Photoshop Photo Mount Corners Effect Tutorial

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:

Photoshop photo mounts effect. Image © 2010 Photoshop Essentials.com.
The final photo mounts effect.

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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:

A photo of a newly wed couple. Image licensed from iStockphoto by Photoshop Essentials.com.
Open the photo you'll be adding the mounts to.

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:

Go to Layer > New > Layer via Copy. Image licensed from iStockphoto by Photoshop Essentials.com.
Go to Layer > New > Layer via Copy.

Either way adds a copy of the layer, which Photoshop names "Layer 1", above the original Background layer:

A copy of the Background layer appears in the Layers panel. Image © 2010 Photoshop Essentials.com.
A copy of the image appears above the original in the Layers panel.

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:

Go to Image > Canvas Size. Image © 2010 Photoshop Essentials.com.
Go to Image > 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:

The Canvas Size dialog box in Photoshop. Image © 2010 Photoshop Essentials.com.
The Canvas Size dialog box.

Click OK when you're done, and the extra white canvas space appears around the edges of the image:

The image after adding extra canvas space in Photoshop. Image © 2010 Photoshop Essentials.com.
The extra canvas space appears in white around the photo.

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:

Click the Layer Styles icon in the Layers panel. Image © 2010 Photoshop Essentials.com.
Click on the Layer Styles icon.

Choose Stroke from the bottom of the list of layer styles:

Select the Stroke layer style. Image © 2010 Photoshop Essentials.com.
Click Stroke to select it.

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:

Set the options for the Stroke. Image © 2010 Photoshop Essentials.com.
The Stroke options in the Layer Style dialog box.

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:

The image after adding a border with a Stroke layer style. Image © 2010 Photoshop Essentials.com.
The Stroke layer style works great for adding borders to photos.

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:

Copying the Photo mount layer. Image © 2010 Photoshop Essentials.com.
Open the photo mount document, then copy the photo mount 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:

The photo mount has been pasted into the image. Image © 2010 Photoshop Essentials.com.
Paste the photo mount into the image document.

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