Software Used: Corel Photo-Paint 9
In this tutorial we'll be adding a frame to a picture using the image sprayer
tool and a texture fill in Photo-Paint. I'm using Photo-Paint 9, but the same
technique should also work in version 8 and up.
1.) Start by opening your image. I'm using an image of my husband as a young boy. Would you believe this cowboy grew up to become About.com's Guide to Hunting? I realize this photo has some problems, but we'll save that cleanup for another tutorial. I'm also creating the frame much too large in proportion to the picture so you can see the detail of the frame while keeping the images to a reasonable size.
2.) We need to add some extra space around the picture to make room for the frame we'll be adding. Go to Image -> Paper Size and add 100-150 pixels to either the width or height. By clicking the tiny lock button (indicated by the red arrow), you can add proportionally in both directions.
3.) Select the freehand mask tool and draw a rough mask around the edges of the original picture.
4.) I want to keep the background intact, so I'm going to create a new object (layer) by clicking the New Object button in the Object Manager.
If your Object Manager is not on-screen you can bring it up by going to Windows -> Dockers -> Object Manager.
5.) Make sure that the object you just created is selected in the Object Manager.
6.) Choose the custom image sprayer tool.
7.) Choose brown rope as the spray list from the drop down menu, select a size (I'm using 12), make sure orbits are on, then click the stroke mask button on the property bar. For the stroke position, choose middle of mask border.
8.) The rope border is added to the new object.
9.) Create another new object and drag it between the rope and the background image in the object manager docker.
You can double click an object in the manager to rename each object. I've renamed
the rope layer, and the new layer I just created.
10.) Double click on the fill color swatch in the status bar
to bring up the select fill dialog.
11.) Click the texture fill button, then click Edit.
12.) Change the texture library to Styles and select the Leather 3C fill from the list. I didn't like the default color of this fill, so I adjusted the Mid-shade and Brightness to come up with a texture I liked better. Clicking preview will show you the results of your changes.
Once you've adjusted the color of the fill, click OK to both dialogs to return to your workspace.
13.) Go to the Mask menu and choose Invert.
14.) Make sure your middle layer is active, select the fill tool, and click inside the mask marquee.
15.) If you're not happy with the fill after filling, you can click the Edit Fill button on the property bar and make changes to the texture. I found I liked the fill better after moving the density up to 100 and adjusting the volume to 5 (these options are indicated with red arrow in the edit fill screen shot above). After you edit the fill, you'll need to click inside the marquee area again with the fill tool.
16.) The texture still seemed a little harsh, so I went to Effects ->
Blur -> Jaggy Despeckle, and applied an amount of two, then repeated it.
17.) Make the rope layer active again.
18.) From the Mask menu, choose Select All, then go to Mask -> Shape
-> Reduce -> 10 pixels.
19.) Select the image sprayer tool, set the options exactly like you
did in step 7, and stroke the mask using the middle option again. You should
have a rope border around the edge of your frame.
20.) Now you'll need to zoom in on the area where your rope border begins
and ends. We're going to hide the ends of the rope next.
21.) Add a new object above the rope object from the object manager docker.
22.) With the brown rope image sprayer active and set to the same size
used in the previous steps, click directly over the end of the rope where the
seam is and carefully drag along the path just a short distance out. Don't worry
about getting it perfect; as long as it lines up closely, it should be good
23.) Now use any of the mask tools to select the very end of the new
rope you just painted. After selecting the first end, you can hold down shift
to select the second end while leaving the first selected. Hit delete.... no
24.) In the Object Manager, select the rope object and the new object
above it. Go to Object -> Combine -> Objects Together.
25.) You can also remove your mask. Mask -> Remove.
If desired, you can delete your background layer, combine the rope and frame layers together, and save your frame in the native Photo-Paint format to use on other pictures.
You must save in the native Corel Photo-Paint format to retain the transparency of the frame.
To use a different picture with the frame... open the picture, copy it and paste as a new object into the frame. Move the pasted object below the frame and move it into position.
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