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June 07, 2007
[ THE FRAME UP ]
Pictures, whether on the wall or on the screen, usually benefit from being displayed in a frame. The frame isolates the photo from the background, and focuses attention on the area within the frame. And here is a simple routine for creating a custom matte frame in Photoshop Elements. With small adaptations the same routine will work in Photoshop or Paintshop Pro.
First open and edit the photograph – the picture has to look its best. Then, when editing is finished, resize the image to the dimensions best suited for display on a monitor. We find that 600 pixels in the vertical dimension fits nicely on most monitors. It is an acceptable compromise between maximum size and that which can be viewed without scrolling. (Ctrl-Alt-I opens the Resize dialogue box. Make sure that Resample Image and Constrain Proportions are checked. Choose Bicubic Sharper in the drop down box.)
If you are resetting the resolution to the standard 72dpi you need to run Resize again and deselect Resample Image.
Now hit Ctl-A to select the image and Edit/Stroke and put a 1 px black border around the picture. This makes for a crisp divider between the picture and the background.
Next go to Image/Resize/Canvas Size, check the Relative box and enter 1cm in each dimension for enlargement and select White for Canvas Extension Colour. This puts a white border of 0.5 cm around the picture. Go Ctrl-A and Edit/Stroke and create another 1 px black outline. The hit Ctrl-C to copy the entire image.
You have now, in effect, pasted the picture onto a white mounting board and copied it. Hit Ctrl-N to open a new image page which will have the same dimensions as the copied picture plus border. In the New dialogue box make the height and width dimensions 4cm more. Then choose the colour for the frame itself in the Foreground/Background colour picker. Use the Paint Bucket tool to fill the white space with colour.
Now, paste the copied picture onto the coloured background with Ctrl-V and flatten the layers (Layers/Flatten Image). With the Magic Wand select the coloured border surrounding the picture and white border and copy it (Ctrl-C). Then simply paste is back as a new layer. (Ctrl-V)
We have a picture, surrounded by white mounting board and a coloured border, all flat and two dimensional. With the top layer selected in the Layers palette open the Artworks and Effects palette and choose Special Effects/Filters/Texture/Texturiser/Apply. A dialogue box opens in which you choose the texture (Canvas), Scaling (64%) and Relief (5%). In the preview you will see how this looks on the coloured frame.
When the texture has been added stay in the Special Effects department and choose Layer Styles/Bevels and apply a simple emboss. (Note that the Apply button must be pressed). This gives the frame a three dimensional look with a small drop shadow on the left and top. Still in Layer Styles choose Drop Shadows and Soft Edge to extend the drop shadow slightly.
Flatten the layers and the frame is complete. Photoshop users can turn this routine into an Action so that once created it can be applied with a single key stroke. Photoshop Elements people will have to redo the full process every time. Finally Save for Web in the File menu.
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Posted by terry at June 7, 2007 02:08 AM
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