Border in Fireworks/Photoshop?

They have: 27 posts

Joined: Jan 2002

Hi

I'm sure that there is a very obvious and simple answer to this but I have spent a looooong time trying to figure it out so any help would be greatly appreciated!

I want to put a simple black border around an image in either fireworks or photoshop - how can I do this?

Many Thanks!

The Webmistress's picture

She has: 5,586 posts

Joined: Feb 2001

In Fireworks draw a square the same size as the image then change fill to nothing and stroke to however large you want the border.

mairving's picture

They have: 2,256 posts

Joined: Feb 2001

I am sure that there are several ways to do this. In Photoshop, I usually create an image with the background color of the border I want that is a couple of pixels larger in width and height. Then drag the picture over to this box and line things up.

Mark Irving
I have a mind like a steel trap; it is rusty and illegal in 47 states

They have: 27 posts

Joined: Jan 2002

Thanks guys -will give it a try!

Suzanne's picture

She has: 5,507 posts

Joined: Feb 2000

Interesting, I use a macro in PhotoPaint to do this. The steps are:

1. selecte all
2. shrink the mask by as many pixels as you want the outline to be, don't anti-alias the mask
3. invert the mask (makes an outline)
4. fill

I have it in a macro so I just click on it and boom, the image has a nice black outline.

The only thing to be careful of is if you're using layers, don't have it on a layer that is transparent or partially transparent, as then the fill will be partially transparent as well. For PhotoPaint, anyway.

Smiling S

Roo's picture

She has: 840 posts

Joined: Apr 1999

Couple of other ways in Photoshop:

New Layer
Select All
Select>>Modify Border>>Type in how many pixels the border will be
Edit>>Fill (or use paint bucket to fill)
Flatten

Or
Image>>Canvas Size>>Choose Pixels and type in how much bigger you want the canvas to be

Then use the magic wand tool to selcect the white area outside the image border, and fill with your color, or simply leave white. This one is quite usefull for giving photos that bordered look, if you add about 15 pixels to both the width and height.

Personally I use a Xenofex plugin called 'Rounded Rectangle', becuase it makes thinner borders than I can do with Photoshop. (with the right fussing with it you can make the borders not rounded.)

Roo

taff's picture

They have: 956 posts

Joined: Jun 2001

hmmm, in Photoshop I use..

Select>>All
Edit>>Stroke

Suzanne's picture

She has: 5,507 posts

Joined: Feb 2000

I can do something similar in PhotoPaint but it never seems to come out cleanly for 1px borders. It seems to be hit and miss. That's why I made the macro.

Do you have a trick for your settings that might be making the difference, Taff?

Roo's picture

She has: 840 posts

Joined: Apr 1999

Quote: hmmm, in Photoshop I use.. Select>>All Edit>>Stroke

Well sonofagun! I live Photoshop! I breathe Photoshop. And I have never tried that!

Works like a charm!

Roo

taff's picture

They have: 956 posts

Joined: Jun 2001

Quote: Originally posted by Suzanne
I can do something similar in PhotoPaint but it never seems to come out cleanly for 1px borders. It seems to be hit and miss. That's why I made the macro.

Do you have a trick for your settings that might be making the difference, Taff?

Not that I know of unless the "trick" is in my slightly dated 5.0 version number.

.....

Suzanne's picture

She has: 5,507 posts

Joined: Feb 2000

*lol* that's the trick, eh? heh.

Ah, well, maybe upgrading to 10 will resolve my blurry edges.

Roo's picture

She has: 840 posts

Joined: Apr 1999

Suzanne, do you have the option of various bledning modes and opacity?

With Photoshop you have the choice of blending modes, plus you when I did it I made sure the opacity of the fill was at 100%.

Also I had the choice of it being inside - center - or outside. I chose outside.

I'm thinking that if PhotoPaint has similar options that may be the problem? Maybe it's filling inside instead of outside?

Roo

Suzanne's picture

She has: 5,507 posts

Joined: Feb 2000

I can stroke middle, inside, outside, alias or anti-alias, feather, change opacity and merge modes et cetera. However, even with inside, alias, no feather, full opacity and normal merge, there is a tendency towards inaccuracy (i.e. 1px is not always 1px).

It's probably a software glitch. Smiling

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