Black Frame / White Matting

[fotofreak]

I need to know how to create a black frame with white matting for some photos I am redoing for a client. I can do this the old fashioned way step-by-step, but I thought there may be a more updated way to do this. I have many photos to do and would appreciate finding a action or plug-in the would help automate the process of doing this. I would appreciate any help you can give to me. PLEASE HELP ME!

[jeaniesa]

fotofreak, if you know how to do what you want step-by-step, then you should be able to just create the action yourself. Is there a reason you don't want to record your own action?

Jeanie

[jeaniesa]

You could also try this action. It will probably create more elaborate frames than you're looking for (wood grain, etc.), but you can probably modify to suit your needs - or just modify afterwards to get the black frame you want.

Jeanie

[fotofreak]

I need something that looks really professional and I need to do this with a short turnaround time. I do not have allot of experience with creating actions in Photoshop; that is why I do not create one myself. I have several hundred photos to do and I really do not want to do them all by hand. I just thought maybe someone had created an action like this or they knew where I could get one, or maybe they knew of a plugin that would achieve this same result.

[jeaniesa]

OK, try the link I provided and see if you can make it do what you want. I think it creates professional looking frames. The only trick for you will be adjusting the frame after it's been created (there's a separate step in the action for that) to make it black. But, I think it should work.

Sorry, I don't know of any others.

Jeanie

[fotofreak]

Thanks for the info on the action, but I have tried that action and it doesn't seem to work on Photoshop 6.0 - I tried it earlier today and it doesn't work. Thanks for the suggestion though. I do appreciate it.

[jeaniesa]

Are all of your photos the same size? If so, just for kicks, start recording your steps as an action when you make a frame for one of your photos. Then stop recording when you're done making the frame. Open another photo and then try running the action on it. You may be pleasantly surprised - it could be that simple.

Jeanie

[fotofreak]

Unfortunately the photos are not of the same size. This would present itself as a problem when recording the action for one, because it would not be right for another. The answer is out there somewhere. I just hope I find it soon. Worst case scenario is I do it all by hand. I took the contract for a reduced price because I thought I could do this with a pre-made action or plug-in and not have to do all of it by hand. I guess I wasn't really thinking at that time. I guess I should have found the action or plug-in first then agreed to the contract for the reduced price. Another contributing factor is that it is my friends company. I usually only deal with major corporations. I guess this is what I get for straying from the norm. Live and learn. Thanks for all your suggestions. I do appreciate them.

[fotofreak]

Is that the same as that was suggested earlier? If so then I have tried it with PS 6 with no luck. Thanks for the suggestion. I am going to have to do these by hand. I appreciate everyones help. Next time I will check with everyone here at Retouch before committing myself to something like this. Thanks again......

[fotofreak]

I tried it and all I get is a my photo turned all black. It tells me that the it cannot continue because the key is empty. What is that all about? Maybe I do not know what I am doing with regards to these actions, but they seem not to work for me. Can you please help me to figure this out? I would really appreciate it. Thanks for you help..........

[jeaniesa]

fotofreak, I did not run into that error on PS7. I am going down to my mom's house right now to test on her version of PS6 to see if I can duplicate. I sent you a PM and e-mail earlier - did you see them?

Jeanie

[fotofreak]

Yes I saw them. I hope that you do not think I was avoiding you or anything like that. I was just going to respond when I got this e-mail. I have been really busy with clients calling me asking me to do this and that. Right now I have to go to Spring Valley to do a photo shoot and will be back tonight. If you find anything out regarding this action, please let me know. I really appreciate you helping me out. I appreciate all of you helping me out. This is one of the best, if not the best, forum that I have had the pleasure to be a member of. Thank you all for making this a pleasant experience...... cyal8tr

[T Paul]

Try selecting your image then running the action. Some actions don't run quite right, unless the image is selected (little marching ants around it).

[jeaniesa]

Well, about all I was able to verify on my mom's computer was that the action definitely does not work in PS6.

That particular action is fairly complex b/c it creates a wood-grain frame and angles the corners so that they meet in a "joint" - just like a real frame. Is that the kind of frame you're looking for, or do you want a simple black frame? That would be much easier in my mind b/c you wouldn't need to angle the corners.

You said you'd have to make the frames step-by-step if you can't find an action, so you obviously know what it is you're looking for. Is there any chance you can post one as an example?

I'll continue to look at the action, but I think it will have to be re-written for PS6 because it appears to use some features in PS7 that are not available in PS6.

Jeanie

[fotofreak]

This is an example of what I need except I need to change two things. One, I need the black frame alittle more beveled than it is here. Second, I need alittle more depth between the matting and the actual photo. Is something like this possible? I would appreciate any help you can give me on this. I will not be able to respond to this until tonight after this as I am in Spring Valley right now on a photo shoot. I had this 5 minute break and thought I would check my e-mail. IT'S HOT HERE! I am not a heat person. Anything over 70 degrees is hot to me. Anyway I will check back tonight and see what you have come up with. I appreciate it.... cyal8tr

[jeaniesa]

Should be straightforward. I'll post back when I have something. It'll be at least a couple hours.

Jeanie

[jeaniesa]

OK, I've created two actions:
- the first one creates a 1" white mat with a 3/4" black frame
- the second creates a 3/4" white mat with a 1/2" black frame

Because PS6 doesn't allow you to set a relative canvas size, I had to do some creative steps. (I didn't create the steps, I copied the idea from the frame actions that ship with Photoshop.) Unfortunately, this makes it difficult for you to modify the size of both the mat and the frame. I did choose to work in inches rather than pixels with the hope that the action would be a little more flexible (i.e., the number of pixels in 1" depends on the resolution of the image.)

Also, the values for the bevels and shadows default to work on fairly large images (those from a 5MP digital camera). Those values are editable however (both while running the action and afterwards since I don't flatten the layers), so the action will work on smaller images.

HTH, Jeanie

[fotofreak]

You are awesome! This works perfectly. Thank you so much. What else can I say but WOW! I guess I am going to have to learn how to do this now. I didn't think to much about it before, but now that I can see how it makes it so much easier on me. I am definately going to learn all I can. Thanks again Jeanie, Your Awesome!.........cyal8tr

[jeaniesa]

YAY!! I'm glad it worked for you!

Jeanie