Advice Wanted Photoshop Borders

dermaus

Regular
Location
Pacific Northwest, USA
Name
Jeff
No luck on the social interwebs, so thought I'd solicit the brain trust here. I often create a border around my images before I post to social media sites like Facebook. Lately, I've wanted to play around with different border styles and was looking to create a polaroid-style border around an image, similar to the middle image below. This image is a screenshot directly from a Photoshop tutorial on how to add a border.

However, when choosing the parameters, including the exact parameters in the Photoshop tutorial image (canvas size of 200x800 pixels, top anchor), my border comes out identically except that I lose the top border. The sides and bottom are there, but no border along the top. Anyone know where my brain might be failing me in this endeavor?


border.jpg
 
Yes, one chooses canvas size as a part of the process. In fact, that particular step in the image is the canvas size. It actually kind of makes some sense to me that there wouldn't be a top border if I move the anchor to the top position, but since the example image still has a border, I wasn't sure.

ummm, I used to have a brilliant PS Action for exactly this, but it's on my old Win7 machine.
Can you maybe try using Canvas and resize according to your wishes from there?

I'm using Capture One these days so I'm rusty regarding the Adobe products
 
Choose the Move tool, click & hold on your image and try and move it down. A dialog box will appear asking you to turn it into a normal layer. Click yes, then click & hold on your image and move it off the top edge of the canvas. Flatten your image afterwards before exporting it.

I've come up with a better idea... see below.
 
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Ah-ha. Here's a much better idea.

Put a canvas around your photo by checking the relative box, 200 pixels for both width and height, and centered. Flatten the image.

Put a second canvas around your new image by checking the relative box, choosing 0 pixels for width and (say) 600 for height, and choose the top edge option for placement.

This will give you a 200 pixel border at the sides and top, and an 800 border at the bottom.

COLN0533-Edit.jpg
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
 
Ah-ha. Here's a much better idea.

Put a canvas around your photo by checking the relative box, 200 pixels for both width and height, and centered. Flatten the image.

Put a second canvas around your new image by checking the relative box, choosing 0 pixels for width and (say) 600 for height, and choose the top edge option for placement.

This will give you a 200 pixel border at the sides and top, and an 800 border at the bottom.

View attachment 387137
That seems a tremendous amount of work, ImageTricks does all that with one click..
 
However, when choosing the parameters, including the exact parameters in the Photoshop tutorial image (canvas size of 200x800 pixels, top anchor), my border comes out identically except that I lose the top border. The sides and bottom are there, but no border along the top. Anyone know where my brain might be failing me in this endeavor?

A (relatively) quick-and-easy work-around:-

1. Using a bottom anchor, add a 200px border at the top​
2. Add the borders as you describe in your post above.​
DONE!

You could then turn this into an action, if you wish to use it multiple times.

Of course, none of this should really be necessary in a top-end program such as PS. It should be possible to do the job properly i.e. in one hit. 😠
 
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A (relatively) quick-and-easy work-around:-

1. Using a bottom anchor, add a 200px border at the top​
2. Add the borders as you describe in your post above.​
DONE!

You could then turn this into an action, if you wish to use it multiple times.

Of course, none of this should really be necessary in a top-end program such as PS. It should be possible to do the job properly i.e. in one hit. 😠
Of course, that's what the macro system is for ...
Just press RECORD and record your macro ...
Photoshop is a complex program, with a built-in programming facility that's a lot easier to use than the ones in Word or Excel or Access.
 
I wrote a Photoshop Action (macro) that does this among other housekeeping things. I will try to remember to drag it out and post it here.

Have to boot up my PC and have a look.

Saves me a huge amount of time when I have a hundred or more images to upload.
That is such a good idea that I've just copied it and made my own border macro action in LR. I shall now make some others for different border widths.

Thanks John.
 
That is such a good idea that I've just copied it and made my own border macro action in LR. I shall now make some others for different border widths.

Thanks John.
I have different ones for each camera and each orientation. Each year, I copy last year's macros to ones with the new year's number.

By doing this, any alterations I make get propagated through the years, and old versions are automatically archived.
 
Ah-ha. Here's a much better idea.

Put a canvas around your photo by checking the relative box, 200 pixels for both width and height, and centered. Flatten the image.

Put a second canvas around your new image by checking the relative box, choosing 0 pixels for width and (say) 600 for height, and choose the top edge option for placement.

This will give you a 200 pixel border at the sides and top, and an 800 border at the bottom.

View attachment 387137

I disagree that this is a long process. I think this is a relatively small amount of work for the OP's requirement of a 'simple' Polaroid or Kodamatic type border.

There are more complex plug-ins for more complicated 3D type borders. I use Greg Benz's Web-Sharp Pro to sharpen and add a border at the same time. Greg's licences are very reasonable and he has a history of providing perpetual free updates. @John King 's border actions are excellent too.
 
Interesting thread this. I use one of the easiest ways which is Image Borders within the ColorFX/Nik app, you just choose between about 20 or so border styles, press the button and then done. I need to get better at this though and agree, implementing borders within PS is by comparison quite cumbersome.
 
Interesting thread this. I use one of the easiest ways which is Image Borders within the ColorFX/Nik app, you just choose between about 20 or so border styles, press the button and then done. I need to get better at this though and agree, implementing borders within PS is by comparison quite cumbersome.
Indeed... except I'm sure from my use of Nik ColorFX that the border is "destructive". i.e. it steals the edge pixels of your image and turns them into the border. The PhotoShop method is non-destructive... it adds the border around all your pixels.
 
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