Make a Frame

page one
I have a pdf tutorial posted on how to make a wood frame with a beveled mat. In it, it gives instructions on how to use the Photoshop wood frame action to make a very plain frame. It also gives step by step directions on how to use your own frames (if you knew how to make them), and those found on free graphics sites.
      At that time, there was a site, PSP Tips and Goodies, offering a large number excellent frames. However, that site seems to be gone, and I haven't found anybody else offering comparable quality or selection. Therefore, I am going to show you how to make fancy frames of your own.
     This tutorial is fairly complicated, and involves many steps, so please pay close attention, and don't skip anything.
     Start by choosing File > New, and creating a white document large enough to hold the frame you want to make. Save it with a suitable name, such as frame1, or a more descriptive name if you plan on making many different frames.
     Choose the gradient tool in the toolbox. In its options bar, choose the linear gradient.

Still in the options bar, click on the gradient thumbnail (not the little arrow - the large thumbnail just to its left)

This will open the gradient editor dialog box. If it's not already selected, choose the foreground to background gradient. It's the first one, in the top left corner.
     For Gradient Type, leave Solid selected. Leave smoothness at 100 %. Next, look at the gradient bar at the bottom of the page.

Notice the things that look like little houses, under the bar. These are color stops.

When you click on a color stop and select it, it looks like the one below.

You'll notice that the “roof” of the little house becomes black when the stop is selected.
     We will be working only with the stops below the gradient bar. The stops above the bar control the gradient's transparency, but we won't be using them.
     To start, click on the left most color stop. With it selected, click once on the color square

to bring up the color picker. Note that you can also access the color picker by double clicking the color stop, itself.
     In the color picker, find the RGB values. Type in 9 for all three values. You can press Tab to jump to the next box after typing in the value. Be sure and press Tab after the third one, too.

Click OK to exit the color picker.
     Place your cursor right under the gradient bar, just to the right of the color stop you just recolored (the left most stop). Click once to add a new stop.
     With that new stop selected, once again, click the color square, or double click the color stop to open the color picker. This time, enter RGB values of 73, 73, and 73. Click OK to exit the color picker. Now, click in the Location box next to the color square. Enter a value of 4 %.

Please note that color stops can also be moved by dragging. In this case, I want you to reproduce a particular gradient, exactly, so it's much easier to use the Location box.
     Continue clicking under the gradient bar, adding new stops, recoloring them, and relocating them with the values shown below. These are from left to right, and include the two we have already created. Be careful not to skip any.
     In addition, between the eleventh, and twelfth, as well as between the twelfth and thirteenth, I want you to relocate the color midpoints. These are the little diamond shaped icons that show up to the left and right of any selected color stop.

When you select a color midpoint, it turns black. You can either drag it, or place it by typing a value in the Location box, as we're doing with the color stops.

Okay, here are the values for all the stops I want you to add, starting from the left end of the gradient bar, and including the two already entered. Note that the final color stop already exists, so you won't have to add it, or relocate it, but it's color needs to be changed.

1. RGB - 9, 9, 9. Location - 0 %
2. RGB - 73,73,73. Location - 4 %
3. RGB - 40, 40, 40. Location - 8 %
4. RGB - 111, 111, 111. Location - 18 %
5. RGB - 11, 11, 11. Location - 21 %
6. RGB - 6, 6, 6. Location - 30 %
7. RGB - 6, 6, 6. Location - 33 %
8. RGB - 63, 63, 63. Location - 35 %
9. RGB - 63, 63, 63. Location - 40 %
10. RGB - 81, 81, 81. Location - 42 %
11. RGB - 8, 8, 8. Location - 44 %
12. RGB - 0, 0, 0. Location - 66 %. Now, select the color midpoint on this stop's left, and set its location to be 92 %.
13. RGB - 78, 78, 78. Location - 70 %. Select the color midpoint on this stop's left, and set its location to be 80 %.
14. RGB - 30, 30, 30. Location - 84 %
15. RGB - 50, 50, 50. Location - 100 % (the end).

The completed gradient bar, with all stops in place is shown below.
      Click on New to add this gradient to your gradient presets. Click on OK to exit the dialog box. You can try and Save your custom gradient, permanently, before leaving the gradient editor, but it's much easier to use the Preset Manager to do this. As it is, your gradient will be lost if you have to delete your preferences file, or if you reset the gradient tool to its defaults.
     To save the gradient properly, choose Edit > Preset Manager. From the Preset Type drop-down menu, choose Gradients. In the palette, click on your new gradient's thumbnail. It should be the very last one in the palette. Shift click on any other gradients that you'd like to save with your custom set. Then click on Save Set, and name your set. Then click Save.
     Any time you want to load your set, click on the little arrow in the upper right corner of the gradient tool's options bar pop-up palette to access the palette menu and find the list of available sets. To add your set to the current gradients, rather than replace them choose Append in the alert box that appears after you select your set from the menu. If you do choose Replace, you can get the defaults back at any time by choosing Reset Gradients from that same menu.

With the Top layer selected, click once, directly on the upper left corner of the frame.

Drag diagonally down to cross precisely over the inner corner. Don't click right on the inner corner. It's too easy to bite off a smidgen of the frame. Be safe, and click a little bit in the clear, while making sure the selection line crosses exactly over the inner corner.

That line is the only one that needs to be precise in this selection. Click to create a wide selection, circling, clockwise to include all of the overlapping portion of the top frame which is to the left of the line we just selected.

When you are over the point where you started, and see the little circle next to the cursor, as shown above, click to close the selection. Then press the Delete key to remove the excess part of the Top frame.
     With the Top layer still selected, go to the Layers palette menu and choose Merge Down.

Here's what we have so far. Please note, that this frame, and most fancy frames have an inner and outer side. You can see that the gradient steps are different on the outside edge from those on the inside edge. Therefore, you need to pay a little bit of attention when copying, and rotating the sides in the process of making your frame. You would notice right away, in any event, because your corners wouldn't line up.
I'll show you how to make the other two sides, next.
Continue on page two

Copyright © 2000 by Jay Arraich.
All rights reserved.
All photographs copyright ©2000 by Jay Arraich
jay@arraich.com