[Steve]

Here as promised is a very simple Photoshop frame action set containing just two actions. It creates either a black or a white frame around your image with a simple 1 pixel key line.

Using this action to frame a photograph will increase your picture size by exactly 110 pixels, so if you intend to use it on pictures that you are showing here, please make sure that you reduce the picture size along its longest side to no larger than 690 pixels before running the action. That way you will be left with an image of 800pix along its longest side.

This is a typical example of the white frame.




Note these actions have been written so that they will work fine on images in either landscape or portrait orientaition. They also work equally well on unusual shapes

The action commands for anyone wishing to know the exact steps are as follows

Select all
Edit > stroke> 1pixel > inside (colour either white or black)
Edit > canvas size > 10 pixels centre out (colour either white or black)
Select all
Edit > stroke> 1pixel > inside (colour either white or black)
Edit > canvas size > 100 pixels centre out (colour either white or black)
Edit > stroke> 1pixel > inside (colour black for white frame only)

To use the action just download it and to load your new action into Photoshop, click on the actions tab, then the little round button (top right corner of the action panel), then "load Actions...", browse to your download location and select the TPF Frames.atn. If you prefer you can move the action file into your Photoshop actions folder.


Finally once loaded into PS you can invoke the actions with just one keystroke.

F2 for the white frame
F3 for the black frame

Pixalo Frame.atn

I hope they are of use to some

[Mike Aiken]

Many thanks Steve,

Makes life so much easier, now loaded and working.

Mike

[Warspite]

Thanks for that also - it seems very simple when its explained well

[Dave]

Did mine slightly different, just using canvas expansion between black & white at roughly same pixels as you. Does the same job I suppose

[Venomator]

Haven't tried it yet - but do you think it will work in Elements too ?

I will give it a go later to confirm anyway !

[Steve]

Originally Posted by Venomator

Haven't tried it yet - but do you think it will work in Elements too ?

I will give it a go later to confirm anyway !

I don't know as I don't have Elements installed. You could try and see, it will either work or not. If it doesn't you can follow my explination of the steps above and re-create the action for Elements. If you do duplicate the action for Elements using exactly the same dimentions and colour settings, I would be glad to host a copy of your Element frame action and offer a link in this thread as well for the benefit of other members

[Venomator]

Steve - thanks for the offer !

I have now tracked your commands in Elements and, if anyone else is using it the following steps are specific to Elements (I am using 4 so cannot comment on earlier versions);

The action commands for anyone wishing to know the exact steps are as follows;

Step 1;
Edit > stroke> 1pixel > inside (colour either white or black) > OK
Image > Resize > Canvas Size > in 'New Size' box change scale to pixels > Tick 'Relative' box > change 'Width' & 'Height' to 10 (colour either white or black) > OK
Step 2;
Edit > stroke> 1pixel > inside (colour either white or black) > OK
Image > Resize > Canvas Size > in 'New Size' box change scale to pixels > Tick 'Relative' box > change 'Width' & 'Height' to 100 (colour either white or black) > OK
Step 3;
Edit > stroke> 1pixel > inside (colour black for white frame only) > OK

The main difference is the second action in each of Steps 1 & 2, carried out under the Image tab rather than the Edit one.

I am afraid I have not yet worked out the Elements version of the 'frame action' one button thingy you mentioned - will have to keep playing !

I was hoping to post a pic successfully framed using the above revised methodology, as you posted for PS but I couldn't get past the error message in the downloading action !

Hope this helps some ? Helped me so thanks for the pointer Steve.

[Gemok]

I'm not entirely sure if elements 4 has the frame action thingy there has been talk on other forums that adobe removed some automation features in to prevent the use of third party plug ins that were effectively making elements alot closer to the power of photoshop itself than they wanted. It could all be rubbish but that whats I've read

EDIT - I've had another look for actions in elements and it appears you could use them in three and below but they had to be made in photoshop saved as a psd thumbnail put in a certain folder and then you had to get elements to find it by deleteing a cache file sounds like a lot of work to put frames on a picture. Some actions still work in version 4 but its hassle to get them there. If you want to give it a try follow the instructions on this page

[Venomator]

Thanks Gemok - I have been looking too and cannot find anything !

But then it isn't too much trouble going through those few actions anyway ... admittedly not quite as quick as a one stroke jobby but ... cheaper !

[busterboy]

Nice one Steve. Have now used the action and it works a treat..

[Steve]

Umm I think you are doing something wrong, neither the black or the white frame produced by using my action above will look like that

Am I missing something here?

[Matt]

Originally Posted by Steve

Umm I think you are doing something wrong, neither the black or the white frame produced by using my action above will look like that

Am I missing something here?

He hasn't really done anything wrong per-se.
He's applied the action to the full size image, then resized.
Instead of resizing then applying the action.

[Steve]

I thought that at first but I *think* the keyline has slightly rounded corners, although that could be due to the resizing

[busterboy]

Originally Posted by Matt

He hasn't really done anything wrong per-se.
He's applied the action to the full size image, then resized.
Instead of resizing then applying the action.

Correct, if I resized the image to 800 on the longest edge before the frame is applied the picture is then oversize for your forum limit..

Any ideas..

[Matt]

Resize the image to 800 pixels, apply the action, then save for web at 800 pixels.

[busterboy]

Yeah thats fine Matty but that really defeats the object of the one click move IMO..

Just had another play and as I quoted if the image is re-sized at 800 pixels then the frame added it increases to 910 pixels, Then we have to re-size again..

Its a good action Steve has made, I suppose to defeat the problem I could save the original to 690 pixels then when the action is added it should work out at 800 on the longest edge to cut down the time factor (which isnt a problem)..

[Matt]

In the save for web window, there is an image size tab, if you enter 800 in the correct pixel field then press the apply button before you save.
This doesn't really add a lot of time to the process, its a matter of seconds once you know where to look.

[Gemok]

Originally Posted by Steve

Using this action to frame a photograph will increase your picture size by exactly 110 pixels, so if you intend to use it on pictures that you are showing here, please make sure that you reduce the picture size along its longest side to no larger than 690 pixels before running the action. That way you will be left with an image of 800pix along its longest side.

If you want one button finishing do what I did edit the action (well I edited another tpf action that included some sharpening stuff) and add a couple of steps
at the begining
file - automate - fit image make the setting 690 by 690

at the end
file save for web

first Open an image doesn't matter what it is but I'd use a copy or something I was going to delete just in case but I'm kinda paranoid
To add bits to an action (in cs2 at least) press alt+F9 this should open the history and actions window
click on the actions tab
find the action you want to add/ edit
click on the little (well tiny on my monitor) circular button with a right pointing triangle (should be just above the windows scroll bar)
insert menu item
select the menu item you want to put in eg file - automate - fit image
drag and drop the new item to where you want it (actions work from the top down)
finally double click on the new item to change its settings)

If you just want to edit steves action open the actions window as above find the step you want to alter
double click it
change the setting to how you want it
click the OK button as you usually would

That took way longer to type out than to actually do LOL

[Steve]

Tut, Tut

All these questions when I wrote that you should make the image no bigger than 690pixels to end up at 800 after running the action

Gemok found it in the instructions