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extremely simple way to add borders around an image file, like in PS CS5


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What I am looking for, what I need, is to very simply create a border around an image, for printing.  Example is an one inch border, gray, all around the image file.   Then, another border, two inches all around, with another color, say, dark blue.   Thus I have a matted print that comes out of my Epson Pro 9900.   I do this in PS CS5.  


 


I would prefer to do this in AP.   I don’t want to mess with pixels, since I don’t know how.   


 


“Affinity Photo - Adding Borders”…I have watched this time and again.  Over and over, and still don’t know what to do.    It would be beneficial to me to have a person talking slowly  and moving slowly, so I can understand.  Even someone else could guide me to a different way to create borders the way I must have them!


 


It should not be that difficult to create borders they way I need them in my work flow.


 


Cheers


 


David


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a very simple method to add a border around the image (that is, outside the image) is to enlarge the canvas keeping the image layer centered, then add a fill layer, fill it with the color of choice, and move it below the image layer.

take care,

stefano

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I'm not sure what dimentions your picture is.. so I use examples.

 

Make a new document 10x12 inces, drag out the rectangular tool -dark blue.

Copy the picture cmd C (I assume you have it open in Affinity)

Go to your new document and do cmd V to paste the picture on top.

 

Activate the move tool and change the picture to the size you want. Say 9x10

 

Select your blue layer and your picture in the layers panel (click on one and cmd click on the other).

Activate the move tool and on the top left, you can use the align horizontal and vertical command.

 

Then click on your picture layer. Go to the effect tab (besides the layer tab) and click outline.

Click the small cog icon and choose the inside alignment.

In the colour bar you can choose the gray colour. Choose the width with the slider.

 

You can go to View>rulers and drag out guides to help with the eyeballing.. ;)

post-14034-0-13630900-1456177534_thumb.png

post-14034-0-98197300-1456178548_thumb.png

- Affinity Photo 2.3.0
- Affinity Designer 2.3.0
-Affinity Publisher 2.3.0

 

MacBook Pro 16 GB
MacOS Sonoma 14.1.2

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Hi David,

 

I've put together a short video which hopefully understands and solves your question. You may have to download from Dropbox for better quality.

 

Download here

 

 

If this helped don't forget to subscribe to Affinity TV

 

AffinityTv

 

Allan

AffinityTV

About me: Trainer at Apple, Freelance Video Editor, Motion Graphics Artist, Website Designer, Photographer. Yes I like creating things!!!

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/mystrawberrymonkey/

Twitter: @StrawberryMnky  @imAllanThompson

Web: mystrawberrymonkey.com  Portfolio: behance.net/allanthompson

YouTube: Affinity Designer & Photo Tutorials

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  • 2 weeks later...

post-21053-0-79021100-1456878754_thumb.jpgHi David, only recently I had need first of all convert a very small photo to a sketch,  then add a border. The sketch was converted usingTopaz, placed it in AP, selected all, then using the marquee selection tool to inset to approximately 5 cm. Made the first colour with the paint brush.I then de-selected. After which I added the final border  edge, approximately 15 cm. I changed the colour slightly, but this time I reduced the opacity 80percent to allow the previous border to show through. The borders I only approximated, just for me  to see the effect. I will play around further to see what AP can do with effects. One thing more, I tried to follow Allan tutorial but only got as far as the document. I could not get the green and red Lines showing when Hovered over the corner. I would like to progress right through the tutorial. Is he could let me know what I'm doing wrong I would appreciate it. Brian  

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"I could not get the green and red Lines showing when Hovered over the corner."

 

BJA 42, I did not watch the video but from your description, it sound line those lines are snapping indicators that show the 'snapping candidates' for nodes, geometries, etc. For them to appear, you need to have snapping turned on, set to snap to the appropriate items, & "Show snapping candidates" enabled in the Snapping menu item.

 

Also, I have noticed that sometimes, depending on the various snapping options enabled, it can take a short time (for my system around ½ second) for them to appear after dragging something to hover in the vicinity of a snapping point.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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Thanks for the reply RC-R. However I do have those items checked and the little magnet switched on. The video was clear and precise but I cannot get over the first hurdle. I did notice that when I had the new document displayed, the menubar I have differed from the video. Remember at this time I have no layers. If you have an opportunity, check out the video. Regards Brian

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The video was clear and precise but I cannot get over the first hurdle. I did notice that when I had the new document displayed, the menubar I have differed from the video. Remember at this time I have no layers.

It may not have been obvious in the video that the rectangle tool was selected when he moved the pointer to the top left corner. Do that & you should see the same context menu bar as in the video & the same red & green snapping indicators at the corners. Dragging out the rectangle as is done in the video should automatically create a rectangle layer when you release the mouse button, so you should get the same results as it shows if you start the drag at the top left corner & end it at the bottom right one.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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  • Staff

 I could not get the green and red Lines showing when Hovered over the corner. I would like to progress right through the tutorial. Is he could let me know what I'm doing wrong I would appreciate it.

 

Hi BJA 42,

Make sure you have Snap to Spread checked in the Snapping Manager... (menu View ▸ Snapping Manager...). It should then pick the document top left corner.

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Thank you RC-R, I had not tried the rectangular tool, I see the new context menu bar as in the video, and double checked the snapping manager checkboxes as suggested by MEB (thanks for your response) but again no red and green guidelines. The quality of the download for this tutorial was not that clear for me and I still cannot see other alternatives.

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Further to my previous input, closely examining the video, I noticed that when the pointer was on the magnet, then started to move across the document, the context menu bar changed and differed from my menu bar, which made no change. Also no tools were indicated except the pointer to changed to a cross on the video!

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Further to my previous input, closely examining the video, I noticed that when the pointer was on the magnet, then started to move across the document, the context menu bar changed and differed from my menu bar, which made no change. Also no tools were indicated except the pointer to changed to a cross on the video!

I think that at about the 2:25 mark in the video, right about when he begins to say, "If I hover ..." he uses a keyboard shortcut (by default the U key) to change from the View (hand) tool to the Rectangle one. If you look very closely, at that point you will notice that the dark background indicating the currently selected tool on the tool panel suddenly switches from the View to the Rectangle tool. 

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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Hi RC-R, your Gif belies your eyesight, either way you are one smart cookie, if you don't mind me saying so. I press the U key and hey presto! The blue and red Lines appeared when I hovered over the corner. I can now get on the rest of the tutorial, (thanks to you), hopefully without any more glitches. I've spent too much time with PS. 

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Wasn't isn't my eyesight or my brain power (such as it is) that helped me spot the tool change. It was that I opened the video to full size on my 27" iMac's screen that did it.  :lol:

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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Alan:   I almost got it.  Lots of trial and error.  Now, how do I use the eye dropper to choose a color inside the image?

 

I use these 'matts' in place of actual matts.  Therefore I choose colors to complement the image.

 

Kind Regards,

 

David

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The Affinity eyedropper works differently from the eyedropper tool in PS & most other graphic apps. To use it, click & drag on the eyedropper icon. As you begin to drag, the pointer will turn into a circular magnified image of the pixels under its screen position. When it is centered over a pixel of the color you want, release the mouse button & that color will be placed in the tiny color well next to the eyedropper icon. Click on that well to change the current color to that one. It works for any screen position, even ones outside the Affinity windows.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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Allan....Thank you for the training video.   THAT IS what I needed.

 

Thanks, again.

 

David

 

 

Alan:   I almost got it.  Lots of trial and error.  Now, how do I use the eye dropper to choose a color inside the image?

 

I use these 'matts' in place of actual matts.  Therefore I choose colors to complement the image.

 

Kind Regards,

 

David

 

No worries glad I could help...

About me: Trainer at Apple, Freelance Video Editor, Motion Graphics Artist, Website Designer, Photographer. Yes I like creating things!!!

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/mystrawberrymonkey/

Twitter: @StrawberryMnky  @imAllanThompson

Web: mystrawberrymonkey.com  Portfolio: behance.net/allanthompson

YouTube: Affinity Designer & Photo Tutorials

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I think that at about the 2:25 mark in the video, right about when he begins to say, "If I hover ..." he uses a keyboard shortcut (by default the U key) to change from the View (hand) tool to the Rectangle one. If you look very closely, at that point you will notice that the dark background indicating the currently selected tool on the tool panel suddenly switches from the View to the Rectangle tool. 

 

Thanks, not sure what happened with this I thought I had mentioned that step. It was very late and probably cut it out by mistake. This was just meant to answer David's question but glad others are interested. Might have to re do this one... 

About me: Trainer at Apple, Freelance Video Editor, Motion Graphics Artist, Website Designer, Photographer. Yes I like creating things!!!

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/mystrawberrymonkey/

Twitter: @StrawberryMnky  @imAllanThompson

Web: mystrawberrymonkey.com  Portfolio: behance.net/allanthompson

YouTube: Affinity Designer & Photo Tutorials

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Further to my previous input, closely examining the video, I noticed that when the pointer was on the magnet, then started to move across the document, the context menu bar changed and differed from my menu bar, which made no change. Also no tools were indicated except the pointer to changed to a cross on the video!

 

My apologies, should have made that clear. RCR is correct though. It was late and was just a quick video as it was easier to do that then explain the steps for David. Never really liked the Dropbox quality usually use YouTube if it was going to upload this to Affinity TV.

 

Allan

About me: Trainer at Apple, Freelance Video Editor, Motion Graphics Artist, Website Designer, Photographer. Yes I like creating things!!!

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/mystrawberrymonkey/

Twitter: @StrawberryMnky  @imAllanThompson

Web: mystrawberrymonkey.com  Portfolio: behance.net/allanthompson

YouTube: Affinity Designer & Photo Tutorials

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The Affinity eyedropper works differently from the eyedropper tool in PS & most other graphic apps. To use it, click & drag on the eyedropper icon. As you begin to drag, the pointer will turn into a circular magnified image of the pixels under its screen position. When it is centered over a pixel of the color you want, release the mouse button & that color will be placed in the tiny color well next to the eyedropper icon. Click on that well to change the current color to that one. It works for any screen position, even ones outside the Affinity windows.

 

(My highlighting)

 

Hi, I find that I don't need to click on the "well", the main swatch is changing, no need to involve the well. 

I haven't tried it on anything but the brush though.

- Affinity Photo 2.3.0
- Affinity Designer 2.3.0
-Affinity Publisher 2.3.0

 

MacBook Pro 16 GB
MacOS Sonoma 14.1.2

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