Frames

[cjdnzl]

I am very interested in doing a show using a frame around each image as in the show "Whitby Abbey". The frame looks just like a matte board over the image, and various sized images can be accommodated within a standardised frame size. I haven't the faintest idea where to start doing this; I have searched through Lin and Jeff's tutorial, and other tut's, but can find no reference to how to do it.

Any help gratefully accepted.

Colin

[fh1805]

Hi Colin,

The frame was created in Photoshop Elements v5 as follows:

Open a new file sized as 1024x768 (because that's the resolution of my digital projector)

Select the desired colour and make it the foregound colour

Use the Paint Bucket tool to fill the image area with this colour

Use Filter...Texturizer...Sandstone to give it texture

That's your basic "matte board" as you called it. Next step is to get out your calculator and work out how big a hole you want in it. I wanted 3:2 aspect ratio and a reasonable border around it. This can be a bit "trial and error" until you get proprotions that feel right to you.

Now make another image sized to the size of your desired hole. I usually make it a plain black image.

Add this "plain image" as a layer to your "matte board" image.

Use the Move tool to position this plain image where you want the hole to be

Now whilst working on the "plain image" layer, select the Marquee tool, rectangular form with 0 pixel feathering and carefully select just inside the edge of the plain image. Now switch to the "matte board" layer and Edit...Cut. And there's your hole!

To get the "drop shadow" effect inside the edges of the hole place a 1024x768 Black slide image below the "Matte board with hole", select the matte board layer, select Marquee tool, rectangular but this time with 10 pixel feathering and again, carefully select just inside the edge of the hole.

Transfer to the black layer and Edit...Cut. And there's the finished product. A "Windowed mount with dropped shadow and a transparent hole"

Save this as a png to preserve the transparency of the hole. Add the png file as an object to the image using PTE O&A.

Hope you can follow this. Obviously, you can use whatever colour and whatever texture you want. But that's how I did it.

[Ronniebootwest]

There are a couple of pdf tutorials on making frames in Photoshop, on the Tutorial Page of my website, that might be of interest to you.

Ron West

Visit My Website

[Peter S]

Hi Colin,

When you come to cutting the holes in the main frame and then the black background keep the marquee tool active and use Select/Modify/Contract to make it the size that you want. This will ensure that the border exactly matches the frame - it is much easier than judging by eye with the marquee tool. Keep this shadow layer without modifying it and copy it. Use Filter Blur Gaussian blur on the copy layer only. Keep the first layer hidden and then you can use it again if you want to change the colour of the shadow to match different images. You can also duplicate the blurred version to make the border darker if you wish.

Kind regards

Peter

[fh1805]

Hi Peter S,

May I please ask, in order to further my understanding of your comments, what is the benefit of applying blur to the shadow layer when it already has a feathered edge?

On a second point, when you say"Keep the first layer hidden and then you can use it again if you want to change the colour of the shadow to match different images", this implies to me that if I save a file as a png with one layer set to be invisible, that layer will not show up in the resultant file. Is this understanding, which is derived from your comment, correct?

Up until now I have always deleted invisible layers before saving files as png or jpg. Your comment seems to imply that I don't need to do this anymore. I'd be grateful if you would please confirm this point for me.

[silvia1]

I am very interested in doing a show using a frame around each image as in the show "Whitby Abbey". The frame looks just like a matte board over the image, and various sized images can be accommodated within a standardised frame size. I haven't the faintest idea where to start doing this; I have searched through Lin and Jeff's tutorial, and other tut's, but can find no reference to how to do it.

Any help gratefully accepted.

Colin

I have saved all the examples published in the Forum.

This album (Dom's example ) includes the framework.

I hope that you will help

Frame.zip

[cjdnzl]

Marvellous!!

Many thanks to all of you who replied so promptly to my request. I am humbled by your collective willingness to share your knowledge in such a manner on this forum.

I am doing two genealogical shows for family reunions, one for my wife's family and one for my family, both about ancestors who emigrated to New Zealand 100 and 150 years ago respectively.

As you can imagine, the image resources for these shows are garnered from old photographs, books and articles of their home areas in England, various internet searches for information, and so on. I concluded that I really needed a framed show to accommodate the widely disparate images in order to unify the presentation as much as possible.

Thank you all.

Kind regards,

Colin.

[Davidh12]

Colin

The other way I have found to get round the problem of different formats is to duplicate the picture on screen (say landscape) but tint/reduce saturation/blur and use it as a background with a picture (portrait) framed or unframed in the forground. Much like in this country they do on the television for showing football scores or information and I image similar in NZ TV. It doesn't jar the same way as it blends into the previous picture without noticing to much.

Hope I have explained it well enough. I used it for a show of old pictures of our family in fact it's quite nice two portrait format side by side in this way.

David

[Peter S]

Hi Colin,

Sorry if I confused you. I don't feather anything first. I simply create a solid black layer with the hole in it behind the pale coloured and textured mask (or matte) I then use filter/blur/gaussian blur on the black layer which means I can control the effect precisely as I watch it on the screen.

You can keep any layer hidden by simply clicking the eye icon in the layers pallet.

I actually keep a psd file that I call "masktemplate.psd" and it has layers for the large mask, the twin picture mask, the shadow effects, a masked area that makes a non textured surface for the text when needed and a shadow for this text area.

I simply open any image I want to use, drag it into the template, adjust the image size and position to suit and then save the whole lot as a jpg making sure I do NOT keep saving the masktemplate.psd. This method also has the advantage that you can have two (or more) images open as layers and by reducing the opacity of the higher image in the layer stack you can move a lower image to align it precisely to achieve the best transition. This is how I worked to get the alignments in flora's secret.

http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8014

I realise that in words this all looks a bit complex but given a bit of time I could send you the template as a psd file with a better explanation if you still need it after looking at some of the more professional tutorials.

Kind regards

Peter

[fh1805]

Peter S,

It wasn't Colin that queried the blur vs feather, it was I. But thanks for the comprehensive answer. I understand how and why you've done it the way that you have. No need to send the template file, thanks.

[silvia1]

Marvellous!!

Many thanks to all of you who replied so promptly to my request. I am humbled by your collective willingness to share your knowledge in such a manner on this forum.

I am doing two genealogical shows for family reunions, one for my wife's family and one for my family, both about ancestors who emigrated to New Zealand 100 and 150 years ago respectively.

As you can imagine, the image resources for these shows are garnered from old photographs, books and articles of their home areas in England, various internet searches for information, and so on. I concluded that I really needed a framed show to accommodate the widely disparate images in order to unify the presentation as much as possible.

Thank you all.

Kind regards,

Colin.

We recommend this program. It is excellent for creating your Genealogical Tree

http://www.myheritage.es/

[Ronniebootwest]

I have saved all the examples published in the Forum.

This album (Dom's example ) includes the framework.

I hope that you will help

Hello Silvia1,

I downloaded the example you attached and when I ran the 'Project' I noted that the actual images used in the album were mine. I am flattered that they have been used but you gave the impression that they were 'The Dom's'.

Just thought that I had better point that out.

Ron

[thedom]

Ron, Silvia,

I modified Silvia's attachment.

I removed Ron's pictures and removed my PTE project.

[cjdnzl]

Hello Peter,

Well, I got your system working well, with great results, but then I ran into a problem with all the different sizes and shapes of images I had gathered, and since it wasn't practical to regularize the sizes, I was faced with making a frame for almost every image, a long job.

So, I made a 1024 x 768 textured 'matte board' and saved it without putting any transparent holes in it. Then I loaded each image in turn into Photoshop and put a border around the image with Select\Modify\Border, at a width of 5 pixels and feathered at 1 pixel. I then dragged the image as a second layer onto the 'matte board', adjusted the positioning, and flattened the layers.

The result looked practically identical to your method, and it had the advantage of allowing any size image to be placed on the one matte. After one image was finished, I stepped the matte board history back to get a clear board, and then proceeded with the next image. I finished about 45 images in around three hours, about four minutes per image which I thought was not too bad.

Of course, I can't zoom the images within the frame this way, but in this case it isn't a problem. Later, with images I will be taking myself, of uniform size, I will use your method, and figure out how to zoom within the frame.

Thanks again for your valuable assistance,

Kind regards,

Colin

[fh1805]

Hi Colin,

You've found a method that works for you - and that's all that matters.

Hope the family reunions go well.

[silvia1]

Hello Silvia1,

I downloaded the example you attached and when I ran the 'Project' I noted that the actual images used in the album were mine. I am flattered that they have been used but you gave the impression that they were 'The Dom's'.

Just thought that I had better point that out.

Ron

Hello

Sorry

I save and archive all examples and projects published in the Forum, to my library.

I serve as a example for my family slide show.