Tutorial: A Quick Frame/Border for Your Image (v9)

[charliemc]

With one simple method, you can create several different frames/borders for any image! It's both quick and easy to do.

You can start with an image like this:


And end up with these these:




...plus many more!

Let's get started.


1. Open Paint Shop Pro 9 (PSP9).
   
   
2. Open an image you want to frame. For this tutorial you'll probably want to work with this:
   
   
   (Right-click and Copy. Go to your PSP workspace. Right-click and Paste As New Image.)
   
   
3. Go to Layers > New Raster Layer. Click OK.
   
   You now have the choice to Flood Fill this new layer with a Solid Color, a Gradient or a Pattern!
   
   
4. Go to your Materials Palette. Change the Foreground/Stroke from Color (solid color) to Gradient (press the first button and select Gradient).
   
   
   
   
   
   Here I used a Gradient called Autumn, with these settings:
   Angle: 50
   Repeats: 0
   Style: Linear
   Click OK.
   
   
5. Select the Flood Fill Tool from your Tool Palette. Use these settings:
   Match mode: None
   Blend mode: Normal
   Opacity: 100
   
   Click the Flood Fill tool inside the new layer. You should now see a layer filled with a gradient color!
   
   
   
   
6. Go to Selections > Select All.
   
   
   
   
7. Return to Selections > Modify > Contract.
   
   
   
   The Contract Selection window will now open.
   
   
8. Make the number of pixels 16. Click OK.
   
   
   
   Note: The number of pixels you use defines how many pixels deep per each side the frame will be. Selecting 1 would give you a one pixel frame all the way around, and so on.
   
   
9. Now press your Delete key (on your keyboard) to remove the center (selected) portion of your Gradient Layer.
   
   The frame will still be active at this point.
   
   
   
   
10. Go to Selections > Select None.
    
    
11. Go to Layers > Merge All (flatten).
    
    
    
    You're now ready to Save!
    
    Works like a charm, doesn't it? (smile)
    
    Let's see some variations, shall we?
    
    Here I've added a Drop Shadow under the gradient frame!
    
    
    After step #10 (select none) I went to Effects > 3D Effects > Drop Shadow. Then I used these settings:
    Offset
    Vertical: 5
    Horizontal: 5
    Attributes
    Opacity: 70
    Blur: 7.0
    Color: Black (HTML: #000000)
    Click OK.
    
    (Then I selected none and merged as above before saving.)
    
    
    This time after adding one Drop Shadow (with the above settings), I added Drop Shadow a second time, using these settings:
    Offset
    Vertical: -5
    Horizontal: -5
    Attributes
    Opacity: 70
    Blur: 7.0
    Color: Black (HTML: #000000)
    Click OK.
    
    (Then I selected none and merged as above before saving.)
    
    
    Here after step #9 I went to Selections > Invert. Then I went to Effects > 3D Effects > Cutout. Then I used these settings:
    Offset
    Vertical: 4
    Horizontal: 4
    Attributes
    Opacity: 60
    Blur: 40.00
    Color
    Shadow color: Black (HTML: #000000)
    Fill interior with color: not selected
    Click OK.
    
    (Then I selected none and merged as above before saving.)
    
    
    Here in place of using a gradient for the top layer, I used the solid color white (HTML: #ffffff). I selected as in steps #6, #7 and #8. Then I went to Selection > Invert. (Now selecting the frame area, rather than the center section.) Then I hit the Delete key on my keyboard, removing the outside edge.
    
    Then I went to my Layer Palette and lowered the opacity of the white layer to 20%. I added Drop Shadow using these settings:
    Offset
    Vertical: 5
    Horizontal: 5
    Attributes
    Opacity: 70
    Blur: 7.0
    Color: Black (HTML: #000000)
    
    Then I applied Drop Shadow a second time, making V: -5 and H: -5. Finally I merged as above and saved.
    Here I used the solid Color white (HTML: #ffffff) and followed the same steps as the gradient frame, though I didn't add a Drop Shadow. Again, I merged and saved. (Note: This is placed inside a table with a red background so it will show off the white border on a white background. The red is not part of the frame/border effect.)
    
    Here I used a Pattern and followed the same steps as the gradient frame, adding Drop Shadow twice before merging and saving.
    
    

As you can see, this is actually a quick, fun way to add frames (borders) to any image (including icons)! Once you get used to the simple steps, you'll be using it all the time.

And don't be afraid to try variations of your own!

==CharlieMC, assistant moderator