EffectsPhotoshop

Unlimited Custom Borders Using Nothing But Textures and Refine Edge

Recently, while playing in the Refine Edge dialog, I was struck by the idea that it's possible to combine Refine Edge's powerful sliders with textures to create an unlimited variety of borders that can be applied to any photo in your inventory. The process is fast and simple, and with the array of textures available on sites such as CGTextures, there's no limit to the creative possibilities.

Texture image: © CGTextures
Botanical image: © Mark S. Johnson Photography

Step 1: Open a Texture

Open a texture with lots of edge detail. Textures can be captured with your camera or downloaded from sites such as CGTextures ( http://www.cgtextures.com/ ), Flypaper Textures ( http://flypapertextures.com/ ), or French Kiss Collections. Discounts for Flypaper and French Kiss textures are available on the MSJPhotography Discounts page.

Custom Borders Using Nothing But Textures and Refine Edge

Step 2: Make a Rectangular Marquee Selection

Activate the Rectangular Marquee tool and pull out a selection. Leave a 10 - 20% border. Remember that it's possible to reposition the selection while scaling by adding in the Spacebar.

Custom Borders Using Nothing But Textures and Refine Edge

Step 3: Creatively Refine the Edge

In the Options Bar, click the Refine Edge button.

Custom Borders Using Nothing But Textures and Refine Edge

Choose On White from the View menu. Experiment with the Radius, Contrast, and Shift Edge sliders until the border looks interesting.

Custom Borders Using Nothing But Textures and Refine Edge

Set the Output To menu to Selection. Press OK.

Step 4: Create a "Clip" Layer

Now we'll create a layer that will cut the border for any photo we choose. Click the Create a new layer icon at the base of the Layers panel. Tap D, then press Option-Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace) to fill the selection with black. Press Command-D (PC: Control-D) to deselect.

Custom Borders Using Nothing But Textures and Refine Edge

Step 5: Clip in a Photo

Open the photo to which you'd like to apply the border.

Custom Borders Using Nothing But Textures and Refine Edge

Press Command-A (PC: Control-A), then Command-C (PC: Control-C) to copy the photo. Return to the "border" document and press Command-V (PC: Control-V) to paste the photo. Choose Layer>Create Clipping Mask to clip the photo inside the border. Wowâ¦custom border, minimal effort!

Custom Borders Using Nothing But Textures and Refine Edge

If desired, scale the photo and/or border so they fit together better.

Step 6: Hide the Texture

Since the stone texture is still visible around the edges, we'll add a white layer to hide it. Activate the Background (the texture). Click the Create a new layer icon. Tap D, then press Command-Delete (PC: Control-Backspace) to fill the layer with white. Ta-da!

Custom Borders Using Nothing But Textures and Refine Edge

To apply this border to another photo, open the photo and pick up with Step 5. To create other borders, open other textures and have fun experimenting with this technique!

Mark S. Johnson Photography
msjphotography.com

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