Border Bafflement

[mswnow]

Hey. I am trying to make a border arround a portrait I have from several months ago. I Just did it 5 minutes ago and didnt like it so I started over. I DONT GET IT. I tried it again and I cant do it. What I want is a narrow (5px) stroke arround the whole thing, and a thicker (15 px) stroke 1.5 inches inside, with a filter in between. I just did it, but now I can't figure out how to make the selection. I have three layers, background, portrait and stroke. How do i make the selection a specific distance in from the outside of the Picture? Or, how do I make the selection centered with the same aspect ratio as the whole picture? When I tried that, it either resized the portrait (with portrait layer selected) or said no pixels were selected (with stroke layer selected). I really dont understand, does anyone know what I'm talking about?.

[jo]

No pixels usually means you have a blank layer active, not the layer you thought you were working on.

Make the first selection with "fixed aspect ratio" 3 inches smaller than the picture size. If the ruler is on you can see where you are beginning 1.5 inches in from top and side.

Make a new layer for the stroke and do the edit>stroke selection with 15 pixels (inside).

Select inverse.

Activate the original layer and cntrl J to get a separate layer for this "frame".

Activate the stroke layer and select all, Do the edit> stroke selection with 5 pixels (inside).

Now you can do whatever filters or adjustments you like with the frame separately from whatever you like with the stroked lines.