by Bree Clarkson, guest author.  (want to learn more about Bree?  click here for her bio!)

How to add a white border to your photo in Photoshop
(works in all versions of Photoshop, including Photoshop Elements)

{ remember that all pictures will pop up for better viewing if clicked on. }

Ever wondered how to recreate that white border that photo processors can add to your photo at developing?  I love doing it . . . I think that it gives the photo a little bit of "oomph" and makes it stand out from the page.  I honestly think that this is the technique that I do the most often on my pages.

There are several ways to do this, but I'm going to focus on one.  It's the only one that I've personally found that will give a solid white border with sharp corners rather than slightly rounded corners.

This technique is really quite simple.  First, you need to open your photo and crop it to the desired size (if necessary).  Make sure that it is at 300 dpi, as well, if you want to copy my numbers exactly. 

In Photoshop Elements, go up to "Image > Resize > Canvas Size."  In PhotoshopCS, go up to "Image > Canvas Size."

In the window that pops up, make sure there is a checkmark in the box that says "Relative," which will zero out the numbers in the width and height dialogue boxes. (This just means that it will expand the canvas size by the amount that you enter in the dialogue box.  You CAN do it without selecting the "Relative" function, but it requires a bit more math, lol.)

Next, still in the Canvas Size window, there is a drop down menu that says "Canvas Extension Color."  Select "white" from the list.

Now, enter the numbers of how many inches you would like to expand the canvas by.  I prefer .25 inches personally, but you can choose a number that works for you.

And press "OK" . . . voila . . . your photo has a nice white border around it.  It is all in one layer, so you can drag/drop or copy/paste it directly to your layout.

From Jen:

Wasn't that amazing?!  I had NO CLUE about this cool trick!  Reading it over gave me some additional ideas how you can use this great tip.

But first: Two more things about the options within the "Canvas Size" box.  (1)  Instead of choosing "relative" for the width and height and just putting in how much you want it to expand, you can keep the "relative" box with a check in it, then type in the exact dimensions you want your canvas to end up.  (2)  See the "anchor" square with all the arrows?  This is asking you which sides of the picture you want your new space to go around.  If you keep the white box in the very center, with arrows all around, you can get a nice border.  But you can also choose any of the other 8 boxes to be the anchor point and have the canvas extend in a different direction.  Like if you choose the very top left box, the arrows will reflect that when the canvas is extended it will go down and to the right.  You'll have to play with it to really see what I mean, I think.

Now I have Photoshop 7.0, and when I tried to do this, I discovered I didn't have the "Canvas Extension Color" option at the bottom of my Canvas Size box.  ('doh!)  BUT I extended the canvas .25 inches all around anyway, just to see what happened -- and it was just as I guessed! It used the color that was currently the background color in the toolbox!  (Anyone guess where I'm going with this?) 

1.  So not only can you add a white border all around your image . . . (if you are like me and don't have the "Canvas Extension Color" option:  before you go to resize, just make sure that white is your current background color.  You can do this by clicking on the very small black/white boxes underneath and to the left of the foreground/background boxes in the toolbox [see picture.] Those bent arrows on the other side of the foreground/background boxes will switch the foreground/background around -- so then black would become the background for use in idea #3, below.)

2.  You can also create this border with a CUSTOM COLOR -- whatever color you want!  Use that handy-dandy Eye Dropper/Color Picker tool (explained in-depth in this entry, click here) to choose whatever color you want, switch it to the "background" (cause Eye Dropper put the color to the foreground), then go for it!

3.  AND . . . Ya know how when you're posting a layout on-line like at TwoPeas, and the layout's base is white?  Once you get it post on TwoPeas you can't tell where the layout starts and the webpage's background begins?  A lot of people will put a really thin black line all around their layout, just as a way to highlight the layout's borders.  I've never been able to do this well, but this will totally work for that!  Just choose black as your background and choose a very small amount (like .01) for the border!!!

Thanks again for the GREAT tutorial, Bree!!!