grunge frame

[lindaf]

Does anyone know how to make a grudge frame? Ive dl grunge brushes but they still dont look all that great. I googled free grunge frames to dl but didnt see much. If anyone knows how to mke one or where i can dl free ones i would appreciate it. Thanx

[Diana]

Hi Linda,

Here's a grunge border brush:
http://wyckedbrush.deviantart.com/art/Grungy-Border-Brushes-for-PS-34124715

Here's a whole list of brush sights with frames & borders you might check out:
http://www.elementsvillage.com/forums/showpost.php?p=339296&postcount=12

Here's a link to Jessica Sprague's Grunge Mask Border:
http://spraguelab.squarespace.com/imported-archives/2006/4/28/photoshop-friday-issue-no-3.html

Hope these help.

Diana

Edited: Repeated a link twice rather than inserting the correct link.

[Diana]

Here are a couple of tutorials I dug out that I used in a class I taught. They were illustrated PDF files, but they were too big to attach here, so I condensed them down to text steps. Hopefully they are understandable.

Diana

Simple Method for Creating a Grunge Border with Brushes

1. Open and Crop photo, if needed.

2. Ctrl-J to duplicate background layer

3. Turn off the visibility of the background layer by clicking on the eye

4. On the duplicate layer, using Rectangular Marquee, draw out a selection near the edges of the image approximately where you would want your border to end.

5. From the Menu: Select > Inverse

6. Select the Eraser Tool and pick a grungy brush

7. Click once with the Eraser tool on different areas of the border. Since only the border is selected, your eraser brush won’t have any effect on the image inside the border.

8. Change brushes often because you won’t want all of the cut-outs of the border to look alike. The grungier the brush, the better grunge border you’ll get.

9. After you have all areas of the selected border “erased” like you want it, deselect the border with Ctrl-D

10. Now use a few stamps of your Eraser brush further into your image so you don’t have a sharp inside edge to your border. Ctrl-Z to Undo if you get a stroke you don’t like, and then continue. Just experiment to get the look you want

11. Leave the bottom background layer hidden and Save your image in the .PNG format, which preserves the transparency of the edges. If you wish to add the image to another background or a scrapbook page, the new background will show through where the edge was erased away.


Creating a Decorative Photo Edge with Filters

This method works best on images with no light colored edges.

1. Open a photo, edit and crop as desired

2. Alt+Double Click on background layer to make it a regular layer

3. Press Ctrl+Create New Layer Icon to make a new blank layer below the photo

4. Fill the new layer with White: Menu > Edit > Fill Layer > White

5. Click Create Adjustment Layer icon, Select Levels, make no adjustment, just click OK

6. Click on the photo layer to make it active

7. Group the photo to the Adjustment Layer: Menu > Layer > Group with Previous

8. Click on the Adjustment Layer white MASK (Important…make sure you’re on the Mask)

9. Fill the Mask with Black by inverting the color – Ctrl-I (the image in your workspace will turn white)

10. While you are still on the black Mask in the layers palette, on the white image in the workspace, use the Rectangular Marquee to make a selection the size of the border you want

11. Fill the selection with white: Menu > Edit > Fill Selection > White (the photo will reappear inside the selection area)

12. Ctrl-D to deselect

13. While still on the MASK in the layers palette, apply a Filter such as Filter > Brush Strokes > Spatter (experiment with different Filters to get interesting effects)

14. Merge the layers with Menu > Layer > Merge Visible

15. Using the Magic Wand tool, with Tolerance about 5 and Contiguous unchecked in the Options Bar, click once on the white border in the workspace to select it.

If, when you click with the Magic Wand, you see a few other areas in the image selected that you don’t want selected, grab the Lasso tool with the Options Bar set to “Subtract from Selection” and drag a selection around the areas that aren’t part of the border area (this will deselect those areas). If a large amount of the image is selected when you click the white border with the Magic Wand, that photo may not be suited for this technique.

16. Press Delete key to delete the selected white border, then Ctrl-D to Deselect

17. You now have a transparent edging on the image, which you can add to any background

18. Save the image in a format to preserve its transparency: Menu > File > Save As > at Format, click the dropdown arrow and select PNG, give it a filename and select location > OK

Experiment with different Filters, using settings of your choice. Some that work well are:

Filter > Brush Strokes > Spatter Filter > Distort > Ripple
Filter > Brush Strokes > Sprayed Strokes Filter > Distort > Glass > Frosted
Filter > Stylize > Diffuse Filter > Distort > Wave

[Aussie Nan]

WOW Diana, I am so impressed with all your effort here. Great stuff!

Toni

[lindaf]

Thank you all so much for your help. Can you tell me where to put my borders & frames after I downloaded them? I have PSE 4

[lisabee]

Diana,

thanks ever so much for sharing your instructions. I had a go at the grunge frame this morning and have added an image to my gallery using a grungey-frame, and also found some great bat brushes on one of the links you gave

http://www.elementsvillage.com/gallery/files/1/2/6/4/2/Abbey_thumb.jpg (http://www.elementsvillage.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=814&c=5)

thanks very much for all your generosity, :)

Lisa

[Diana]

Great image, Lisa! Glad you were able to use the tut.

Linda, I just have a folder under My Documents, titled PSE Stuff, then subfolders for all the stuff I download by category to save my borders, frames, overlays, backgrounds/papers/textures, embellishments, etc. (all the stuff that isn't installed within Elements). If you use Organizer you can then also tag them there.

Diana

[Diana]

Here's a link that was posted a long time ago, but I know there are a lot of newcomers since then. This site contains over 100 edge mask effects, not necessarily grunge, but some of them are pretty nice. There are also instructions for using them in PSE - #4 and #5 in the information below the edge links.

http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/freedownloads/l/blframesmain.htm

I used one of those edges for this image in my Gallery:

http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/gallery/view_img.php?id=11722

Diana

[Aussie Nan]

Thanks for the fabulous link Diana.

Toni

[lisabee]

Thanks for mask links Diana. The mask/frame looks great in your gallery :)

Lisa

[lindaf]

Diana, thank you for the wonderful link. Thank you all for your help!

[Bayla]

For anyone who's interested - Linda Sattgast's Premier for January 2008 is all about creating grungy borders and frames. You have to subscribe to be a Premier member but she gives loads of video tutorials each month plus you get a kit, plus a discount in her shop.

www.scrappersguide.com (http://www.scrappersguide.com)

Bayla

[lindaf]

Bayla, Looks great! Thank you :)

[GaryK]

Bayla

Thanks for that. I got the email reminder but haven't gotten over there yet for the Jan. issue.:)

I used to not like grunge very much.. it is growing on me latley. Mind you I have just started warming up to bell bottoms and platform shoes.:D

[Bayla]

Mind you I have just started warming up to bell bottoms and platform shoes.:D

What a pity I got rid of all mine from the '70s....I could have passed them on.....:D

Bayla

[kimi_boo]

Hi there Miss Diana... keeper of all information. :)

I am trying to find a brush set that has a stain that forms when you put a glass down on the table.

Any idea who, what, where or why?

[Bayla]

Kimi,

Hang in there - I've downloaded a coffee stain brush....just trying to find it. Watch this space!

Bayla

EDIT: Got it! http://www.brushes.obsidiandawn.com/sets/waterstains.htm

[kimi_boo]

A Big Hug and Kiss to you Bayla!! :D

just what I was looking for. ;)

[scrappingmel]

Hi there,
I townloaded the masks from the link. I have followed the instructions and while the file will show up, the actual thumbnails for the masks are not there.

Can anyone help?

Thanks,
Mellinda

[Bayla]

Mellinda,

Which of the links are you talking about? I know I've downloaded the Jessica Sprague grunge mask but I just open it up in PSE whenever I want to use it....

Bayla

[Diana]

Hi there,
I townloaded the masks from the link. I have followed the instructions and while the file will show up, the actual thumbnails for the masks are not there.

Can anyone help?

Thanks,
Mellinda

Hi Mel, If these are the ones you mean.......
http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/freedownloads/l/blframesmain.htm
.....they don't actually contain a mask thumbnail. The instructions for using them are below the links to the edges at #4 and #5.

Also, here is another thread discussing those masks:
http://www.elementsvillage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28753

Diana