Gallery like finishing touches on photos

[mschnare]

Both Dave Cross and Matt Kloskowski offer a video on photoshopelementsuser.com on how to make your photo into a gallery-like photo (with text below and border, etc.)

I use Aperture and PSE. My question is, if the aspect ratio of my photo is 3:2 and I am adding canvas to all four sides of my photo in PSE (on one side I'm adding more canvas than the other three sides to allow for text), how do I get the image (with additional canvas added) so that I can print an 11 X 17 finished size?

I also am a SmugMug user and the example I can show you is here:

http://marlaeschnare.smugmug.com/gallery/8636270_wgz9R#581090447_AVzeG

SmugMug allows you to buy various prints, including an 11 X 17 post-it poster. But the photo you see above has to be "cropped" and I lose some of my border and text. You can adjust the crop, but not as it is here as I think the aspect ratio is now skewed b/c of the added canvas, etc.

Any advice?

[Jeff Perry]

mschnare,

One way to quickly and easily do what you want is actually with the crop tool to expand the canvas. I know, doesn't sound right....

Open your image.

Hit "D" on the keyboard to set your foreground/background color swatch to default black/white.

Select the Crop tool, and set the dimensions in the options bar to 11X17 (or 17X11 for a landscape).

Now click the upper left corner of the image and drag out the crop box to the bottom right. Release the mouse button.

Grab the corners of the "bounding box" (called "handles") and pull them out side the image area to a distance that gives you the amount of gallery mat that you want. Offset it by moving the bounding box to give you more space at the bottom.

When you are happy, commit the crop, and you will have a white border added.

Then add a text.

Jeff

[Diana]

Hi,

Due to the difference in aspect ratio, the only way you'll be able to create a gallery print type image at 11 x 17 is to have more white space on the sides than the top or bottom. It really doesn't look that bad. I took a screenshot of your Buckley Hall image (hope you don't mind) and tried it to see what it would look like, here:


http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1QquYtPuuJ0eP4EiJRu3s0dg1MRfc0_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1QquYtPuuJ0eP4EiJRu3s0dg1MRfc0)

To create this, start with a new blank document 17 x 11, preferably 300 ppi resolution, with white background. Turn on the grid under the View menu. Add your B&B photo and, using the grid squares as a guide, center it horizontally, then position it vertically so you have more space at the bottom then top. Then add the stroke and text.

Here's what my workspace looks like with the grid.

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/18IpDlGVuwytSqxnSIyJ3USg934FZS_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=18IpDlGVuwytSqxnSIyJ3USg934FZS)

By the way, if you are going to have your image printed, your blank file you start out, and your image you add to it, should be 200 to 300 ppi resolution. I was working in 72 ppi because that's what the screenshot I took was.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have more questions.:)

Diana