Photoshop Friday! {Issue No. 3}

Welcome to Photoshop Friday!

Today’s inspiration will be fun, I think. :) I had a great time making it, anyway.

After you complete today’s tutorial, you’ll be able to give any photo a cool grungy border that bleeds into the background, like this one:

Or with a small change, you can give it a strong black (or any color) border, like this one:
(I did some fun layer styling to the photo to make it look handtinted-keep reading).

This is actually somewhat of a carryover from last week’s Photoshop Friday, because this technique simulates a layer mask just like last week’s did. I say simulates, because Photoshop Elements doesn’t have true layer masks. Luckily this technique works in ALL versions of Photoshop.

Okay, ready?

You’ll need to download this file by right-clicking it and choosing Save As:


The grunge mask is sized for a 4x6 photo, but it’s easy to re-size before applying it.

Here are your steps:

1. Open your mask and the photo you’d like to grunge-i-fy in Photoshop.
2. Duplicate the photo onto a separate layer (right-click on the photo background layer and choose Duplicate Layer). It’s always better to work in a copy of the photo.
3. Turn off the original photo layer.
4. Drag the mask onto the photo.
5. Resize the mask to fit the photo (Edit>Transform>Resize).
6. In the Layers palette, drag the mask layer BELOW the photo layer.
7. Select the photo layer in the layers palette.
8. Hit Ctrl-G (Ctrl-Alt-G in PSCS2) to create the mask.
You should see the edges of your photo masked out by the layer below them.

If you like your photo to bleed into the edges of the background, simply link the layers together and drag them onto your layout.
If you’d like to add a black (or any other color) border:

1. Create a new layer and position it at the bottom of the stack in the Layers Palette.
2. Use the paintbucket tool to fill the blank layer with the color of your choice.

Here’s an inspiration layout to get you going:

For this layout I used Tia Bennett’s rockin 70 kit which is so fun and retro, and has this utterly delicious montage that I’ve used for my background all ready to drop in and go. Also appearing is one of Katie Pertiet’s sun print brushes. These are just great for accents, since they’re botanical silhouettes. And of course I am totally in love with Rhonna Farrer’s new Old Stamps brush set. It has all the months, as well as numbers for each month, all old and grungy and random and awesome.

I can’t wait to see what you make with your grungy photo mask. Here are some ideas:

-Change the mask by deleting other sections (such as a word) from the black, or by painting on the mask in black with a digital brush.

-Create a large black background and place three grung-i-fied photos side by side. Add a bit of white text in the black area, and you have an awesome frameable storyboard.

-Create your own grungy mask by cutting away bits from a black rectangle. You can use text, grunge brushes, anything you like.

Where do I get grunge brushes, you might ask?

Well, here are some places:
Misprinted Type
MissM
Scrap Artist Distressing Kit (which comes with a tutorial)
Pea Blossom Kit by Rhonna Farrer (which comes with a digital inking and sanding tutorial)

Please let me know if there’s something you’d like to see. Have a great week, and don’t forget to link up in the comments when you make something! :)

p.s. Want to know how I made the photos look kind of cool and old and dreamy and handtinted? Stay-tuned! There’s going to be a mid-week Photoshop tip. ;)

Comments

[justjohanna]

very cool! i've always wanted to be able to make those distressed photo borders - thanks! had so much fun with this one & am so thrilled you are doing this.

you can see my l.o. here: http://justjohanna.blogspot.com/2006/04/photoshop-friday-lesson-3.html

[Rikki]

Photoshop Friday is a great idea. Here is mine:
www.rikkid.blogspot.com

[wendy]

woohoo! i used a jessica original! LOL

http://www.designerdigitals.com/ddgallery/showphoto.php?photo=4899&limit=recent

[wendy]

ok, forget the link thing...latest page at DD that is an ad challenge! :P

[Verena]

Many thanks for your help with Photoshop.

I try to translate it in german und perhaps I`ll get the result!!!

[Rischa]

I did it! Thanks so much for your PS tips! I have added you to my blog's links list. :-) I'll be checking back often to get more tips from you.

Rischa

[Meg]

Can never remember how to do this...your method is so concise; it makes it super simple! Love that you even encouraged us to make our own mask...so I did!

[Melibelle]

OMG! I'm so lovin' you right now! Kirsten pointed me towards your blog!! So thanksful she did! I've been wanting so badly to learn more about photoshop!!! YOUR ROCK MY SOCKS OFF! thanks so much for taking time to help others learn!!!

~mel

[Kelly Noel]

Thanks again for the awesome lesson! Here are 2 layouts using your grungy mask!
http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/pg.asp?cmd=display&layout_id=855754

http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/pg.asp?cmd=display&layout_id=861336

[Heather M.]

Okay, I finally took the time to try one of your PS tutorials and I just have to say a HUGE thank-you! I have been a big fan of yours for a long time - you are incredibly talented! But I've always been to scared (and a bit lazy) to delve more into PS. I always found it so overwhelming. But your instructions made it SO easy!! I added a border and I can't believe I did it and it looks so cool! Thank you so much for taking the time to do these PS Fridays! I can already tell they are gonna be so good for me!
Check out my blog to see what I did: www.heathermoll.blogspot.com

[Nancy]

Thanks for the tutorial! It was a lot of fun to work with. Do you have one on how you made that brush/image? I'd love to learn how to create my own borders. Thanks much.

[Joy Fender]

Thanks so much Jessica! This came in handy to make the perfect framing on a layout for a favorite pic of mine. You can see it on 2Peas (http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/pg.asp?gallery=4&cmd=display&layout_id=873662) or on my blog!

[leslie]

I know this is an old tutorial, but I'm teaching myself PSE, so I'm finding your website immensely helpful. This was great fun . . . can't wait to do more!!!

[Carol]

Thanks for this tutorial!! I am such a beginner, but was able to follow your instructions. My layout is here:

http://www.elementalscraps.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=18670

[Dallas]

WOW! Thanks so much, I've looked everywhere for a tut like this! you ROCK!!

[ChristinaG]

I am really trying to make this work...It would be so awesome if I could figure this out. I have CS2...I am stuck on step 4, dragging the mask onto the photo. Can you tell me what I might be doing wrong? Thank you so much!

[yolanda]

Thank you. I love the frame!!

[Gladie]

Thanks a lot for sharing! :)

[tanya]

Thanks for the border! If only I could get it to work!! I have CS2 and am stuck on #4 with the mask. Any tips??
-tanya

[Katie]

Hi Jessica, I tried this technique out in PS CS, but for some reason, when it came to the ctrl+G part (or ctrl+alt+G), it didn't create the layer around the photo. It might have something to do with me not knowing how to "turn off" the original, bottom layer. I'd love to experiment with this, so any help you can provide would be most appreciated! Please email me, thanks!
~Katie