Outlining The Action In Photoshop

Let's get started!

Step 1: Duplicate The Background Layer

With our photo newly opened in Photoshop, the first thing we need to do is duplicate the Background layer. This is to avoid doing any damage to our original image. If we look in the Layers palette, we can see that our photo is sitting all by itself on the Background layer:

Photoshop Photo Effects: The Layers palette showing the original photo on the Background layer.

Let's duplicate this layer by going up to the Layer menu at the top of the screen, choosing New, and then choosing Layer via Copy. Or, for a faster way, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+J (Win) / Command+J (Mac):

Photoshop Photo Effects: Go to Layer > New > Layer via Copy, or press "Ctrl+J" (Win) / "Command+J (Mac)".

Either way tells Photoshop to create a copy of the Background layer for us, and if we look again in our Layers palette, we can see that we now have a copied version of the layer, which Photoshop has named "Layer 1", sitting above the original:

Photoshop Photo Effects: A copy of the Background layer appears above the original.

Step 2: Select The Main Subject Of Your Photo

Use the selection tool of your choice (Lasso Tool, Pen Tool, etc.) to draw a selection around the main subject of your photo. For clean, professional looking selections, the Pen Tool is your best bet (if you're not sure how to use the Pen Tool, you'll find everything you need to know to get up and running with it in our Making Selections With The Pen Tool tutorial), but the Lasso Tool will also work. In my case, I want to select the soccer player (or football player, depending on where you live), as well as the ball that he's about to kick, so I'll select both of them. When you're done, you should have a selection outline visible around your main subject(s):

Photoshop Photo Effects: A selection outline appears around the main subject(s) in the photo.

For additional help with making selections in Photoshop, check out our Full Power Of Basic Selections tutorial, which you'll find in the Photo Editing section of the website.

Step 3: Copy The Selection To A New Layer

We need to copy the selected area to its own layer so we can work on it separately from the rest of the image. We can do that using the exact same method we used to duplicate the Background layer a moment ago except that this time, only the area inside our selection will be duplicated, not the entire image. Go back up to the Layer menu at the top of the screen, choose New and then choose Layer via Copy, or press the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+J (Win) / Command+J (Mac). Nothing will seem to have happened to the image in the document window, but if we look in the Layers palette, we can see that we now have a new layer named "Layer 2" sitting above "Layer 1", and if we look in the preview thumbnail for "Layer 2", we can see that the layer contains a copy of the main subject, while the rest of the layer is blank, indicated by the gray checkerboard pattern:

Photoshop Photo Effects: The main subject now appears on its own layer in the Layers palette.

Step 4: Apply A Stroke Layer Style

To place an outline around our main subject(s), we can use Photoshop's layer styles. Click on the Layer Styles icon at the bottom of the Layers palette, which will pop up a list of all the available layer styles that we have to choose from. Select the Stroke layer style from the bottom of the list:

Photoshop Photo Effects: Click on the Layer Styles icon and choose Stroke from the bottom of the list.

This brings up the Layer Style dialog box set to the Stroke options in the middle column. By default, the stroke color is set to red. Let's change it to white. Click on the color swatch to the right of the word "Color":

Photoshop Photo Effects: Click on the color swatch to change the stroke color.

This brings up Photoshop's Color Picker. Select white from the Color Picker. An easy way to select white is to simply enter a value of 255 into the R, G and B options near the bottom center of the dialog box. Click OK when you're done to exit out of the Color Picker:

Photoshop Photo Effects: Choose white from the Color Picker.

With the color of the stroke now set to white, let's adjust the width of the stroke. We can do that using the Size slider at the top of the Stroke options. The actual size you choose will depend on the size of the image you're working with and how large you want your stroke to appear, so keep an eye on your photo in the document window as you drag the Size slider to increase or decrease the stroke width. Dragging the slider to the right increases the stroke's width, while dragging to the left decreases it. For my image, I'm going to go with a stroke size of 4 px (pixels):

Photoshop Photo Effects: Adjust the size of the stroke with the Size slider.

Don't click out of the dialog box just yet. We still have one more layer style to add. You should now have a white stroke around the main subject(s) in your photo:

Step 5: Add An Outer Glow Layer Style

Let's add a bit more interest to our outline effect by applying an Outer Glow layer style as well. With the Layer Style dialog box still open, click directly on the words Outer Glow on the left of the dialog box. Make sure you click directly on the words themselves, not just inside the checkbox to the left of the words. We want to be able to change some options for the layer style, and the only way to gain access to the options is by clicking directly on the layer style's name:

Photoshop Photo Effects: Click directly on the words "Outer Glow" on the left of the Layer Style dialog box.

This changes the middle column of the Layer Style dialog box to the options for the Outer Glow. By default, the color of the glow is set to yellow, which I think works fine with this effect so I'm going to leave it alone. Increase the Opacity of the outer glow to 100%. Then, down in the Elements section of the options, increase the Spread to around 6% and the Size to around 30 px:

Photoshop Photo Effects: The Outer Glow options in the Layer Style dialog box.

You may need to experiment a bit on your own with these settings depending on the size of your image, but when you're done, your outline effect should look something like this:

Photoshop Photo Effects: The outline effect now includes an outer glow.

Click OK to exit out of the Layer Style dialog box at this point. We're done applying our layer styles.

Step 6: Boost The Color Of The Main Subject With A "Hue/Saturation" Adjustment Layer

The main outline effect is now complete, but let's enhance our image even more with a couple of color adjustments and some blurring. First, we'll boost the color saturation of our main subject. For that, we can use a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer. We want to make sure, though, that our adjustment layer affects only the main subject, not the entire image, so we're going to clip the adjustment layer to "Layer 2", which is the layer that contains our main subject. Hold down your Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) key and click on the New Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette. Select Hue/Saturation from the list of adjustment layers that appears:

Photoshop Photo Effects: Hold down "Alt" (Win) / "Option" (Mac), click on the New Adjustment Layer icon, and select "Hue/Saturation" from the list.

By holding down the Alt / Option key as we click on the New Adjustment Layer icon, we tell Photoshop to pop open the New Layer dialog box which allows us to set some options before the adjustment layer is added. Directly below the Name option is an option called Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask. This option, if selected, will clip the adjustment layer to the layer directly below it, which means, in our case, that whatever we do with our adjustment layer will affect only our main subject on "Layer 2". Click inside the checkbox to select this option, then click OK to exit out of the New Layer dialog box:

Photoshop Photo Effects: Select the "Use Previous Layer To Create Clipping Mask" option.

As soon as we exit out of the dialog box, the Hue/Saturation dialog box appears. We want to use it to increase the color saturation of our main subject, so click on the Saturation slider in the middle of the dialog box and drag it towards the right. The further you drag to the right, the more you'll increase color saturation, so keep an eye on your image in the document window as you drag the slider to make sure you don't overdo it. I'm going to drag my Saturation slider to a value of around +35, which gives my main subject a nice boost in color:

Photoshop Photo Effects: Drag the Saturation slider to the right to boost color saturation in the main subject.

Click OK to exit out of the dialog box when you're done. If we look in the Layers palette for a moment, we can see the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer sitting above "Layer 2". Notice how the adjustment layer is indented to the right. This tell us that the layer is clipped to the layer below it:

Photoshop Photo Effects: The Layers palette showing the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer clipped to "Layer 2" below it.

Here's my image after boosting the color saturation of my main subject:

Step 7: Apply The "Gaussian Blur" Filter To "Layer 1"

We're done working on our main subject. Let's finish things off by reducing the importance of the rest of the photo. Click on "Layer 1" in the Layers palette to select it. The currently selected layer always appears highlighted in blue in the Layers palette. We're going to blur the rest of the photo, and to do that, we'll use Photoshop's Gaussian Blur filter. Go up to the Filter menu at the top of the screen, choose Blur, and then choose Gaussian Blur:

Photoshop Photo Effects: Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur.

This brings up the Gaussian Blur filter dialog box. Set the Radius of the blur to around 10 pixels. Again, you may need to increase or decrease this amount depending on the size of the image you're working on, but 10 pixels generally works well:

Photoshop Photo Effects: The Gaussian Blur filter.

Click OK to exit out of the Gaussian Blur dialog box, and if we look at our image in the document window, we can see that the background is nicely blurred out while our main subject remains sharp:

Photoshop Photo Effects: The rest of the photo is now blurred while the main subject remains untouched.

Step 8: Reduce The Color Saturation Of The Background With "Hue/Saturation"

As a final step, let's lower the color saturation of the background, which will help the main subject stand out even more. With "Layer 1" still selected, click once again on the New Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette and choose Hue/Saturation from the list. There's no need to hold down the Alt / Option button this time:

Photoshop Photo Effects: Select another Hue/Saturation adjustment layer from the Layers palette.

When the Hue/Saturation dialog box appears, drag the Saturation slider towards the left to reduce the color saturation of the background. The further you drag to the left, the more you'll reduce saturation. I'm going to drag my slider to a value of around -25:

Photoshop Photo Effects: Drag the Saturation slider to the left to lower the color saturation of the background.

Click OK when you're done to exit out of the dialog box, and we're done! Here, after reducing the color saturation of the background is my final result:

Holiday Greeting Card Photo Border In Photoshop

Step 1: Create A New Photoshop Document

Before we begin work on the photo border itself, let's start by creating some snowflake brushes to use in our design. We'll need a new Photoshop document, so go up to the File menu in the Menu Bar along the top of the screen and choose New:

Go to File > New.

This opens the New Document dialog box. Enter 200 pixels for both the Width and Height of the new document, and make sure the Background Contents option is set to White. Click OK when you're done to close out of the dialog box. A new 200x200 pixel document, filled with white, will appear on your screen:

Create a new 200x200 pixel document with a white background.

Step 2: Select The Custom Shape Tool

Photoshop ships with a few ready-made snowflake shapes that we can use. To access them, select the Custom Shape Tool from the Tools panel. By default, it's hiding behind the Rectangle Tool, so click on the Rectangle Tool and hold your mouse button down for a second or two until a fly-out menu appears, then select the Custom Shape Tool from the list:

Click and hold on the Rectangle Tool, then select the Custom Shape Tool from the list.

Step 3: Load The Nature Shape Set

With the Custom Shape Tool selected, right-click (Win) / Control-click (Mac) anywhere inside the document window to quickly access the Shape Picker, then click on the small arrow in the top right corner of it:

Click on the small triangle in the top right corner of the Shape Picker.

Clicking on the arrow opens a menu with various options, along with a list of additional shape sets that we can load into Photoshop. Click on the Nature shape set to select it, which is the set that contains the snowflakes:

Set the Nature shape set from the menu.

Photoshop will ask if you want to replace the current shapes with the Nature shapes or if you'd rather just append them to the list, which will add them below the original shapes. Click the Append button:

Choose Append to add the Nature shapes in with the original shapes.

Step 4: Select The First Snowflake Shape

With the Nature shapes now loaded, scroll down through the small shape thumbnails until you see the snowflakes (there's three of them in a row). Click on the first snowflake's thumbnail (the one on the left) to select it. If you have Tool Tips enabled in Photoshop's Preferences, you'll see the shape's name, "Snowflake 1", appear when you hover your mouse over the thumbnail. Once you've selected the snowflake shape, press Enter (Win) / Return (Mac) to close out of the Shape Picker:

Click on the first of three snowflake shapes to select it.

Step 5: Select The Fill Pixels Option

Photoshop gives us three different types of shapes that we can draw - vector shapes, paths and pixel-based shapes. We can switch between the types by selecting them in the Options Bar. We're going to be creating brushes out of the snowflake shapes, and since brushes are made of pixels, we'll draw pixel-based shapes. Click on the Fill Pixels icon in the Options Bar (the one on the right) to select it:

Each icon in the row of three selects a different type of shape. The "Fill Pixels" icon is the one on the right.

Step 6: Draw A Snowflake

When creating a brush in Photoshop, black areas in the document become the brush itself while white areas become transparent, which means that even though snowflakes are usually white (and they'll be white in our photo border later on), we'll need to draw a black snowflake against our white background if we want to create a brush from it. Press the letter D on your keyboard to quickly reset Photoshop's Foreground and Background colors to their defaults, which sets the Foreground color to black. Then, click in the center of the document and, with your mouse button still held down, begin dragging outward to draw the snowflake shape.

As soon as you begin dragging, hold down Shift+Alt (Win) / Shift+Option (Mac), then continue dragging. Make sure you wait until after you've started dragging before holding down these keys (if you see your cursor temporarily switch to the Eyedropper Tool, it's because you held the keys down too early). Holding the Shift key down will constrain the dimensions of the snowflake so it doesn't end up looking tall and thin or short and fat, while the Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) key tells Photoshop to drag the shape out from its center. Drag out the largest snowflake you can fit inside the document window, then release your mouse button, then the keys (once again, make sure you release the keys after you release your mouse button). If you need to reposition the snowflake as you're drawing it, hold down your spacebar, drag the shape around inside the document, then release the spacebar and continue:

The black snowflake will become the brush tip.

Step 7: Create A Brush From The Snowflake

With the first snowflake in place, go up to the Edit menu at the top of the screen and choose Define Brush Preset:

Go to Edit > Define Brush Preset.

Name the new brush "Snowflake 1" in the Brush Name dialog box, then click OK to exit out of the dialog box:

Name the new brush "Snowflake 1".

Step 8: Create Brushes From The Other Two Snowflake Shapes

And with that, our first snowflake brush has been created! We still need to make brushes out of the other two snowflake shapes, so first, press Ctrl+Z (Win) / Command+Z (Mac) to undo the snowflake we just drew in the document window. You should see only the solid white background. Then repeat Steps 4 - 7 for each of the other two snowflake shapes. Right-click (Win) / Control-click (Mac) inside the document window to bring up the Shape Picker and click on the next snowflake's thumbnail to select it. Make sure the Fill Pixels option is selected in the Options Bar. Click in the center of the document and begin dragging out the snowflake shape, then hold down Shift+Alt (Win) / Shift+Option (Mac) and continue dragging out the largest snowflake that will fit inside the document. Go up to the Edit menu and choose Define Brush Preset, then name the new brush either "Snowflake 2" or "Snowflake 3" depending on which one you're creating. Remember to press Ctrl+Z (Win) / Command+Z (Mac) after you've created the "Snowflake 2" brush to clear it from the document before drawing the third snowflake shape.

Once you've created the third snowflake brush, you can close out of the document window since we no longer need it. Our snowflake brushes are now ready to go. We'll be creating a brand new Photoshop document for our holiday photo border next.

Step 9: Create Another New Photoshop Document

Let's create another new Photoshop document, this time for our holiday photo border. Just as we did previously, go up to the File menu at the top of the screen and choose New to bring up the New Document dialog box. I'm going to use a standard photo size of 4x6 for my document, and since the photo I'll be using is in portrait orientation, I'll enter 4 inches for the Width and 6 inches for the Height. You may need to enter a different size (5x7, 8x10, etc.) for your document, but make sure you set the measurement type to inches, not pixels. Finally, since I'll want to print my final result, I'll enter a Resolution value of 240 pixels/inch. Click OK when you're done to exit out of the dialog box. The new document will appear on your screen:

The New Document dialog box.

Step 10: Fill The Background Layer With Black

At the moment, our document background is white. Let's fill it with black, which will make it easier later on to see the area where the photo will appear. Go up to the Edit menu at the top of the screen and choose Fill:

Go to Edit > Fill.

This brings up the Fill dialog box. Change the Use option at the top of the dialog box to Black, then click okay to exit out of it. Photoshop will fill the document with solid black:

Change the Use option to black, then click OK.

Step 11: Add A New Blank Layer

Click on the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel (second icon from the right, beside the Trash Bin):

Click on the New Layer icon.

This adds a new layer above the Background layer. Photoshop names the new layer "Layer 1":

A new layer, "Layer 1", appears above the Background layer.

Step 12: Fill The New Layer With Red

Let's fill our new layer with red, which will become the main color of our photo border. Go back up to the Edit menu and once again choose Fill. This time when the Fill dialog box appears, change the Use option to Color:

Change the Use option to Color.

As soon as you select Color, Photoshop pops open the Color Picker where we can choose the color we want to fill the layer with. Choose a bright, holiday shade of red:

Choose a bright red from the Color Picker.

Click OK when you're done to close out of the Color Picker, then click OK to close out of the Fill dialog box. The document becomes filled with red:

The document after filling Layer 1 with red.

Step 13: Select The Brush Tool

We're ready to add some snowflakes to the document. Select Photoshop's Brush Tool from the Tools panel:

Select the Brush Tool.

With the Brush Tool selected, right-click (Win) / Control-click (Mac) anywhere inside the document to quickly bring up the Brush Picker, just as we brought up the Shape Picker earlier when the Custom Shape Tool was selected. Scroll through the brush tip thumbnails until you see the three snowflake brushes we just created. They should be at the bottom of the list. Click on the first one, "Snowflake 1", to select it, then press Enter (Win) / Return (Mac) to close out of the Brush Picker:

Click on the first snowflake brush's thumbnail to select it.

Step 14: Set The Brush Dynamics Options In The Brushes Panel

The Brush Picker gives us quick access to our main brush tips, but to access everything Photoshop's brushes have to offer, we need the full size Brushes panel. Press F5 on your keyboard to bring up the Brushes panel. I'm using Photoshop CS5 here so my Brushes panel will look a little bit different than what you'll see in earlier versions of Photoshop, but most of the options are still the same. If you are using Photoshop CS5, make sure the Brush tab is selected at the top of the panel.

We're going to use Photoshop's Brush Dynamics to add variety to our snowflakes as we paint them onto the photo border. Click directly on the words Shape Dynamics in the left column of the panel. Make sure you click on the words themselves, not in the checkbox beside the words, otherwise you won't get access to the options:

Click on the words "Shape Dynamics" on the left of the Brushes panel.

When the Shape Dynamics options appear, increase the Size Jitter and Angle Jitter to 100%, which will give us lots of variety in the size and angle of the snowflakes. Set the Minimum Diameter to 25%, which will prevent any of the snowflakes from being too small:

Increase the Size and Angle Jitter to 100% and set the Minimum Diameter to 25%.

Next, if you're using Photoshop CS5, click directly on the word Transfer on the left of the dialog box. In CS4 and earlier, click on the words Other Dynamics:

Click on "Transfer" (Photoshop CS5) or "Other Dynamics" (CS4 and earlier).

This switches the main area of the Brushes panel to show options for the opacity and flow of the brush (along with some Photoshop CS5-specific options we don't need to look at here). Increase the Opacity Jitter option to 75%, which will randomly change the transparency level of the snowflakes as we add them (without making any of them completely invisible). When you're done, press F5 once again on your keyboard to close out of the Brushes panel for now:

Step 15: Add The First Snowflakes

With the "Snowflake 1" brush selected and the various Brush Dynamics options all set, we're ready to add our first batch of snowflakes to the document. We want our snowflakes to be white this time, not black as they were earlier, so press the letter X on your keyboard to swap the Foreground and Background colors, which makes the Foreground color white (Photoshop paints with the current Foreground color). Press F on your keyboard to switch Photoshop to the first of its full screen modes, which will make it easier to add snowflakes right along the edges of the document (you can get back to the document window mode by pressing F a couple more times).

Normally when we paint with a brush, we click and drag with the mouse to add paint strokes, but that's not what we want to do here. Instead, to add snowflakes, simply click in random spots around the document. Each time you click, you'll "stamp" a snowflake in that spot. Thanks to the Brush Dynamics we set a moment ago, each snowflake will appear at a random size and angle, and with a random transparency level. Here, I've added some initial snowflakes to the document by clicking in different spots. There's no need to add any snowflakes in the center of the document since that's where the photo will be going:

Click to stamp some initial snowflakes onto the document.

To add snowflakes right along the edge of the document, move your brush into the gray area surrounding the document (assuming you pressed F to switch to full screen mode) so that only part of the brush extends over it, then click to add the snowflake.

As you hover your mouse cursor over the document, it shows an outline of the brush at the largest size a snowflake will appear. If you need it to be larger or smaller, use the left and right bracket keys on your keyboard to change the brush size. Press the left bracket key ( [ ) to make it smaller or the right bracket key ( ] ) to make it larger. If you make a mistake or don't like something about the last snowflake you added, press Ctrl+Z (Win) / Command+Z (Mac) to undo it, or press Ctrl+Alt+Z (Win) / Command+Option+Z (Mac) repeatedly to undo multiple snowflakes.

Step 16: Add The Second Type Of Snowflake To The Document

When you're ready to add the second type of snowflake, press F5 to once again bring up the main Brushes panel, then click directly on the words Brush Tip Shape at the top of the left column:

Click directly on the words Brush Tip Shape.

Select the second snowflake brush from the list by clicking on its thumbnail, then press F5 to close out of the Brushes panel again:

Click on the second snowflake brush's thumbnail to select it.

All of the Brush Dynamics options we set for the initial snowflake brush will still be active with our new brush, so click again in random spots in the document to add the second type of snowflake:

Adding the second type of snowflake.

Step 17: Add The Third Type Of Snowflake

Press F5 again to bring back the Brushes panel and click on the third snowflake brush's thumbnail to select it, then press F5 to close out of the Brushes panel:

Select the third snowflake brush.

Again, all of our Brush Dynamics options will still be active, so click in random spots to add the third type of snowflake:

Adding the third type of snowflake.

Step 18: Go Back And Add Additional Snowflakes If Needed

At this point, you may want to go back and add more of the first two types of snowflakes to the document (you may not have added enough the first time). Just pres F5 to bring up the Brushes panel, select the snowflake brush you want by clicking on its thumbnail, press F5 to close out of the Brushes panel, then click around the document to add more snowflakes:

Go back and add even more snowflakes if needed.

Step 19: Select The Area Where The Photo Will Appear

With the snowflakes now added, we're ready to cut out the area where the photo will appear. Go up to the Select menu at the top of the screen and choose All. This will select the entire document (you'll see a selection outline appear around the edges):

Go to Select > All.

With the document selected, go back up to the Select menu and this time, choose Transform Selection:

Go to Select > Transform Selection.

Hold down your Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) key, then click on the top transform handle (the little square) and, with your mouse button still held down, drag the top of the selection outline down about an inch or so from the top of the document. Holding the Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) key as you drag tells Photoshop to move the bottom edge of the selection outline at the same time. Then, with Alt / Option still held down, click on either the left or right transform handle and drag it inward the same distance from the edge (the opposite side will move along with it), so that you have an equal amount of space between the selection outline and the edge of the document on all sides. This area will become the photo border, while the area inside the selection outline is where the photo will appear. Press Enter (Win) / Return (Mac) when you're done to accept the transformation:

Drag the selection outline inward to select the area where the photo will appear.

Step 20: Add A Layer Mask

With the selection around the photo area in place, once again hold down your Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) key and click on the Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel:

Hold Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) and click on the Layer Mask icon.

Normally when we add a layer mask with a selection active, the area inside the selection remains visible while everything outside the selection is hidden from view, but the Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) key told Photoshop to do the opposite, leaving the area outside the selection visible while hiding the area inside it. If we look in the document, we see that the area where the photo will appear has been cut out from the layer (it's still there, just not visible), revealing the solid black from the Background layer below it:

The photo will appear in the black area.

Step 21: Add A White Stroke Around The Photo Area

Click on the Layer Styles icon at the bottom of the Layers panel:

Click on the Layer Styles icon.

Select Stroke from the list of layer styles that appears:

Choose Stroke from the list.

This brings up Photoshop's Layer Style dialog box set to the Stroke options in the middle column. Click on the color swatch to the right of the word Color, which opens the Color Picker, and choose white for the color of the stroke. Click OK to close out of the Color Picker when you're done. Make sure the Position option is set to Outside, then set the Size of the stroke to around 10 pixels (px). Click OK when you're done to close out of the Layer Style dialog box:

The Stroke layer style options.

A thin white border now appears around the photo area:

Step 22: Open The Photo To Place Inside The Border

Open the photo you want to add inside the border. Here's the image I'll be using:

Wintry outdoor family fun.

Step 23: Copy And Paste It Into The Photo Border

Press Ctrl+A (Win) / Command+A (Mac) to quickly select the entire image, then press Ctrl+C (Win) / Command+C (Mac) to copy the image to the clipboard. Switch back over to the photo border document and click on the Background layer in the Layers panel to select it:

Click on the Background layer in the photo border's document.

Press Ctrl+V (Win) / Command+V (Mac) to paste the photo into the document. Photoshop will place the photo on its own layer between the Background layer and the photo border layer (Layer 1) in the Layers panel, and if we look in the document, we see that the image appears inside the photo area (although it's too big at the moment but we're about to fix that):

The image appears inside the photo area.

Step 24: Resize The Photo With Free Transform

Go up to the Edit menu and choose Free Transform:

Go to Edit > Free Transform.

This places the Free Transform box and handles around the photo, similar to the Transform Selection handles we saw earlier, except that Free Transform resizes the image itself, not the selection outline. Hold down your Shift key, which will constrain the aspect ratio of the photo as you're resizing it, then click on any of the corner handles and drag them inward to resize the image so it fits better inside the photo area. If you can't see all of the handles because the photo is too big, press Ctrl+0 (Win) / Command+0 (Mac), which will instantly zoom the document out so that everything fits on the screen. You can also zoom in and out by pressing Ctrl+- (Win) / Command+- (Mac) to zoom out or Ctrl++ (Win) / Control++ (Mac) to zoom in.

If you need to reposition the image inside the photo area, click anywhere inside the Free Transform bounding box and drag the image around with your mouse. When you're happy with how everything looks, press Enter (Win) / Return (Mac) to accept the transformation:

With Shift held down, click and drag any of the corner handles to resize the photo.

Step 25: Add A New Layer Above The Others

You could stop here if all you wanted was the snowflakes border, but I'm going to finish things off by adding some traditional "Happy Holidays" text along the bottom to give it more of a holiday greeting card look. First, we need to add a new layer above the others, so click on Layer 1 in the Layers panel to select it, then click on the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel:

Select Layer 1, then click on the New Layer icon.

A new blank layer will appear above Layer 1:

A new layer is added above the photo border layer.

Step 26: Draw A Rectangular Selection Along The Bottom And Fill It With White

Let's create a background for our text. Select the Rectangular Marquee Tool from the Tools panel:

Select the Rectangular Marquee Tool.

Draw a rectangular selection, about an inch or so tall, along the bottom of the photo border so that the top half of the selection extends over the bottom of the photo, like so:

The selection will become a background for the text.

With the selection in place, go up to the Edit menu and once again choose Fill. When the Fill dialog box appears, change the Use option to White:

Set the Use option in the Fill dialog box to White.

Click OK to close out of the dialog box, then press Ctrl+D (Win) / Command+D (Mac) to remove the selection outline from the document. The selected area is now filled with white:

Photoshop fills the area with solid white.

Step 27: Lower The Opacity Of The Layer

Let's lower the opacity of the white area so it blends in with the photo and border underneath it. You'll find the Opacity option in the top right corner of the Layers panel. Lower it to 50%:

Lower the opacity of the white rectangle to 50%.

Here's what it should look like with the opacity lowered:

Step 28: Add Your Text

Select Photoshop's Type Tool from the Tools panel:

Select the Type Tool.

With the Type Tool selected, choose your font from the Options Bar along the top of the screen. I'm going to use Trajan Pro, with an initial size of 24 pt. Don't worry about getting the size right for now since we'll fix it after we've added the text:

Choose your font.

Press the D key on your keyboard to reset the Foreground color to black, then click inside the white background area we added a moment ago and add your text. I'll type "HAPPY HOLIDAYS", all in caps:

Add your text.

Click on the checkmark in the Options Bar when you're done to accept the text:

Exit out of text editing mode by clicking the checkmark.

Step 29: Move And Resize The Text If Needed With Free Transform

Press Ctrl+T (Win) / Command+T (Mac) to quickly bring up the Free Transform box and handles around the text, then hold down your Shift key and drag any of the corner handles to resize the text as needed, just as we did earlier with the image inside the photo area. To move the text into position, click anywhere inside the Free Transform bounding box and drag it into place with your mouse. Press Enter (Win) / Return (Mac) when you're done to exit out of Free Transform:

Resize and move the text into place in the center of the white background.

Step 30: Lower The Opacity Of The Text

Finally, lower the opacity of the text to around 40%:

Lower the opacity of the text to blend it in with the rest of the image.

And with that, we're done! Here is the final "holiday greeting card" photo border result: