Rectangle Frames with Photoshop

[Keltic Ice Man]

I've been putting together pages for a wedding book using Photoshop CS3 - but can't work out how I put a frame around each picture. I have tried with the rectangle shape, but this just gives me a filled rectangle rather than a fine line. I tried with a line but getting the lines to join up smoothly at the corners was really difficult

Does have any thoughts.

An example of a page is:
http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/7756/pg013landscapesamesizedtt2.jpg
and I'm looking for every photo to have a small frame around it

[DiddyDave]

Each image is a layer right? Loaded onto the cream background.

So simply use 'Stroke' from the fx layer styles options, starting at perhaps 3 pixels to create the border size/colour you like and the duplicate layer style to all the others.

To avoid the curved corners, remember to use 'inside' for the Stroke - unless you like curved corners that is

Hope that's useful - or I've missed your point, in which case, soz!

[theMusicMan]

Here you go sir... just put this up today for everyone. Hope it helps.

Tutorial: Borders in Photoshop
(http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=32694)
John

[DiddyDave]

John's version of course works nicely, but relies on you doing that to each image before you add them to your page - and you can't amend them thereafter ON your page

Doing it via Stroke on your page allows you more freedom to alter the size/colour/opacity/texture of the borders from within the page itself - but both versions work

[Keltic Ice Man]

ah - Stroke wont quite do it - as i want the frame to not be up close to the pic, maybe 10 pixels of the cream then the frame in black - Also the picture on its layer is bigger so is appearing from under a layer mask with the appropriate hole cut in it.

I'm trying to put the frame on the top layer so that I can then use it as a template for lots more pages

[DiddyDave]

This not what you mean then?

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/500/Keltic_example.jpg

[Keltic Ice Man]

nope but that gives me an idea for another page :) - more like this sort of this - (I've freehanded the lines but there must be an easy way)

http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/8182/pg013landscapesamesizedav1.jpg

[DiddyDave]

Okay... answer this simple question then...

Are you doing, or wish to do, Weddings often?

If so, by far the easiest way to do all of this stuff is buy dg-foto software (sounds like it's mine - I'm dg-photography!!! - but sadly it's not). Their Classic version will do and a fab bit of software it is too

Here's why...

You CAN spend the time, expertise needed to do all of this in CS just the same as dg-foto does, but if once you've created that fab album the couple say "Yes, it's so good we want it in a bigger 11x14 format please" and you prepared it as a 10x8 you're f*****

Fuming I mean - LOL

Whereas dg-foto simply resizes everything to whatever page size you tell it - oh, and it's a piece of wee-wee to use too, so you needn't learn all that CS stuff either!

[Keltic Ice Man]

I will be doing it often, (I hope) just at 649$ it seemed a bit much :( but appreciate what you are saying.

[theMusicMan]

£175 in the UK for the Lite version...

[DiddyDave]

How about this one then

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=18433&cat=500

[DiddyDave]

Oops did that wrong

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/500/Keltic_example_-_2.jpg

[DiddyDave]

That was creating done by a new layer and simply selecting the area around the 3 images, then inverting the selection and filling it with the background colour, then inverting again and adding a stroke

Not hard, just a bit slow - obviously I didn't take much care here but it's not hard to do it accurately with Guides and all

Or buy dg-foto! (should I be on a commission here?)

[theMusicMan]

You could I guess, do a similar thing with actions in CS yeah?

[Keltic Ice Man]

oh that looks like a good way of doing it Diddydave :) - EXCELLENT :)

Go on then how many folks here have dg - foto? or does everyone use photoshop for this?

[DiddyDave]

Only the Pro's should answer (above from Keltic Ice) cos it's a bit daft if you're not into Weddings to have it!

[alexisonfire]

What about this?

EDIT: btw, i don't like that peach colour for the background at all, doesn't do the photo's any justice. ;)

http://www.msxphotography.com/randomuploads/borders.jpg

[DiddyDave]

That's virtually the same as my first, and deemed unsuitable, attempt above mate

Keltic wanted a clear gap of background colour before the stroke, this one is simply around the image like mine was, just a different type of stroke

And he's free to choose whatever background colour his couple like I guess

[Steve Randles]

Here is how I would do it, some work involved but reusable.

Ctrl click one of the photo layers to select it with marching ants, ctrl+c to copy it, ctrl+n for new document, select transparant background colour and click okay, ctrl+v to paste your photo in to the new document.

Make a new layer and click Image/Canvas size, make sure there is a tick in relative and enter a size you want to increase by (a size of 20 in both width and height will increase your canvas size by 10 all round) then ctrl+a to select all and fill it with any colour, then at the bottom of the layers palette choose Stroke from the Add Layer style menu, change the colour to the colour of the border you want and also the thickness, and make sure "inside" is selected, click okay.

Now go to the fill of that layer and move the slider to 0%, so your left with your photo, a transparent area around it and the sharp cornered stroke around that.

Now at the bottom of the layers palette add a new group and put all your layers into that group then drag the whole group into your main document (the one where you want the border).

So now you have your template all you will have to do in the future is ctrl/click the photo layer to select it with marching ants then click "Edit/Paste into" which will paste your new shot in. To resize the newer image to fit this template ctrl+t and then use the grab handles holding the shift key to resize proportionately and your done.

Some work to set up, but easy to reuse again and again.

Hope this helps!

Steve...:)

[oldfart]

similar idea ... choose background colour (preferably not peach :puke:) , use link about borders below and change colour to whatever colour your background is. Use layer for each photo so you can manipulate images. Seems an easy way... but its photoshop nothing easy lol

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=32694

[CarlOgden]

Alexisonfire style gets my vote, better than the lines...imo....

Carl.