Her Realm

Simple Borders

Sometimes an icon is wonderful but needs a simple border around it to cut it off from the chat background. Here are a few simple border tricks.

This is a simple process so I’m using a standard size icon. Preview

The easiest way is to resize your icon to 138 by 138 px and then go to “Image” and select “Add Border.” Set the border colour to your border colour of choice and set each of the four borders (Top, Right, Bottom, Left) to 1px. Voila! A simple 1px border. If you want a wider border, say 3px you’ll have to resize to 134 x 134px (140px – 3 – 3 for each side). Preview

Stylized Borders

That’s great you say but my border is a little boring. No problem! With your solid coloured border applied to your image, click the “Selection” tool, the box with the dashed borders, and change it to “Magic Wand.” In the Magic Wand tool palette, set the tolerance to 1px. Make sure the “Match Mode” is set to “Colour” and do not check the Anti-alias box. Go ahead and click on your border to select it. Preview

Next we want to promote our selection to its own layer (just in case) so click the “Selections” menu and press “Promote to Layer” (or press CTRL + Shift + P). From here, let’s add an inner bevel by clicking the “Effects” menu and selecting “Inner Bevel” from “3D Effects” and also a drop shadow by clicking the “Effects” menu and selecting “Drop Shadow” from “3D Effects.” I applied the drop shadow twice, first with vertical and horizontal offsets of 1 px each and then with offsets of -1px each. Voila, a stylized border.Preview

MultiColoured Borders

Now let’s have a multi-coloured border. Start with your blank image again (no borders) and instead of resizing it, keep it at 140 x 140 px. This time, select the Pen/Line tool, the pen. In the pen tool palette set the width to 1px, and set the Mode as “Draw Lines and Poloylines” (the straight line), use “Solid” as your “Line Style” and do not check the Anti-alias box. Now, select in your Foreground and Background colour boxes the two colours you want to use for your line. Also make sure “Create on Vector is checked” and “Connect Segments” is not checked. You can choose whether or not you want to show the nodes. Preview

Now, click your Foreground/Stroke colour box and click the “Gradient Tab.” If the colours shown are not your foreground and background colours, click the box and choose “Foreground-Background” as your gradient. Set your ‘Angle” at 0 and “Repeat” at 1 or 0. It doesn’t matter if you invert or not. Click “Okay” and then click the last button beneath the Background/Fill colour box so it becomes transparent. Preview

Now click on the top lefthand corner of your icon and draw a line straight down. You maye have to practice a bit to place your cursor in the exact spot and draw a straight line. You’ll see the little grey line which shows the path of your line and if it is jagged at all, your line won’t be straight. Preview

You may find that a little difficult but we only have to draw the left and top borders. Before we can draw the top border, however, we need to change the Angle of the Gradient so the colours of the corners match up. Click the Foregound/Stroke colour box, which shows your gradient, and change the “Angle” to 90. Press “Okay.” Preview

Positon your cursor at the top left corner and draw a straight line across. It should draw the line on the same vector layer as the first line. Preview

Now all we need to do it duplicate that layer by selecting “Duplicate” from the “Layers” menu (or right click the vector layer on the layers palette and press “Duplicate.” Next, we need to Flip and Mirror the layer and our border is complete. Select “Flip” from the “Image” menu (or press CTRL + I) and press “Mirror” from the “Image” menu (or press CTRL + M). Preview

Our border is done and you can save. If you save and it asks you to merge layers select “Okay.”

If you want to stylize this border we have to merge the two border layers. In the Layers palette press the Visibility Toggle, the little eye, next to our background layer so it disappears. Then, right click one of the vector layers in the Layers palette and select “Merge Visible.” Preview

Now, you can style your border by using tools from the “Effects” menu.

Fading Border

Achieving a fading border is very similar to have a two-coloured border. Start with your blank image again (no borders) and instead of resizing it, keep it at 140 x 140 px. This time, select the Pen/Line tool, the pen. In the pen tool palette set the width to 1px, and set the Mode as “Draw Lines and Poloylines” (the straight line), use “Solid” as your “Line Style” and do not check the Anti-alias box. Now, select in your Foreground and Background colour boxes the two colours you want to use for your line. Also make sure “Create on Vector is checked” and “Connect Segments” is not checked. You can choose whether or not you want to show the nodes. Preview

Now, click your Foreground/Stroke colour box and click the “Gradient Tab.” For a fading border you need to select either “Fading Foreground” or “Fading Background” as your gradient. Set your ‘Angle” at 0 and “Repeat” at 0. Depending upon whether you clicked Foreground Fade or Background Fade, you want to check “Invert” only if your solid colour is toward the bottom. Click “Okay” and then click the last button beneath the Background/Fill colour box so it becomes transparent. Preview

Now click on the top lefthand corner of your icon and draw a line straight down. I don’t draw the line the whole way down, I stop about 3/4 of the way down. You maye have to practice a bit to place your cursor in the exact spot and draw a straight line. You’ll see the little grey line which shows the path of your line and if it is jagged at all, your line won’t be straight. Preview

You may find that a little difficult but we only have to draw the left and top borders. Before we can draw the top border, however, we need to change the Angle of the Gradient so the colours of the corners match up. Click the Foregound/Stroke colour box, which shows your gradient, and change the “Angle” to 90. Again, you may need to check or uncheck invert so the solid colour is toward the left. Press “Okay.” Preview

Positon your cursor at the top left corner and draw a straight line across about 3/4 of the way. It should draw the line on the same vector layer as the first line. Preview

Now we need to duplicate that layer by selecting “Duplicate” from the “Layers” menu (or right click the vector layer on the layers palette and press “Duplicate.” Before we can flip and mirror, we need to convert the vector to a raster layer otherwise each line will flip and mirror on its own and not create the desired effect. Select “Convert to Raster” from the “Layers” menu (or press CTRL + Shift + P). Next, we need to Flip and Mirror the layer and our border is complete. Select “Flip” from the “Image” menu (or press CTRL + I) and press “Mirror” from the “Image” menu (or press CTRL + M). Preview

Our border is done and you can save. If you save and it asks you to merge layers select “Okay.”

If you want to stylize this border we have to merge the two border layers. In the Layers palette press the Visibility Toggle, the little eye, next to our background layer so it disappears. Then, right click one of the vector layers in the Layers palette and select “Merge Visible.” Preview

Now, you can style your border by using tools from the “Effects” menu.