Quick Tip #3 - Adding a Simple Border

Redhead
Originally uploaded by runnerone

I've been uploading photos to Flickr for some time now and I've started to notice something I don't like about some of the images. When I'm showing an image with a lot of white in it, especially around the edges, it tends to "bleed" into the white background of the Flickr page. This really detracts from the impact of the image. To avoid this, I've put together a quick guide on how to add a simple border of whatever coloour best suits the image and page it's being displayed on.

Okay, I realise you can't really see the white bleed on this particular page, but if you have a look at the original on the Flickr page, you'd see how it looks with the border on a white page.

Again, I'm using CS2 for this tip.


Step 1. Using a copy of the original image, Select All (Ctrl+A) and then Copy (Ctrl+C).

Step 2. Open the New Image dialogue (Ctrl+N) and ensure the Preset is set to Clipboard from the drop-down menu.

Step 3. Depending on how thick a border you like (I used a 30 pixel border for mine) in the Width and Height selections, add 30 to the numbers there. For example the Width of 3264 pixels will become 3294 and the Height of 2448 pixels will become 2478. Once this is done, click on the OK button.

Step 4. In the new blank background, paste the copied image in (Ctrl+V).

Step 5. From the Layers box (F7), select only the Background layer and deselect the visibility 'Eye' radio button from Layer 1. You should now be looking at a blank white screen for the background layer.

Step 6. Open the Colour Box (F6) and click on the Set Foreground Colour box (the black selection in this link). In the colour box, choose whichever colour will best suit your image. Once you're happy with it, hit the OK button.

Step 7. Using the Paint Bucket Tool (key 'G'), fill the empty layer with the colour.

Step 8. Reselect the visibility 'Eye' radio button from the Layer 1 and you should now see a nice border framing the image.

Step 9. Flatten the image (menu Layer | Flatten Image).

Step 10. Save your image and upload it to Flickr or wherever you save your images and you should now be able to view the image on a white background without bleed!


That's it - happy snapping ;)