Photo Mount Corners - Part 2 - Adding The Photo Mounts
Learn Photoshop with Photoshop Effects Tutorials at Photoshop Essentials.com
Written By Steve Patterson
In part 1 of this Photoshop tutorial, we learned how to create and save a simple photo mount. In this part, we'll take the photo mount and add multiple copies of it to the corners of an image! This part of the tutorial assumes you've already completed the first part and have your photo mount ready to go, so be sure to work your way through part 1 first if you haven't already.
Here, once again, is the final result we're working towards, with the mounts displayed in the corners of the photo:
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Let's get started!
Step 1: Open Your Image
Open the image you want to add the photo mounts to. Here's the photo I'll be using (be sure to save a copy of the image before continuing in case you need access to the original in the future). If you still have the photo mount open from part 1 of the tutorial, the image will open in a separate document window:
Step 2: Duplicate The Background Layer
With the photo newly opened, if we look in the Layers panel, we see that we currently have one layer, the Background layer, which is the layer the photo is sitting on. We need to make a copy of the layer, so go up to the Layer menu at the top of the screen, choose New, and then choose Layer via Copy. Or, for a faster way to access the same command, press Ctrl+J (Win) / Command+J (Mac) on your keyboard:
Either way adds a copy of the layer, which Photoshop names "Layer 1", above the original Background layer:
Step 3: Add Extra Canvas Space
Let's add some extra white canvas space around the photo. Go up to the Image menu at the top of the screen and choose Canvas Size:
When the Canvas Size dialog box appears, enter 1 inch for both the Width and Height and make sure the Relative option is checked so we add to the existing canvas. Also, make sure the center square in the Anchor grid is selected so the extra space is added around the image equally. Finally, set the canvas color at the bottom of the dialog box to White:
Click OK when you're done, and the extra white canvas space appears around the edges of the image:
Step 4: Add A Border Around The Photo
Before we add our photo mounts to the corners, let's add a thin border around the edges of the photo. With Layer 1 selected, click on the Layer Styles icon at the bottom of the Layers panel:
Choose Stroke from the bottom of the list of layer styles:
This opens the Layer Style dialog box set to the Stroke options in the middle column. First, click on the color swatch to the right of the word Color and choose a light gray from the Color Picker. Click OK to exit out of the Color Picker when you're done. Change the Position of the stroke to Inside, then increase the size of the stroke by dragging the Size slider towards the right. The actual size you use for your stroke will depend on the size and resolution of your image so keep an eye on the document window as you drag the slider to judge the results. I'm going to set my stroke size to 24 px:
Click OK when you're done to close out of the dialog box. You should now have a thin light gray border around the image:
Step 5: Copy The Photo Mount
Open your photo mount document that you created in part 1 of the tutorial if it's not open already. Select the Photo mount layer in the Layers panel, then press Ctrl+A (Win) / Command+A (Mac) to select the entire layer. Press Ctrl+C (Win) / Command+C (Mac) to copy the layer to the clipboard:
Step 6: Paste The Photo Mount Into The Image
Switch back over to the document window that contains your image, then press Ctrl+V (Win) / Command+V (Mac) to paste the photo mount into the document. The photo mount will appear in the center of the image, which obviously isn't where we need it, and it will probably appear too large, but we'll fix both of these problems in a moment:
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