Easy Photo Border
by Jenifer Juris

Make your images POP with this easy border technique.

Step One: Prepare the Workspace

• Create a new 12×12 inch document (File > New > Blank File) at 300ppi with a white background. (Photoshop: Choose File > New.)
• Press the letter D to reset the Color Chips to the default of black and white.

Step Two: Create a Circle

• In the Layers panel, click on the Create a New Layer icon.
• Click on the Foreground Color Chip to open the Color Picker.
• In the dialog box, set the Hex # to 959595. Click OK.
• Get the Elliptical Marquee tool.
• In the Tool Options, click on the New Selection icon, check Anti-Aliasing, set the Feather to 0 px, and set the Aspect to Fixed Size. Enter a width and height of 6 inches. (Photoshop: Set the Style to Fixed Size.)
• On the document, click and drag to place the selection.
• Press Alt Backspace (Mac: Opt Delete) to fill the selection with the foreground color. This will be referred to as the ‘lighter circle’.

Step Three: Align the Lighter Circle

• Press Ctrl A (Mac: Cmd A) to select the entire document. The circle layer should still be active.
• Get the Move tool.
• In the Tool Options, click on the Align Vertical Centers icon and the Align Horizontal Centers icon. This will align the lighter circle on the document.
• Press Ctrl D (Mac: Cmd D) to deselect.

Step Four: Create a Darker Circle

• Press Ctrl J (Mac: Cmd J) to duplicate the lighter circle layer.
• Click on the Foreground Color Chip to open the Color Picker.
• In the dialog box, set the Hex # to 636363. Click OK.
• Press Shift Alt Backspace (Mac: Shift Opt Delete) to fill this circle with the new foreground color. This will be referred to as the ‘darker circle’.

Step Five: Move and Expand the Darker Circle

• In the Layers panel, move darker circle layer below the lighter circle layer.
• Press Ctrl T (Mac: Cmd T) to get the Transform options.
• In the Tool Options, set both the Horizontal Scale and the Vertical Scale to 125%. Click the checkmark to commit the change.

Step Six: Add and Clip a Photo

Most types of photos should work well with this tutorial, but this technique is especially fun with landscapes.

• Open a photo (File > Open).
• With the Move tool, hold down the Shift key and click and drag the photo onto the document.

• In the Layers panel, the photo layer should be above the darker circle layer. If it isn’t, click on the photo layer and move it above the darker circle layer.
• In the Menu Bar, choose Layer > Create Clipping Mask.

Step Seven: Reposition and Resize the Photo

You most likely will want to reposition and resize your photo. If not, simply skip this step. The big thing to remember is that the boundaries of the photo need to be larger than the darker (outer) circle. The finished photo will also look best if the subject of your photo is within the boundaries of the lighter (inner) circle.

• Press Ctrl T (Mac: Cmd T) to get the Transform options.
• On the document, click and drag from a corner handle of the bounding box to resize the photo. (Photoshop: Hold down the Shift key while dragging.) Click and drag inside the bounding box to reposition the photo. Click the check mark to commit the changes.

Step Eight: Duplicate the Photo

• Press Ctrl J (Mac: Cmd J) to duplicate the photo.
• In the Layers panel, move the duplicated photo layer above the lighter circle layer.
• In the Menu Bar, choose Layer > Create Clipping Mask.

Step Nine: Reveal the Border

• In the Layers panel, click on the bottom photo layer to activate it.
• Click on the Create a New Layer icon.
• Press the letter X to switch the Foreground Color Chip to white.
• Press Alt Backspace (Mac: Opt Delete) to fill this new layer with white.
• In the Layers panel, change the Opacity of this layer to 50%.
• In the Menu Bar, choose Layer > Create Clipping Mask.

I used this Easy Border Photo technique on a graphic style scrapbook page.

Play around with the 50% color layer. If white doesn’t look right, try black or a complimentary color.

I can’t wait to see how you use this Easy Photo Border tutorial.

After posting your results online,
return here and include the link in the comments.

I’d love to check it out.

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Author: Jenifer Juris | Contact Us
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