# Framing a picture...



## E-Liam (Jan 1, 2004)

Hi,

This tutorial is intended to show you how to create a frame for your picture before placing it on a web page.

*Application:* GIMP

*Level:* Lower Intermediate

First, open a new layer measuring (approx) 285 x 220 pixels @ 72dpi. Make the background transparent. Now click on *File | Open as Layer* and locate the picture you’d like to frame.










Select the picture, and then click *Open*. You may need to scale the picture to the intended size of your finished image. To do this, click on *Layer | Scale Layer* and increase/reduce the size of the picture until it is just slightly smaller than the area you have chosen for the background., and click the *Scale* button. ( This may be behind your work area now) You can of course play around with the scale tool to get the most pleasing view of the picture.

Next, create a new transparent layer. We’re going to fill this with the surface finish of the frame. For this tutorial we’re going to go for a brushed aluminium effect. Fill the background with a pale grey colour. Then go to *Filters | Noise | Scatter HSV* and choose the following values.











Next, apply gaussian blur. Go to *Filters | Blur | Gaussian Blur* and choose the following values. 











To do this you may need to break the link between horizontal and vertical by clicking the chain link.

Next click *Select | All*, then *Select | Shrink* and shrink by 20 pixels. Next we need to give the illusion of depth to the frame. Shrink again, this time by 1 pixel, and use the Fill tool to fill the area with black. Next, shrink by 2 pixels and using the Blend Tool set to linear, fill the inner area in diagonally, from top left to bottom right using a dark and light grey. Next shrink by 1 pixel again and fill in in black. Now right click in the middle of the frame and choose *Edit | Cut*. 










That’s it. You now have a framed picture to put on your site. You can of course use any colour style of frame that you like, but this shows you the uses of a couple of tools you may not have used before.

I don't know if someone would like to have a go with this for another app?

Cheers

Liam


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## devil lady (Sep 27, 2005)

Nice one E-Liam.
I did mine in PSP using similar settings for the frame colour etc. I selected the pic within the frame and used the cutout setting to add depth to it.


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## Grove (Jun 21, 2005)

Tried it in Photoshop CS. Works a Charm :grin:


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## v-six (Sep 12, 2004)

Also, an addition would be if you just want a simple border around your image so make it look crisp on the web, the easiest way is to increase the canvas size. If you want a 1 pixel border, increase the canvas size 2 pixels by 2 pixes (600 x 400 image goes to 602 x 402).It works better to keep it at even numbers, as some programs don't like half pixels so much.


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