New today at Sweet Shoppe Designs, Photo Edgers, a set of photo clipping masks and a variety of edging lines fitted to the inner perimeter. These are perfect for adding a little detailing to your photos.
The set includes five edging styles; dashed line, dotted line, postage stamp, thin line and wide line. Each style comes in four shapes 4×6″ rounded corner rectangle, 4×6″ rectangle, 5×5″ rounded corner square and 5×5″ square. Here is a close up of each variety.
SUBJECT: Create a thin line frame around the interior of a photo for digital scrapbooking.
PROGRAM: PSE8 (can be adapted for other versions of PSE and/or Photoshop)
PREREQUISITES: Basic understanding of the layers palette and the selection, text tools and color picker.
This tutorial walks you through the steps of creating framing and text like this …
Start by opening in your photograph in PSE (or Photoshop).
Create a new layer on top of your photo by going to Layer>New>Layer or Shift+Ctrl+N. Name your layer ‘Shape’ and click ‘OK’.
If there are not rulers visible at the top and left of your working canvas, activate them by going to View>Rulers (Shift+Ctrl+R).
Click on the ruler along the left and drag inward onto your photo. You should find yourself moving a blue line across the canvas. This blue line is called a guide. Using the ruler as a gauge, set the guide inside your photo 1/4 of an inch (more or less depending on how far inside the photo you want your frame). Repeat this process to set a guide 1/4 of an inch inward on the opposing side. Then pull two guides down from the top ruler setting them 1/4 of an inch from the top and bottom of your photo.
Now go to View>Snap to and make sure ‘Guides’ is checked.
Click on the Shape Tool in the Tools Palette and select the Rounded Rectangle Tool (or the Rectangle Tool if you want sharp corners).
In the Options Toolbar near the top of the screen, set the radius as desired, usually somewhere between 20 and 90px. The larger the radius, the more rounded the corners. I am using 60px in this example.
Click on the canvas where the guides meet at the upper left and drag downward and right creating a rectangle in the empty layer on top of your photo.
Hold down the control key and click on the thumbnail of the shape in the Layers Palette to select the shape. There should now be ‘marching ants’ around the perimeter of your rectangle. See arrow below.
Click on the eye to the left of the shape in the Layers Palette to hide the rectangle. See arrow below.
Create a new layer; Layer>New>Layer or Shift+Ctrl+N. Name your layer ‘Stroke’ and click ‘OK’.
Go to View>Clear Guides to get rid of the blue lines.
Go to Edit>Stroke (Outline) Selection.
In the Stroke Dialogue box …
Width: Set as desired. The higher the number the wider the line.
Color: Set as desired. I used white in this example.
Location: Center
Blending: Normal
Opacity: 100%
Click OK.
Click on the Text Tool in the Tools Palette.
Click on your canvas and type your text. Change the font, size and text color as desired.
To integrate your text with the frame perimeter. Click on the Move Tool in the Tools palette and click and drag your text so it sits along your frame. Select the Rectangular Marquee Tool from the Tools Palette.
Click and drag over your text to create a rectangular selection around your text.
Click on the Stroke layer in the Layers Palette and hit delete.
You are done. To collapse your image into a single layer, go to Layer>Flatten Image.
Go to File>Save As and name and save your altered photo.
Adding a Frame to the Interior of a Photo Summary
SUBJECT: Creating a two-tone frame around a photo.
PROGRAM: PSCS3 (can be adapted for other versions of Photoshop)
PREREQUISITES: Be able to open a photo in Photoshop and use the foreground/background color picker to select colors.
In this tutorial I will demonstration how to set up a stroke layer style to create a two tone frame. Once you understand how to set up the layer style, you’ll be able to create frames of multiple colors and varying widths.
To begin with open a photo in Photoshop and go to Layer>Layer from Background.
To facilitate things later, set the foreground and background colors to the two colors you want to use for your frame. This step is optional, but will save time later. I’ve chosen black and ‘Minnie Mouse’ pink.
Go to Layer>Layer Style>Stroke.
The Layer Style dialogue box will open. Make sure the box labeled ‘Preview’ on the right hand side is checked.
Next set the ‘Position’ to Inside. Adjust the size slider until your frame is at the desired width.
Now to go ‘Fill Type’ and select gradient from the drop down menu. Click on the Style drop down and select Shape Burst.
Your dialogue box should look like mine below, with the likely exception of the size slider.
Next click on the gradient bar within the Styles dialogue box to open the Gradient Editor.
In the Gradient Editor you should see a gradient bar, likely showing a gradient from black to white. Click on the small box at the far lower left of the gradient bar (see arrow 1 below). Then click on the color picker within the Gradient Editor (see arrow 2 below). Thirdly click on the desired color in the foreground or background square of the Tools Palette (see arrow 3 below).
Now click below the gradient bar at about the midway point to create a new gradient stop (see arrow below). This one should be in the same color as the one you just set up.
Repeat this process by clicking on the small box at the far lower right of the gradient bar (see arrow 1 below). Then click on the color picker within the Gradient Editor (see arrow 2 below). Thirdly click on the desired color in the foreground or background square of the Tools Palette (see arrow 3 below). This color should be different from the color used on the previous two stops.
Now click below the gradient bar at about the midway point to create a new gradient stop (see arrow below). This one should be in the same color as the one you just set up.
Click and drag on one of the middle two stops so that they are on top of each other.
Click OK to close the Gradient Editor and OK to close the Layer Styles dialogue box and your photo should have a two-tone border.
Once you get the hang of working with the Gradient Editor, you can set up a wide variety of color stripes and combinations. Below is a sample of a gradient bar for a three-tone frame.
Here is the resulting frame.
Have fun experimenting!