*Element
ELEMENT: Metal Frames
By Jeri Ingalls 2005
Apr 16, 2005, 05:52

Do you like the look of the small metallic frames on your scrapbook pages, but don’t want the bulk in your album?  Then making the frames digitally and adding them to your layouts is the way to go.  And with PhotoImpact, it’s easy to get realistic looking frames…without the bulk.

First open up a New Image along side your layout in the size you want the frame to be on the page.  I’m going to make mine 4x4 inches (300 dpi). For the custom color choose black.   Any color can be used, but black stands out the best.

After choosing OK, you should now have a black box opened up on your desktop.  Now, in your top menu bar, chose Selection/All to put a marquee around it.  This will be the outside of your frame.  Then choose Selection/Expand Shrink to open up the command box pictured below.

Use the settings above, and press okay.  You will now see that your marquee has moved inward.  More than likely, you’ll need to repeat this process a couple more times (the most you can move at a time is 64) to get to the size you want the inside of the frame to be outlined with the marquee.  You should have something similar to the picture below…depending on how thick you want your frame to be.  Next, choose Selection/Invert and the frame itself will now be your selection.

Now you will need to make this shape a path so that you will be able to add a preset to it later.  To do this go to Edit/Trace/SelectionMarquee and choose OK.  This will take you into the Shape Tool/Horizonal Deform mode.  Now choose the pointer tool at the top of the left toolbar to select the frame so you can copy/paste it onto your layout.  Choose Edit/Copy, than click on your layout to select it, then Edit/Paste under Pointer and the frame will now be a path based shape on your layout as shown below.

Now is the time to make size adjustments if any need to be made.  Also, you can close the window in which you made the frame as you will no longer be needing it, unless you will be making multiple frames, then you may want to keep it open.

Now to add the metallic look to the frame.  In the toolbar on the right-hand side there is the Easy Palette.  Open this up and choose the Gallery Button.  Scroll down to find the Metallic presets in the Material Attribute Gallery.  I’m going to choose the Steel preset for this frame.  Double click, and this effect will be applied to your frame.

You will probably need to set the mode on your shape (make sure the shape tool is selected) to 3D round to see the results, otherwise you will just have a flat colored frame.  Here is what I have now on my screen.

Now I like to zoom in close to make these next adjustments.  By opening the Material option in the top toolbar, you can adjust the lighting, the bevel, the border/depth, etc.  Play around with the settings until you get the look you want.  Remember, we will be adding things to the frame so be sure and leave a nice-sized flat area to work with on the surface of the frame itself.

Now you can add words or dingbats to your frame.  Using the text tool, type in your word.  Use any color you want, I’m using black again for the contrast.  We will be changing this though, so any color will work.

Now I’m going to make the text look as if it’s etched into the metallic frame.  To do this I use the same steps as I did above in making the frame look metallic, I open the Easy Palette, find the same metallic preset, click on it, and make sure the mode for the text is set to 3D Round.  Now your Text will look metallic as well, the next thing you need to do is to change the depth in the material panel so that it’s a negative number.

Now when you select OK, the text will look like it’s carved into the metal like below:

To make the text appear even deeper, try adjusting the Brightness & Contrast of the text as well.  I reduced the brightness to make it appear as it does in the picture below.

This same technique can be used to add more words, shapes, whatever you want to decorate your frame with.  You can add as much or as little as you like, and if you want to even give your frame more shine, play with the brightness and contrast a bit.  You can also use the color balance to change the tint of your frame.  The rest is up to you, be creative!  I’ve kept this one simple, but don’t be afraid to experiment with various fonts and dingbats.

Make sure to add a drop shadow when you have finished to make it appear to stand off of the page.  Drop a photo behind it, and you’re finished!