ADDING A SIMPLE BORDER TO AN IMAGE

An important part of image making for conventional photographers is choosing an appropriate mount. You can make your own mount digitally and with the tools of Photoshop the possibilities are endless. To put a thin line around your image select the tone you require as your foreground colour and hit Ctrl+A which will select the entire edge of your picture. Select Edit-Stroke from the menu, 2-4 pixels should be enough to put a thin line around the edge.

Add the size of the boarder you require by selecting Image-Canvas size and then using the eye dropper tool sample two shades from your monochrome image. A left click selects the foreground shade while a left click holding the Alt key selects the background shade. Call up the layers palette (F7) rename your background thumbnail and create a new blank layer by clicking the centre icon at the bottom of the layers palette. Drag your blank layer beneath your image and with the gradation tool selected (shown below) create a gradation on that layer with the heavier tone to the bottom.

Adding noise to your newly made background can give it a nice appearance. Choose noise from the filter menu and select an amount of about 15.

This gives your new frame a flecked card appearance as we show below.

Choosing the right frame for your image can be vital, but when you get it right it does enhance your image as we show below.