Kaleidoscope Framing Techniques

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	PSP 6 or 7
	Add borders	Layers
	Promote to layer	Cutout
	Magic Wand	Cutout
	Kaleidoscope	Photo I used or your own
	Click on the image below to download the zip file of this image. If you use your own image, when instructions are give to use a specific color, what you need to do is choose two complimentary colors from your image, preferably one that is dark and the other one a light shade.

Step 1: First, we are going to add a series of borders to this image. If you are using any image other than the one in the zip file, you need to flatten your image so that is a background, not a layer (layers, merge all). Your image also should be set to 16 million colors (colors, increase color depth, 16 million.) It doesn't matter what format your image started out in, as long as it had these qualities now.

Background color to #313D8C

Foreground color to #EBD0DB

Add a symmetric border of 5 pixels.

Switch your background and foreground colors and add another symmetric border of 5 pixels

Change your background color to some color that is not in your image (or not evident to be in your image). Example: #40FF40.

Add a symmetric border of 25 pixels.

Switch back to the lighter of your two originally selected colors and add another symmetric border of 5 pixels.

Switch back to the darker color and add a symmetric border of 10 pixels.

You should now have something that looks like this:

Step 2: Now you need to promote this image to a layer. On your layers palette, right click on the background layer, then select promote to layer.

Use your magic wand to select the green (or whatever color you used for the 25 pixel selection) , then hit the delete key on your keyboard.

Do not deselect.

Step 3: Next, we are going to switch over to using the kaleidoscope effect to this empty section.

The screen shots are PSP7 screenshots, so it may look a little different from PSP6, but your results should end up similar. I have had two different results that I likes, all by just changing the rotation angle, so I'm posting them both. You can choose either or do both, but make certain that you copy what you have already done and paste as a new image.

PSP6 users: Image/Effects/Kaleidoscope

PSP7 users: Effects/Reflection Effects/Kaleidoscope

Settings Effect One:

Settings Effect Two:

The only difference between these two settings is the rotation angle. Remember for now just to choose one or the other.

Step 4: Don't deselect yet. Now, add two new layers. We are going to add cut out effects to these new layers. Select layer two and go to your cut out tool.

PSP6 users: Image/Effects/Cut Out

PSP7 users: Effects/3D Effects/Cut Out

Settings: Color: Black, Vertical 3, Horizontal 3, Opacity 57, blur 8.8

Now select layer 3, then the cut out tool.

Settings: Color: Black, Vertical -3, Horizontal -3, Opacity 57, blur 8.8

Now go to and merge visible (not all) layers.

Step 5: The next few steps will be entail using features from the selections menu. We are now setting your image up to bevel the outer 15 pixels to make a frame.

Go to selections and select all.

Go to selections, modify, contract 15 pixels.

Go to selections, invert.

Unless you have the marching ants hidden, you should have the outer two borders selected in single selection.

We will now be using the inner bevel tool.

PSP6 users: Image/Effects/Inner bevel

PSP7 users: Effects/3D effects/Inner bevel

You now have several options, you can save this as a transparent gif

If you are making stationery, you can copy and paste it over a background tile

If you aren't comfortable with saving as a transparent gif, you can add a new layer and flood fill it with a color or texture that you choose and then move the new layer below the saved image you have just created.

Here are my two finished images:

Setting 1 Results

Setting 2 Results

Click here for a larger example.

Download the PDF of this tutorial here.
Download Free Acrobat Reader here.

	Updated 02/06/02
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