The Template

  1. Create a new transparent graphic 450x550.
  2. Zoom the graphic to 1:2 ratio (the graphic is too large to work on full size).
  3. Set the foreground color to Black.
  4. Set the Preset Shapes Tool to the following:

  5. Starting either in the center and create an oval by pulling until you have come close to the edges. You should have a graphic something like:

  6. If necessary grab the handles in the middle on top and on the sides to drag the vector object until it fills the graphic. You want the edges of the oval to be as close to the edge of the graphic as you can get.
  7. Right click on the vector layer in the layers palette with the oval and choose "Convert to Raster".
  8. Select the Magic Wand tool and click on an outer part of the graphic (you may need to "shift-click" on each corner to get them all), then choose Selections|Invert. Choose Image|Crop to Selection (this will remove any areas outside the oval still remaining. It is necessary for the Frame to work correctly. Shift-Click on each corner with the Magic Wand tool. You should now have the outer edge of the oval selected. Choose Selections>Invert. This will select just the oval outline of the frame. Save this to an Alpha Channel (Selections|Save to Alpha Channel). This selection will be saved with the graphic frame. When you apply the frame, the area outside the selection (the transparent areas) will be filled with the background color.
  9. Deselect. Choose Masks|New|From Image and configure as follows:

  10. Choose Masks|Save to Alpha Channel and name it "Oval Frame".
  11. Choose Masks|Delete and say "no" to merging with layer.
  12. Save as a ".psp" file. I called mine "OvalFrame.psp".

The Frame

  1. Open your OvalFrame.psp file.
  2. Hit delete or choose Edit|Clear.
  3. Choose Selections|Load from Alpha Channel and load your Oval Frame selection.
  4. Flood fill and apply an effect (see Effect Hints below). I applied my Wood_Frame preset for the Sculpture plugin in PSP. If you download my Frames Kit from the first page of this tutorial, you will have this preset and lots of wood patterns to choose from.
  5. When you have the frame you want, go to Selections|Load from Alpha Channel and delete the Oval Frame alpha channel, leaving only the outside selection.
  6. Choose Layers>Merge>Merge Visible (don't choose flatten, or you will loose your transparency).
  7. Save your graphic as a frame in "pfr" format. into your Frames folder in PSP.

Adding Decorations

If you want to create an oval frame with a decoration that goes outside the outer frame space (like the header graphic on this page), you will not be able to use the "fill background" feature. The frame will be applied to your graphic as a transparent selection so the background of the graphic will show through. This is very easy to fix. Go to your image layer and draw an oval selection that fits inside the frame area, invert your selection and flood fill with a background color or pattern.

  1. Open your frame graphic you want to apply a decoration to.
  2. Enlarge the canvas size enough to allow for the decoration keeping the frame centered.
  3. Add a new layer for the decoration.
  4. Add your decoration. I used leaves and apple blossom tubes for my frame. These tubes had drop shadows and the drop shadows are preserved with the transparent background. I really like this effect.
  5. Merge the visible layers.
  6. Select the transparent area outside your frame, invert your selection and copy to eliminate the extra transparent areas.
  7. Delete the outside selection. This frame should not save any selections with it.
  8. Save your graphic as a frame (.pfr format) into your Frames folder in PSP>

Effect Suggestions

BLADE PRO! If ever an application was built for Blade Pro, this is it. If you are not familiar with Blade Pro as a plugin, please go to my PSP 5 tutorials and check out my Blade Pro tutorial.

You can download the presets I use with my frames at the bottom of my main Frames page. This Frames Kit" zip files contains several frames in psp format, presets for the Sculpture and Inner Bevel effects and wood and marble patterns. Just place the .bmp files into the PSP 6 Patterns folder and the "pbv" (beveling presets) and "psc" (sculpture presets) in your Presets folder and you will be ready to go.

Apply my Frame preset in the Sculpture Plugin with different fills. My Frame preset is set to the gray color. Just click on the Pattern box and change to one of the textures included in my frames kit. If you want a generic Marble frame that can be easily colorized, use the Gray Marble pattern.

Inner Bevel. Use my Picture Frame Preset and choose a color for the light color to color the frame or flood fill the frame with a pattern and then apply an inner bevel. For variations, apply a texture to your frame.