**Program Tutorials** : Photoshop Elements : *Technique

Spice up your layouts with rounded corners on your photos and mats in PSE 3. This tutorial will show how to use the Cookie Cutter tool to crop photos with rounded corners.

1. Start with a photo already placed in a layout on its own layer.
   
2. With the photo layer active, open the Cookie Cutter tool.
   
3. Click the down arrow next to the shape preview and select the rounded square to use for cropping.
   
4. Click the down arrow next to Shape Options and select Defined Proportions to make sure that the photo is cropped into a square. Select Unconstrained to crop the photo into a rectangle instead.
   Note: Make sure that the Crop box is NOT selected in the Options toolbar. If it is PSE will crop your entire layout not just the active layer.
   
5. Draw the shape on top of the photo.
   
6. A preview of the cropped photo will show and at this point you can adjust the size, angle or location of the cropped portion.
   
7. Click the checkmark to finalize the cropping. Crop other papers in the same manner and add drop shadows and your layout is well on its way to completion.