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Seeing Double: Those Gorgeous Digital Frames - Digital Photography with Adobe Photoshop

© Dan Osborn

I read somewhere that people are more likely to believe something they read over what they hear even if the words are identical. (And since I read it then it must be true.) The theory is that the spoken word is cheap compared to the written word because it takes more effort to write. If that seems reasonably then consider what it means to put a digital frame around your photo.

A frame says to the viewer, "Someone thinks enough of this photo to go to the effort to put a frame around it." Therefore, this must be a great photo. If you want to put that thought to the test then follow these simple steps and see for yourself what a difference a frame makes.

We'll be making a simple double frame with credits at the bottom similar to the photo to the right. Once you understand the steps here you'll be able to explore all the variations of frames your imagination can create.

It's a good idea to use the names I suggest for the different layers that we will be creating so that we are all on the same page, or layer as the case may be. Later on you can use whatever names you prefer.

Step 1: Open Photo in Photoshop
What is the first thing you always do after opening a file to start editing? Save it! Go to File -> Save As... and save the file as a PSD - Photoshop Document - where ever you want. Be sure to hit Ctrl + S often to resave. Note: PSDs are big files; a 2Meg image will become a 10Meg+ as a PSD; the good thing is that PSDs are lossless so you can save over and over and never degrade the quality of your image unlike what happens with JPGs.

Step 2: Enlarge Canvas
First you need to rename the "background" layer. Do this by going to the Layers Palette - Window -> Layers - and double-clicking on the word "background". You can rename it anything you like - I use "Foto".

Now, select Image -> Canvas size... (Or right-click on the document title bar and select Canvas Size...) You'll want to enlarge the dimensions of the canvas by about 20 pixels in each direction - width and height.

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