings as mentioned above) smudge only the gaussian blurred fire layer. Vary the direction of your strokes, but primarily stroke downward. Do the same in random places on the topfire layer, revealing some black and giving the fire depth. 
