Framing your image
There are many ways to add a frame to your image, here are three.
Assuming you have Photoshop or Elements, one of the easiest ways is to use the “Stroke” option. Note; this will NOT work on a locked layer so you have to create a copy of the background layer (Use cntl-J (Windows) or Command-J (Mac) or select Layer then duplicate layer if you prefer menus).
Once you have that then select the layers tab, click the effects (fx) button and choose Stroke.
As you can see from the inset you have several options, I have shown a good starting point using 10 pixels wide and a pure white border. You can choose a colour from the image but few colours are as successful as black or white.
Notice this has removed 10 pixels of data from your image - you can probably live with that but if you wanted a wide border see the next option.
The Layers panel will likely be one the bottom of the righthand toolwell. I have moved it here simply to include it on one screenshot.
If you don’t want to cover the image with the border you have to make the image bigger.
Again there are several ways to do this but for exact measurements choose Image then Canvas size. The default is where you last left it so in this case click the downward arrow next to Inches and select Pixels.
Enter 20 for both the width and height (20 because Photoshop uses half for the left and half for the right, half for the top and half for the bottom We want 10 for each so need to enter 20).
Ensure “Relative” is ticked and the center dot is clicked. Again you can choose any colour, I’ve stayed with white. Click OK and the image is increased in size by the amount you selected and the background colour is white.
The white border is the effect after this adjustment is applied. At only 10 pixels the effect is very subtle but if you are adding an inch (e.g. making an image look like a Poloroid print you can lose a lot of data with "Stroke".
The final option I’m going to describe will work on any editor, I happen to be using Photoshop.
Select the rectangular marque tool, single click anywhere in the image then press cntl-A (Command-A on a Mac) to select the whole image. You should see the marching ants around the border.
Then use the menu options; Select, Modify, Contract selection. Again choose 10 pixels to start with and click OK. Now choose the menu options; Select, Inverse. If you have really good eyesight you will now see two lines of marching ants around your image.
In Photoshop you can delete the content to the BACKGROUND colour (see inset, again the background is White, the foreground is Black. If these are the other way around simply hit X to change them) then hit cntl-DEL(ete) (Command-DEL for the Mac). Finally hid cntl-D (Command-D) to deselect the marquee and you are done.
Note; Again you can choose ANY colour not just B&W. Just ensure the Foreground colour is selected before you delete the data within the marching ants.
If you don’t have Photoshop all is not lost. Select your brush tool, make it a hard brush, quite large size and use white paint. Simply paint around the outside of the image. No need to be careful, the marching ants will stop any spill. If you think you are done hit cntl-D (Command-D) and see if you have been successful.
If you have missed a bit don’t panic. Hit cntl-Z (Command-Z) and the marching ants will re-appear and you can continue painting white.
This is a destructive edit. You did save a COPY of your original before editing didn't you!!
I have used a really thin border but the size is down to you - Send me (Paul) an image where you have used this technique, or ask me if you have stumbled along the path.