Step 12: Apply The Gaussian Blur Filter

At the moment, all we've really created is a rather uninteresting photo frame. Let's apply Photoshop's Gaussian Blur filter to the "Edges" layer to soften the transition between the solid black area and the photo. With the "Edges" layer selected in the Layers palette, go up to the Filter menu just as we did before, choose Blur, and then choose Gaussian Blur to once again bring up the Gaussian Blur dialog box. Drag the Radius slider at the bottom towards the right and as you drag, you'll see the sharp edge separating the black area from the photo begin to blur and soften. I'm going to increase my Radius value to somewhere around 25 pixels. For a high resolution image, you'll want to use an even higher setting, maybe around 40 pixels or so:

Click OK when you're done to exit out of the dialog box and apply the blurring effect. Here's my image now with a smooth transition between the outer black area and the photo:

Step 13: Lower The Opacity Of The "Edges" Layer

The only problem remaining with our darkened edge effect is that the solid black area is completely blocking the areas of the photo underneath it from view. We want to darken the edges of the photo, not cover them up. As a final step then with our edge effect, all we need to do is lower the opacity of the "Edges" layer. With the "Edges" layer still selected, go up to the Opacity option at the top of the Layers palette and lower the opacity value all the way down to around 35%:

This gives us a much more subtle edge darkening effect:

Step 14: Add A New Blank Layer And Name It "Noise"

At this point, we're done with our edge effect, so let's move on by adding a little noise to the image, giving it a slightly grainy look. Again, we'll need a new layer for this, so once again hold down your Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) key and click on the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette:

Just as before, by holding down "Alt/Option", we tell Photoshop to pop up the New Layer dialog box which allows us to name the new layer before it's added. Name this layer "Noise":

Click OK when you're done to exit out of the dialog box, at which point Photoshop creates a new blank layer for us at the top of the Layers palette and names it "Noise":

Step 15: Fill The New Layer With Black

Again, we're going to fill this new layer with black, so let's again bring up Photoshop's Fill command by going up to the Edit menu and choosing Fill or by using the keyboard shortcut Shift+F5. When the Fill dialog box comes up, you should see that all of the options are automatically set to the way we set them last time, with the Contents section at the top set to Black, the Mode option set to Normal and the Opacity option set to 100%:

Click OK to accept the options and exit out of the dialog box. Photoshop again fills the new layer with black:

Step 16: Add Noise

With the "Noise" layer selected, go up to the Filter menu at the top of the screen, choose Noise, and then choose Add Noise:

This brings up Photoshop's "Add Noise" dialog box. We want to add a lot of noise, so drag the Amount slider to somewhere around 130% or so. There's no exact value to set it to. Just make sure you're adding lots of noise. Also, make sure you select the Gaussian and Monochromatic options at the bottom of the dialog box:

Click OK to exit out of the dialog box. Your image in the document window will now appear completely filled with black and white noise:

We'll blend all that noise into our image next!