Create A Wood Picture Frame In Photoshop

Photoshop Frames - Create A Wood Picture Frame In Photoshop

Learn Photoshop with Photoshop Effects at Photoshop Essentials.com

Written By Steve Patterson

In this Adobe Photoshop tutorial, we're going to learn how to easily create a simple wood picture frame using a layer mask, a couple of layer styles, and one of Photoshop's built-in patterns!

Here's the image I'll be using for this Photoshop tutorial:

Adobe Photoshop tutorial image.

Let's get started!

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Step 1: Duplicate The Background Layer

The first thing we need to do to create our picture frame is duplicate our Background layer. The Background layer is the layer which contains our original image, and if we look in our Layers palette, we can see that it's currently the only layer we have:

Adobe Photoshop tutorial image.
Photoshop Frames: The Layers palette in Photoshop showing the image on the Background layer.

Let's duplicate the layer using the handy keyboard shortcut, Ctrl+J (Win) / Command+J (Mac). If we look back in our Layers palette, we can see that we now have a copy of the Background layer, which Photoshop has named "Layer 1" for us, above the original:

Adobe Photoshop tutorial image.
Photoshop Frames: Press "Ctrl+J" (Win) / "Command+J" (Mac) to duplicate the Background layer.

Step 2: Add Extra Canvas Space Around The Image

We need to add some extra space around our photo. The extra space is going to become our picture frame. The amount of space you add depends on how large you want your frame to be. Go up to the Image menu at the top of the screen and choose Canvas Size. When the Canvas Size dialog box appears, enter how much space you want to add around the image. I want a fairly thick frame for my photo, so I'm going to enter a value of 1.5 inches for both the Width and Height options. Make sure you have the Relative option checked as well:

Adobe Photoshop tutorial image.
Photoshop Frames: Enter the amount of canvas space you want to add around the image. Here, I'm adding 1.5 inches of space for both the Width and Height.

Click OK in the top right corner of the dialog box to exit out of it and have Photoshop add the extra canvas space. You'll see the extra space appear around your photo in your document window:

Adobe Photoshop tutorial image.
Photoshop Frames: The extra space now appears around the photo in the document window.

Step 3: Add A New Blank Layer

Next, we need to add a new blank layer above our two existing layers. With "Layer 1" (the top layer) selected, click on the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette:

Adobe Photoshop tutorial image.
Photoshop Frames: Click on the "New Layer" icon at the bottom of the Layers palette to add a new blank layer to the document.

Nothing happens in the document window, but we can see in the Layers palette that Photoshop has added a new blank layer for us and gave it the descriptive name "Layer 2":

Adobe Photoshop tutorial image.
Photoshop Frames: A new blank layer appears in the Layers palette above the other two layers.

Step 4: Fill The New Layer With Photoshop's Wood Pattern

To make our frame look as if it's made out of wood, we could go through the hassle of creating our own wood texture, but we don't need to since Photoshop comes with a wood pattern already built in! With "Layer 2" selected, go up to the Edit menu at the top of the screen and choose Fill. You can also use the keyboard shortcut, Shift+F5. Either way brings up the Fill dialog box. For the Contents option at the top, choose Pattern from the drop-down menu to the right of the word "Use". Then click on the little pattern thumbnail to the right of the words Custom Pattern and select the Wood texture from the selection box that appears (it's the fourth one from the left, top row):

Adobe Photoshop tutorial image.
Photoshop Frames: In the "Fill" dialog box, set the "Contents" to "Pattern" and select Photoshop's built-in wood texture from the selection box.

Then, in the Blending section in the bottom half of the dialog box, set the Mode option to Normal and make sure the Opacity option is set to 100%:

Adobe Photoshop tutorial image.
Photoshop Frames: Set the"Blending Mode" to "Normal" and make sure "Opacity" is set to 100%.

Click OK to exit out of the dialog box. Photoshop will fill the entire layer with the wood texture, temporarily blocking the photo from view:

Adobe Photoshop tutorial image.
Photoshop Frames: The new layer is now filled entirely with the wood texture.

We now have the wood for our frame. We'll make it look more like an actual frame and bring back our photo next.

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