Expert: LizaL - 11/14/2006

Question
I have adjusted a picture into 3 different types: duotone, black & white and normal. My problem is that i cant seem to put it into one document so its a montage. Also how do i put borders around each picture. Thankyou
P.S. Check this site for an example how it is suppose to look like, its near the bottom of the page, http://www.beddard.co.uk/ICT/assign01.cfm

Answer
There's an easy way to create borders, and I'd do that to each picture *before*  creating the montage. Take your first picture and decide what size border you want. For the sake of example, let's say your first picture is 2 inches x 2 inches, and you want a half-inch border all around. That would mean your physical document size would be 3 inches by 3 inches. So go to the File pulldown menu in Photoshop, select New..., and enter 3 for both Width and Height.

Now fill this document with the color you want for your border. You can fill it in a variety of ways; one easy way is to select Fill from the Edit pulldown menu. Fill with either the Fore- or Background color, or choose a color by selecting "Color" and choosing a color from the palette that comes up.

Once you've done this, you can drag your picture into the new document. Use the Move tool (the arrow at the top of the toolbox), and position it within the filled document to give the illusion of a border. Use ruler guides for accurate positioning.

To ensure that your picture and its "border" background layer stay linked, click on either layer to select it in the Layers palette, then click on the little box beside the eye icon in the Layers palette. You should see a chain link appear, meaning the two layers are locked and won't separate from each other.

Do this for all 3 pictures, and then create your montage in the same manner. Calculate the document size you will need in order to accommodate all three pictures. In other words, if you have three pictures that measure 3 x 3 inches and you want them side by side, your Photoshop document will need to measure at least 9 x 3 -- and to give space between each photo, and also at top and bottom, maybe add an extra inch to those dimensions. So go to to the Image pulldown menu and select Canvas Size... and enter the value for your document's new physical size. When you've created a document that's sized correctly to accommodate all three pictures, drag each one in and position it.

Hope this helps!