Custom Framing (Photoshop Elements)

I do a lot of traditional scrapbooking.

Often times I find myself – photo in hand – staring across the table at Lori – my scrappin’ buddy – and saying, “Does this picture need a frame?”
We immediately go into the ‘mode’….
We squint our eyes, tilt our heads to the side, stick our lips out, and say… “I don’t know, what do you think?”
I think that’s just our way of prolonging the scrapbooking process in order to “think it over with another bite-size Mounds bar”. HA!

But seriously, some photos need a frame to separate them from the rest of the scrapbook page – and some don’t. I cannot really help you make that decision (I’m fresh out of bite-size Mounds bars), but I can help you make a cute little frame – just in case you don’t have one on hand.

Come and follow along as I walk through the simple steps of whipping up a frame for my scrapbook page.

Step 1: Prepare

• Create a new document (File > New > Blank File) that is 7×7 inches, 300 pixels/inch, RGB color, and has a transparent background. It is here that we will design a new element to drag onto a scrapbook page.
• Press the letter D to set the Color Chips to the default of black and white. This way we will be at the same starting point.

Step 2: Create

In this step we will create the basic shape of our frame.

• Get the Ellipse tool. It is nested with the Rectangle tool.
• In the Options Bar click on the Geometry options drop down menu. Choose Fixed Size and enter W: 6 in. and H: 6 in. Check the box next to “From Center.” Press Enter to commit.
  TIP: Checking “From Center” will make the circle’s center point land where you click.
• Click in the center of your document to place your new shape.

Step 3: Subtract

In this step we will cut out an area where our picture will show through.

• Again, make sure you have the Ellipse tool.
  In the Options Bar, change the Geometry options to a fixed size of W: 4 in. by H: 4 in. and make sure the box next to “From Center” is checked.
• Choose the Subtract From Shape Area icon.
• Click about an inch off the center of your circle shape. This should cut a hole inside your circle. I purposely had you click off center to give it a whimsical kind of look. If you don’t like where it ended up, just press Ctrl Z (Mac: Cmd Z) and click again.
• From the Menu Bar, choose Layer > Simplify Layer to turn your shape into editable pixels. Note: Turning shapes into editable pixels allows you to apply textures, filters, and blending modes to them.

Step 4: Gussy-up

In this step, we will clothe our frame with a little bit of awesomeness.

• Give dimension. In the Menu Bar, choose Layer > Layer Style > Style Settings.
  • Check the box next to Drop Shadow. Set the Opacity to 50, the Distance to 5, and the Size to 5.
  • Check the box next to Bevel. Set the Size to 1 px.
  • Click OK.
• Color it. In the Menu Bar, choose Layer > New Fill Layer > Solid Color.
  • Check the box next to Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask.
  • Click OK.
  • A box will pop up asking you to choose a color. I choose color #741d1d.
  • Click OK.
• Texturize it. In the Menu Bar, choose Layer > New Fill Layer > Pattern.
  • Check the box next to Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask.
  • Change the Mode to Overlay.
  • Click OK.
  • A box will pop up asking you to choose a pattern. Change the pattern to Woven.
  • Click OK.
• Decorate it. Get the Custom Shape tool. It is nested with the Rectangle tool. In the Options Bar, choose the following settings:
  • In Geometry Options, choose Defined Proportions – so the shape keeps it’s shape.
  • In the Custom Shape Picker drop down box, choose Spiral. If you don’t see the Spiral shape, click on the arrows in the upper, right corner of the Custom Shape Picker and choose All Elements Shapes to load all the shapes.
  • Click on the Color sample in the Options Bar and choose a contrasting color. I chose #e18b8b.
  • With your mouse, drag some spirals over the frame.
  • Merge the spiral layers and clip them to the frame. To do this:
    • Holding down the Ctrl key (Mac: Cmd key), click on the name of each spiral layer in the Layers panel to select it. Release the Ctrl/Cmd key.
    • In the Layers panel, right click (Mac: Ctrl Click) on one of the selected spiral layers and choose Merge Layers. This will simplify them and merge them all in one layer.
    • In the Layers panel, clip the spirals to the frame by holding down the Alt key (Mac: Opt key) and clicking between the spiral layer and the pattern layer. Doing this makes the spirals only show up on the frame.

Step 5: Save

In this step we will prepare our new frame for it’s voyage to our scrapbook page.

• Save your frame as a .psd file (File > Save as).
• With the top layer active, press Ctrl Alt Shift E (Mac: Cmd Opt Shift E) to create a merged copy of your frame.
• With the merged layer active, you are now ready to drag your new frame onto your scrapbook page.

Credits: Scrapbook page by Jen White. Kit: Love You Always by ARockwell. Fonts: Eccentric Std and Curlz MT.

Download a PDF version of this “Custom Framing” tutorial.

Windows: Right click on the link and choose “Save Target As” or a similar command.
Mac: Click on the link to download the file.

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