How do I create an 8 x 12 border?

[PhotoAddictBarbs]

Hi folks,

I absolutely adore taking photos, but some of my pics are rather odd shapes, either square or long and a wee bit skinny. I want to print them, but they are always cropped and I have no idea how to put a certain print out sized border so I can trim it post-print. I have Photoshop Elements, or good old Microsoft Office (which did me proud before I knew a bit more of what I could do with the power of the Elements!). Would anyone be as kind as to give me details of how to do it? For I fear I am rather clueless...

Hope you have all had a wonderful festive season, and wishing you all the best for 2012.
Barbs

[OsmosisStudios]

Tell your printer/print shop to do a fit-in print instead of a fill-in print: no cropping, but you'll effectively get what you want. Just print 8x12 fit-in prints and you'll skip the annoying "make a border" step and avoid confusing the printing staff.

[PhotoAddictBarbs]

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

Tell your printer/print shop to do a fit-in print instead of a fill-in print: no cropping, but you'll effectively get what you want. Just print 8x12 fit-in prints and you'll skip the annoying "make a border" step and avoid confusing the printing staff.

Thanks Osmosis. I live on a wee island in the north of scotland, and we dont have great printing facilities. i usually use online printing here in the UK. I'll have to hunt down one that does fit-in prints.
Thank you again!

Barbara

[Doug Sundseth]

If you plan to trim all the way to the edge of the image, do what OsmosisStudios said.

If you want to leave a white border after trimming (or if you want to add a title or something on the border), do this:

Start a new blank image: Ctrl-N (for PC, for Mac, use Cmd instead of Ctrl in almost every case). Make it the size and resolution you want for your final image and fill with the border color.

Open the original image.

With the original image active, select the entire image (Ctrl-A) and copy (Ctrl-C).

Make the blank image active and paste (Ctrl-V).

Select Transform (Ctrl-T) for the pasted image layer.

Hold down Shift (to maintain the aspect ratio) and drag the corners to size the pasted image to the desired size and move the image where you want it. If the image is large, you might need to use Ctrl-0 (zero, not "O") to see the corners. When you're satisfied, hit Enter.

Save in your preferred image format.

[PhotoAddictBarbs]

Originally Posted by PhotoAddictBarbs

Thanks Osmosis. I live on a wee island in the north of scotland, and we dont have great printing facilities. i usually use online printing here in the UK. I'll have to hunt down one that does fit-in prints.
Thank you again!

Barbara

I actually found an online company that does it! yay! Thanks for your patience, folks!

[PhotoAddictBarbs]

Originally Posted by Doug Sundseth

If you plan to trim all the way to the edge of the image, do what OsmosisStudios said.

If you want to leave a white border after trimming (or if you want to add a title or something on the border), do this:

Start a new blank image: Ctrl-N (for PC, for Mac, use Cmd instead of Ctrl in almost every case). Make it the size and resolution you want for your final image and fill with the border color.

Open the original image.

With the original image active, select the entire image (Ctrl-A) and copy (Ctrl-C).

Make the blank image active and paste (Ctrl-V).

Select Transform (Ctrl-T) for the pasted image layer.

Hold down Shift (to maintain the aspect ratio) and drag the corners to size the pasted image to the desired size and move the image where you want it. If the image is large, you might need to use Ctrl-0 (zero, not "O") to see the corners. When you're satisfied, hit Enter.

Save in your preferred image format.

Thanks, Doug. I really appreciate the step by step. I'll keep that for the future when I want a white border. Perfect!