Photoshop tutorial 11

Add a Frame to a photo

Overview:

This tutorial will show you how to add a nice frame and matte to a photo.

STEP 1: Open your image

Ctrl-O (File --> Open) to open your image.

STEP 2: Duplicate your background

Duplicate your background by dragging the ‘Background’ layer (in the layers palette) to the ‘Create new layer’ icon at the bottom of the ‘layers palette’.

STEP 3: Add Canvas

With the ‘Background’ layer active, go to the ‘Image’ menu and select ‘Canvas Size’ (Ctrl-Alt-C).

Inside the ‘Canvas Size’ dialog box, change ‘Width’ and ‘Height’ to 4 ‘inches’ (NOT pixels!). Make sure that the ‘Relative’ box is checked and click OK.

Now we have LOTS of room to work.

*NOTE: Make sure you are not working on the original image whenever making changes to the Background layer. You could also Duplicate the Background layer again, and work with that layer.

STEP 4: Create a frame

Select the ‘Rectangular Marquee Tool’ (M) from the ‘Tools’ palette. To make our frame, click and drag across our new canvas where you want the frame to be.

Click on the ‘Create new layer’ icon at the bottom of the ‘Layers’ palette (See step 2).

Hit Shift-F5 (Edit --> Fill) to bring up the ‘Fill’ dialog box. Choose ‘White’ from the “Use” drop down menu.

Hit OK, then Ctrl-D to de-select.

To see our new layer you can toggle off the ‘background’ layer by clicking on the ‘eye’ icon next to the thumbnail.

Now with our new ‘Layer 1’ active, click on the ‘Add a layer style’ icon at the bottom of the ‘Layers’ palette and select ‘Stroke’.

This will bring up the ‘Layer style’ dialog box. Let’s start off by setting our ‘Size’ to around 32 (this will be different for each image). Set the ‘Position’ to ‘Inside’. Now click on the ‘Color’ swatch so we can change our frames color. When you click on the swatch it brings up the ‘Select stroke color’ dialog box. Click inside the color palette and drag your mouse off the bottom edge to select black and hit OK. Do NOT hit OK in the ‘Layer Style’ dialog box just yet.

*NOTE: You can also enter an RGB value of 0,0,0 to get black.

With the ‘Layer style’ dialog box still open, click on ‘Inner Shadow’ (make sure to click on the words and not the check box).With the ‘Blend Mode’ set to normal I choose an ‘Opacity’ of 52, an ‘Angle’ of 51 (with ‘Use Global Light’ turned on),a ‘Distance’ of 61, a ‘Choke’ of 8 and a size of 16. Again, these numbers will be different with each image.

You can also add a ‘Drop Shadow’ to your frame as well. Now click OK.

STEP 5: Add a Matte

We will add a Matte just like we did the frame in step 4, except we will want to use ‘Inner glow’.

So, select the ‘Rectangular Marquee Tool’ (M) from the ‘Tools’ palette, and click drag across our canvas where you want the Matte to be.

Click on the ‘Create new layer’ icon at the bottom of the ‘Layers’ palette (See step 2).

Hit Shift-F5 (Edit --> Fill) to bring up the ‘Fill’ dialog box. Choose ‘White’ from the “Use” drop down menu.

Hit OK, then Ctrl-D to de-select.

Now with ‘Layer 2’ active, click on the ‘Add a layer style’ icon at the bottom of the ‘Layers’ palette and select ‘Inner Glow’.

With the ‘Layer Style’ dialog box open, choose a ‘Blend Mode’ of ‘Normal’ and select black as your color (see step 4). Every picture will be a little different but I choose an ‘Opacity’ of 75 and a ‘Size’ of 13.

STEP 6: Crop

A good way to crop your image is to use the ‘Rectangular Marquee Tool’ (M). Simply click and drag across your image. When you have the area you want selected, go to the ‘Image’ menu and select ‘Crop’. Then Ctrl-D to de-select.

EDIT:
Just wanted to note that you can also add a drop shadow to the image by applying a 'Layer Style' to the 'Background Copy' layer.