Creating a multiple framed photo

I found a tutorial in Digital Photo magazine issue 166 where a template of multiple frames was used to "frame" a photo.  It involved copying and pasting and was fairly abstract.  I decided to try this a different way in Photoshop Elements 10.

1. I created my own template by using the Custom Shape Tool.  I used a plane square shape because anything complicated or intricate in design will make it more difficult to select later on.  The first square was filled with black and the layer duplicated, made smaller and filled with white.

This created the "frame" that I wanted.  Next I merged the two layers and duplicated 5 times, positioning the frames where I wanted them.  I kept the background transparent.

Note:  for a better result make sure the frames sit tightly together without gaps.

2. Opened my photo, corrected colour, levels and added other adjustments until I was happy.  I saved this photo as a separate file and renamed Trip.  I don't want to work on the original file in case I want to work on it later.

3. Drag and drop or cut and paste the template into your photo Trip and resize if necessary to fit on the photo.  Rename this layer Template. Don't worry if you can't see the photo as yet because we first have to select and remove a few pieces.  Double click on the photo layer to unlock it and rename Trip.

4. Make sure that the Template layer is selected then using the Magic Wand tool, click once on each of the white squares of the template.  You may need to refine the selection if the template you created is more detailed.  Press delete and you should now have the frame outlines and be able to see the photo beneath.  Go to Select menu and click on Deselect.

5. Create a new layer beneath the Trip layer, rename Background.  Make sure this Background layer is selected, go to Edit<Fill Layer and under Contents select White.

6. Click on the Template layer, use the Magic Wand and click on the area around the outside of the frames.  Depending on your frame design you may need to click a few times to get the entire area around the frame template selected.  This is the excess that we will be removing.  With the area selected, click on the Trip layer then press delete. Go to the Select menu and click on Deselect.

The excess part of the photo should now be deleted.

7. You can now play around with the Background layer and use textures. gradients, or even add another photo for the background.  I used a dark red, then the Texturizer filter with Patchwork selected.

Merge layers and save.

That's it :-D.