Photo Borders

Photo Borders in Fireworks
Tutorial by Patricia Janann Nicholson

Basic Thin Border

Often a thin border on a photograph can be a big improvement. Notice the upper right hand corners of both images, the one one the left seems to run onto the background while the thin border on the right hand image contains and focuses the image.

Resize the canvas

Open the image you wish to place a border around. The image below is what I used:

After opening the image Select Modify >> Canvas Size.

Changing the Canvas Color

Select Modify >> Canvas Color

Snapshot Border with Caption

Continued from the Snapshot Border.

We will add a rectangle with black fill and black stroke, resize it to be 20 or so pixels larger than the image, move it behind the image, align it, and add a drop shadow.

Select the Rectangle, use the info panel to add some pixels to the height, 20 should do. The Rectangle should extend down. If it goes off the canvas, resize the canvas by selecting Modify > Fit Canvas.

Add another layer and name it text. With the text layer selected pick up the text tool, click on the canvas and type a caption. In order to see the font, you will need to choose a different color than black.

Drag the text box to the desired location and it's all done. See my finished product below:

Create a Matte and Frame for an Image

Open the image. I used the puppy image below:

Add two more layers. Name them "puppy, frame, and matte". Draw a rectangle into the matte layer. The rectangle needs white fill and black stroke.
Resize the rectangle so that it is 40 pixels larger in all dimensions. Then drag the matte layer below the bike layer. Align the two objects vertically and horizontally.
Select the rectangle in the matte layer, copy it (ctrl C), Then select the frame layer and paste it (Ctrl V). This gets you the second rectangle the right size and in the right location.
Select the Frame rectangle and remove the fill.
Change the width of the stroke to 6 pixels.
Add an Inner Bevel and Drop Shadow to the frame rectangle.
To create the matte look select the puppy image and add an Inner Shadow. You may also want to add an Inner Shadow to the matte Rectangle.
To finish up make sure everything is aligned, change the canvas color to the same of the web page background color, and trim the canvas.
This is the finished product: