December 17, 2014 / Fall 2014 / Photoshop/Illustrator

Photoshop Fun: Creating an artistic photo edge


Written by Jamie Chambers

You know you have seen them — those artistic photo edges that decorate photographs and illustrations in magazines.

These edges help focus the attention on the subject in the image rather than the distracting background.

Follow the simple steps below and you can add custom edges to your photos when you need to highlight the person.

1. Open a new photo.

2. Create a new layer and fill it with white.

3. With the Polygonal Lasso tool, draw a random shape in the middle of the layer. With the area still selected, go to Select > Modify > Feather with a
 radius of about 35 pixels.

4. Fill the selected area with black, then deselect the 
area.

5. Next go to Filter > Pixelate > Crystallize. Adjust the 
cell size to your preference; try around 30. Then 
click OK.

6. Change the blending mode of the new layer to Screen. Your original image should appear, but now 
with your new custom photo edge.

 

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Jamie Chambers

Jamie Chambers faced two career path choices in college, and lucky for Walsworth he chose art over accounting. He has been a creative influence for Walsworth for 17 years, currently as Design & Creative Concepting Supervisor in the Marketing Department. For 10 years, as an artist and supervisor for the Creative Services Department, Jamie traveled to workshops to collaborate with yearbook staffs to develop their covers and theme packages.