Framing and Brushing

I used some easy PSE-provided techniques to make this layout work for me.

I have used three types of ‘framing’ techniques to make my photos stand out from the background. You can tell - it’s a simple stroke in two of the photos and a rectangular ‘mat’ for the other two photos.

To achieve an off center framing technique, like in the main photo, make sure your outline/stroke is on it’s own layer. In fact, it’s always good to place your stroking on it’s own layer because then you can move/delete/resize/recolor your stroke.

I’ve finished off the look of my photo presentation with layer styles. In looking back at old layouts, I’ve noticed I use a lot of ‘glow’ layer style to soften the edges of my photos - with or without a shadow. I used to use ‘feathering’, but I find ‘glow’ works better because it doesn’t require cropping my photo.


For the background, I’ve used a few brushes to provide subtle interest to an otherwise plain colored background.

Prior discussion of brush options - photoshopelementsandmore.com/thread/3487/scrapbook-backgrounds



When you use scatter, spacing, and hue jitter - options found under brush settings when you choose a brush - you can create an uneven, multi-brush look that makes most backgrounds really work. You can be bold by using bold colors for your brushes - or you can go subtle by using a color shade just a little off of the background color.  

Hue/jitter gets it's look from a combo of the foreground/background colors, so set these colors prior to brushing.

I know we’ve talked about these techniques before, but I just wanted to present a gentle reminder not to forget all that PSE has to offer to create unique effects for your layouts.