Select this and that...a border with a white edge!!!

[garjobo]

oh dear oh dear oh dear this isnt going at all well...as per the norm!!

Using Paintshop 'pro' ( apparently ) X4

ALL I want to do is..

place a photo on a page and then give it a border..a 'transparent' border - aka..perhaps a softened edge / or one which looks like its 'merged' into the background. Im doing a dvd cover so ideally not wanting a ''photo simply stuck on page' look. A more subtle effect.

Easy enough ( with previous versions..Photoimpact 11 per say ) ..click on border..select a fancy design and hey-ho it appears...the effect of a photo with a blended feel into the background.

NOW - all ive managed to do on this program is, SELECT IMAGE>PICTURE FRAME> ( a choice appears) once click on..say..EDGE FUN 03..the effect ( of some flowers ) does appear..but alone with it a massive great white border...shrinking the image etc...ALL I WANT TO DO IS TO TURN THAT MASSIVE WHITE BORDER INTO..SAY.. ANOTHER COLOUR. or perhaps just blend it into my orignal background.

I have set my orignal layer to ..transparent.. ( i think )...but have coloured this purple.

Thoughts more than welcome. Assuming a simple problem.

( If anyone could also shed light on how the heck do you get the right-hand catagories to appear in my main editing page would be appreciated. Having to go to EFFECTS>EFFECT EDGES..or whatever...to show a small thumbnail of an effect isnt great..much perferred Photoimpact when you ran your mouse along the effects and by and large the effect changed on your original large image so you can see what the effect was better. )

[photodrawken]

Yeah, those automatic frames are a bit weird.

1. Apply the frame to the inside of the image.
2. With that frame layer active, use the Magic Wand set to a Match Mode of "Opacity" and click on the white area.
3. Choose your desired foreground colour in the Materials palette, and use the Flood Fill tool to fill the selection with your colour:

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If you want to fade the frame, it can be done with a mask. (First deselect everything.)
1. In the Layers palette (with the frame layer active), choose Mask...Show All.
2. In the Materials palette, set the Foreground to a gradient, and choose a circular black to white gradient.
3. Edit that gradient by moving the Gradient sliders so that most of the area is black and there is a quick transition to white:

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4. Activate the mask layer and use the Flood Fill tool to apply that gradient to the mask.
5. Your layers will look like this:

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6. The final result:

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[LeviFiction]

Okay, I know this is a big post, but bare with me. I want to demonstrate two different things that I think can help you.

The important thing you need to understand is you're not looking for a frame. You're looking for a mask.

1) First I'm going to show you how to convert those "Fun Edge" picture frames into masks. This is necessary because of how Picture Frames work.

2) I'm going to show you how to create a simple blended edges mask that you can use time and time again.

So let's start with the first one. You can view the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGbajfYu0gw

This effect requires one of the Picture Frames that creates a solid white border around the image. So the Edge Fun 3 is a perfect example. It requires this type of Picture frame because it's a solid color, and it's white or black. These are the best solid colors to use when working with a mask in the first place. The other types of picture frames won't work as nicely.

1) Add the picture frame to the image.

2) With the Picture Frame layer selected Hit Ctrl + A to select the entire layer.

3) Hit Ctrl + F to float the selection. This will be based on the current layer selected, so make sure you still have the PIcture Frame layer selected.

This creates a special selection based on a mixture between the current selection and the opaque areas of the picture frame that are within that selection. It then copies the selected pixels onto a temporary layer for editing purposes. But we don't care about this, we're going to manipulate this fact in an unintended fashion.

This creates the best possible selection, I might add, of the picture frame.

4) Select the layer you want to mask.

5) Go to the menu bar and select Layers -> New Mask Layer -> Hide Selection

We're hiding the selection because we have the picture frame (or the edges of the image) selected. And we want to hide those.

6) On the menu bar select "Selections -> Select None"

7) Hide the Picture Frame layer or delete it.

Your image should now have a mask around it in the shape of the original picture frame.

-----------------

2) If you're just looking to blend the edges, Picture Frame is not your friend. Picture Frame does let you Frame the individual layers or the whole image, which offer great options.

However, the problem comes with how it defines transparent areas. Not every frame allows transparency. If a frame contains a transparent area outside of the frame you will be given the option to either fill this in with a color or leave it transparent. Now the transparent image does not crop your original layer, so if you don't fill in the color and the frame doesn't extend out beyond the image, then you'll wind up with your image with a picture frame layer on top of it. That does you no good for what you're trying to do here.

It's a great command for quick and fun effects, but for what you're looking for Picture Frame is not what you want to go with.

What you want is a layer mask. A layer mask has the ability to apply a graduated transparency to any layer that's underneath it.

What I'm going to do is show you a quick way to create a mask that you can use on any image. This exact same method can be used directly on an image if the template mask doesn't do a good enough job.

You can see me do this in a video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OE5h4_NC5ss

1) Create a new image. 800x800 is a decent size. It doesn't matter, just make it big enough that you can use it with larger and smaller images without too much distortion when it resizes. Also make sure it has a background color, you'll need this to see how big of a blend you're creating.

2) Hit Ctrl + A to select the entire image.

3) On the menu bar to go Selections -> Modify -> Inside/Outside Feather.

4) With "Inside" selected, create a feather that's of a decent size. Say 30 to 60 pixels or more if you're working with a larger image.

5) In the Layers menu, go to New Mask Layer -> Show Selection

This creates a mask based on your selection that feathers or blends into the background.

6) With the mask layer selected to go the Layers menu and select -> Load/Save Mask -> Save Mask to Disk

7) Give it a name. And hit save.

Once that's done you never have to do it again, unless you want to or the mask doesn't give you the look you want.

Now to use this mask just follow these steps.

1) Select the layer you want to blend into the background.

2) Go to the Layers menu and select -> Load/Save Mask -> Load Mask from Disk

3) Select the mask you created.

4) Select "Fit to Layer" and "Show All"

5) Hit OK, the mask should now appear above the layer and the layer should look like it's blending into the background.

As for the viewing effect examples.

In X5 they introduced the "Instant Effects" palette. This lets you see various presets created for the different effects. I don't know if this would meet your expectations or not. It uses predefined images, so it doesn't give an example of the effect applied to the current image.

In X4, Such an option does not exist. That can only be done in the effects browser. If a palette does not exist inside of PSP it cannot be created.
With some advanced scripting you could create something similar but it would never be the same.

Hope this helps and isn't too confusing. Definitely not my best work. xD

[photodrawken]

3) Hit Ctrl + F to float the selection. This will be based on the current layer selected, so make sure you still have the PIcture Frame layer selected.

This creates a special selection based on the opaque areas of the picture frame. This creates the best possible selection, I might add, of the picture frame.

Aha! So that's what a floating selection does! I never could understand it, and have been missing the equivalent of PSE's select layer opacity. Thanks!

[LeviFiction]

Yeah I need to fix that, it's not correct. xD I mean, it slightly is. But.....no it's not correct.

Floating selections are temporary layers created from the selected area of the currently selected layer. It copies the selected content onto a temporary layer. In cases where transparency exists within the current selection, PSP will use the layer's own alpha channel to mix with the current selection and will copy the selected area onto a temporary layer.

This temporary layer lets you edit the selected area separate from the rest of the image without hurting the original selected area. You can then move this layer anywhere you want and defloat it, essentially merging it with the layer beneath, or you can convert it to a fully fledged layer. Admittedly the uses are fewer than either just promoting the selection to a layer or editing directly on the layer but it's a nice middle level.

So in a way it's like "Select Layer Opacity" but not quite. You can use it that way by first selecting the entire layer and then floating it, but that's not what it is.

[photodrawken]

So in a way it's like "Select Layer Opacity" but not quite. You can use it that way by first selecting the entire layer and then floating it, but that's not what it is.

Thanks for explaining -- I think I understand. IOW, using it as a "Select Layer Opacity" is a subset of what floating selections can do. Other than "SLO", I can't immediately see a use for them, but your point about moving the floating selection to another location in the layers stack sounds interesting.

At any rate, I couldn't find anything in PSP that did "SLO", so I recorded a script for the Ctrl+A, Ctrl+F, Ctrl+Shift+F keystrokes, bound it and added it to the main toolbar and now I've got a quick "SLO". Good stuff!

[garjobo]

Wow! thanks Ken and others for taking the time - as usual - to reply, and for the videos - both of which i watched with interest. Very very helpful. I managed to do roughly what i was after - after following your helpful, straightforward advice. Although..perplexed..if thats the right word..that photoimpact 12 was able to literally click on a ..'edge frame..mask'..and withouth doing anything it fitted its purpose...to be transparent, and blend in with the background..merge..dissolve if you like...and yet..this package..what a lot of nothing to have to go through!!

Anyway, thanks again for the replies, all very useful.