Good Morning everyone! I missed you guys last week, but there was so much fun and new stuff going on with the announcement of Mye’s new store (yipee) that I decided to hold off for a week and let you all “partay” with Mye…after all, who wants to go to school when there is a summer bash going on??

Of course, now that we are all settled into our new digs at DHD  it is time to get back to business…and that means TUTORIAL TIME!! I actually LOVE these Monday sessions because it allows me to share with you all the fun things that I love about Photoshop… and today is NO exception! As I was working on some photos this week, I started cropping them and framing them for the web. I like to send photos to my mom and mother in law all framed and pretty and sometimes with a cute little quote or saying that helps to tell the story of the photo or, if I am uploading to the web for a photography client, I like to add my logo and copyright info to the photo.   As I was cropping the pictures I was working on, I was using a technique I often use in scrapbooking and one that I realized I had never shared with you…my favorite readers! So today, I am sharing with you the process of cropping….in reverse!

If you have ever been working on a page and wished you had a little more room to work or if you were working on a picture and wanted to add a quick border without altering the actual photo itself then you will LOVE this technique!  I actually use this technique A LOT…more than you would think really, and there IS a fabulous way to add some canvas size to your page or photo WITHOUT having to go to all the fuss of opening a new blank document, adding your element or photo and then cropping the new document to the new size.  You can add more canvas to your page by using the crop tool found in your tools palette and it is  a technique that you MUST know! It is a true time saver! So let’s get started!

To begin, open the image that you are wanting to add more canvas too and make sure that you “SAVE AS” a new document so as not to save over your original photo.  I am using this photo of my daughter, Courtney.

Once you have your photo open, select your crop tool from the tools palette (keyboard shortcut- C)

Before we change the canvas size, make whatever crop changes you need to make to the photo.  If you want it to be a 5×7 finished photo size, then you need to do that crop first. Once you have cropped the photo the way that you want it, locate the Crop Tool Options Bar at the top of the workstation and make sure that you CLEAR the crop sizes. This will allow to reverse crop the picture and add the canvas size that you want.

With the Crop Tool Selected, click and drag the cursor over the whole image. Once you release the mouse, you will see the Crop Marquee bars around the edges of your photo.

I want to add some space to the left hand side of the photo so I can add a little quote and “frame” it. To add the canvas, hover over the middle, left side square (Transform Controls)  until the two sided arrow appears. Once you see the arrow, click and drag to the desired amount of space you want to add. I am adding 3″ to my photo but you can click and drag the edges as big or as small as you desire.  Click on the arrow to accept the changes.

Once you accept the changes your new canvas will appear.

The new canvas has been filled with white, but I want to fill it with the color black, Select the Paint Can (G) and choose the color that you want to “paint” your new canvas by clicking on the Foreground Color Picker in your tools palette. Click OK.

With the Paint Can selected, click inside the new canvas area (white area) to change it’s color.

Once you have selected your canvas color, you are done! You can add a quote, a saying, a name and date or even your studio name and copyright!

The possibilities are ENDLESS!! you can add any color and any canvas size…you are only limited by your imagination, BUT (don’t you just LOVE it when I add a but) if you want to add one final classy touch for the web, you can round the corners on your photo as well!

Select the Create New Adjustment Layer icon (half black/half white circle in your layers palette, and select Solid Color. When the Pick a Solid Color dialogue box appears, choose white as the solid color. Select OK.

A new adjustment layer will appear OVER the photo in the layers palette. Click on the mask portion of the new fill layer and drag it into the trash.  Next, drag the solid color fill layer UNDER the photo in the layers palette.

Make sure that the picture layer is selected in the layers palette and then select the Rounded Rectangle Tool (U) from the Tools Palette.

On the Options bar at the top of the workstation, change the Radius  to around 70 px.

Draw the rectangle over the picture by clicking and dragging it across the photo.

Next, we need to create a vector mask.  Click on the  layer that you just  created (see photo above)  It will have the  fill layer icon, and a white mask beside it. Click on the Add Layer Mask Icon to add a vector mask.The new vector mask will have the outline of the rounded rectangle shape that you just added.

Now we need to move the Vector mask to the picture layer. Select the new vector mask by clicking on it and DRAG it down to the picture layer. Drag the original shape layer into the trash. You picture will now have rounded corners.

Finally, we need to add some canvas around all the sides to make it loo nice and finished!  Follow the steps above to create a larger canvas. Make sure you have the color fill layer selected before you drag the new canvas out.

Once you have finished, you can add your text, save for web and you are ready to share your image on the internet with friends and family!

Hope you enjoy using this technique as much as I do! It is a great way to fancy up your online pictures and I use it ALL the time in scrapbooking when I need to add some canvas space to something I am working on!

Have a great week!

Tamara