Frames One

Making Patterned Frames in Paint Shop Pro

I LOVE Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 Ultimate! You can do so much with this program and still not have to pay the big bucks for Photo Shop. One thing I have used a lot is the option to frame your photos. In fact, I have used it so much that I need more than the "included" frames. Yes, there are plenty of frames offered online but I hate being bound by "Terms of Use".

As I was browsing the Internet the other day, I saw a very pricey program that made frames for you. Interesting! I checked it out and my first thought was, "I can do that myself in Paint Shop!" So, that is what I did! In fact it is very simple and I don't know why I hadn't thought of it before! I played, and played and played and the more I played, the more ideas I had for frames. Hence this series of tutorials on "frame-making"! This will be the first of several. I hope you can get some use out of these! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or leave a comment on my blog or on Twitter! In fact, email me a picture of your creation and I will publish it in our Gallery Page

Sample Frame

Here are two frames made by Joanne Bovee. Thank you, Joanne for letting us display them!

1. Open Paint Shop>Open the photo that you want to frame.

2. Find the size of your photo by clicking Image>Image Information.

3. Open a new empty canvas. (Do not close your photo.)

4. Size the new canvas by making it 100 pixels wider and higher than the photo you are framing.

5. Select your new canvas>Click on your color selector.

6. Double click on the top color swatch. This will open your Material Properties dialog box. Click on the Pattern tab>Click on the small arrow that is on the right of the pattern sample. This will give you a drop-down menu filled with pattern choices.

7. Choose a pattern that will go well with your photo and double click on it.

8. Click on your Flood Fill tool>Click inside your empty canvas. Your new design should appear. You can change the scale and angle of the design in your Materials Properties dialog box.

Continued...