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This tutorial demonstrates how to create picture frame templates from Custom Shapes.
Undo and Navigation Steps
Two ways of undoing steps are from the top menu, Edit then Step Backwards. Alternatively, click a previous snapshot in the History Palette.
Navigate (zoom in and pan) your image using the Navigator Palette,
or the Zoom Tool. 
Activate The Hand Tool by tapping the Spacebar, keeping the Spacebar pressed, pan your image in the usual way. 
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From the top menu, choose File then New, and set the following attributes. For personalised frames - choose your own Width and Height dimensions.
Tip
Grab your image’s top right menu, and drag it diagonally upwards, to display its grey canvas. 
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Now, set the Foreground colour to white.  Lesson.
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Then from the left-side toolbar, activate the following Custom Shape Tool. Lesson.
And set the following attributes its Options bar. Important, ensure you left-click to highlight the following Fill pixels tab - highlighted in red.
To display your full choice of custom shapes, left-click the following black triangle - highlighted in red.
And from the subsequent drop-down menu, click the Large Thumbnail tab, shown below - additionally, ensure All is also selected.
Now, scroll the library, search for the heart shape and double left-click to choose it, and your Custom Shape palette is now primed.
Note
You are able to create shaped-frames from most Custom Shapes - naturally, some are more suitable than others.
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It is time to apply the heart shape; therefore, left-click and keep the mouse button pressed, and beginning at the top left of the canvas.
Drag out your heart (or shape). As as soon as you release the mouse button, the white heart is placed onto the canvas. If you need to reapply it, from the top menu, choose Edit then choose Step Backwards.
 
Tip
Resize your custom shape with the Free Transform command. Lesson.
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Now, activate the Move Tool. 
Then left-click, and drag your shape to a central position.
Tip
To reposition your custom shape - pixel by pixel, tap either, the left facing, top, right, or bottom facing arrows of the keyboard. This can be carried out when the Move Tool is active.
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From the toolbar, activate the Magic Wand Tool. 
And set the following attributes into its Options bar.
Now, left-click inside the white heart; and it will be isolated by a selection marquee.
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Then press your keyboard’s Delete key, and the white heart will be removed, leaving a heart shaped selection - illustrated below.
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From the top menu, choose Select then choose Inverse. The selection marquee will now be in the shape of a (transparent) heart frame.
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From the toolbar, activate the Paint Bucket Tool. 
And set the following attributes into its Options bar.
Your Foreground should still be set to white. Now, left-click inside the outer heart-shaped selection, and it will fill with white.
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Press Ctrl then D to remove the marquee.
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Congratulations, you have created a heart-shaped frame template, and it is ready to save as a .psd file template. Therefore, from the top menu, choose File then choose Save as - then choose .psd - explained here. Your frame template is ready to fill with a pattern, solid colour, gradient, plugin, or filter of your choice.
Important Note for (Frame) Custom Shapes
Prior to filling a frame Custom Shape with a fill, first click inside the white frame, to surround it with a marquee - as illustrated below.
This is the result after applying a gold Primus filter to the (selected) white frame.
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To fill your frame with a Layer Style, click the following black arrow next to the Add a layer style (f-fx) icon. Then from the drop-down list, click your choice - I am choosing a Pattern Overlay.
 
In the subsequent Layer Style dialogue box, click your choice of pattern, as described in my lesson Here, then click OK to apply it. To add depth - also from the Add a layer style (f-fx) icon, click Bevel and Emboss - and play with the settings.
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To fill your (white) heart-frame template with a plugin - or filter; from the top menu, choose Filter. Then experiment with the filters and plugins, you have at your disposal.
Note: If your plugin has created a new layer, as my Alien Skin plugin has; from the top menu, choose Layer then choose Merge Visible.
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Have fun creating individual picture frame templates, and personalising them with your choice of fills. My applying picture frames lesson can be found Here.
Wendi E. M. Scarth. Top of Page - Home.
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