A white border added to a photo resembles a Polaroid.
Long before digital cameras became the norm, Polaroid cameras were one of the most commonly used types of cameras. Polaroids are widely known for producing instant, vintage-looking photos surrounded by a thick white frame. To give digital photos the Polaroid look using Photoshop, create a border around them and use Photoshop's blend effects and filters to adjust the colors and quality of the photos.
Instructions
- 1
Launch Photoshop on your computer and open the photo you want to make into a Polaroid.
- 2
Click "File" and "New" at the top of Photoshop to create a blank white canvas that is 50 pixels wider and 150 pixels longer than the original photo. For instance, if the photo is 400-by-300 pixels, open a canvas that is 450-by-450 pixels.
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- 3
Double-click the thumbnail of the blank white canvas on the Layers panel menu on the right side of the screen, and then click "Blending Options" on the Layers panel menu.
- 4
Define the following effects in the Blending Options menu:
Color Overlay - Color: White [#FFFFFF]
Drop Shadow - Opacity: 40%, Spread: 0% and Size: 5px
Inner Shadow - Opacity:25%, Choke: 0%, Distance: 0px and Size: 60px
- 5
Click on the original photo to bring it to the forefront, and then click "Edit" and "Copy" to copy the picture.
- 6
Click on the blank canvas to bring it to the forefront, and then click "Edit" and "Paste" to paste the picture onto the canvas.
- 7
Click the Move tool (arrow) at the top of the Tools panel. Click on the photo you pasted onto the canvas and move it up on the canvas. There should be a 25 pixel border on each side of the photo, a 25 pixel border above the photo and a 125 pixel border below the photo.
- 8
Click "Layer" and "New Adjustment Layer" at the top of Photoshop, and then click the "Photo Filter" option. Click the "OK" button in the dialog box.
- 9
Select "Warming Filter (85)" from the drop-down menu in the Adjustments panel and click the "Preserve Luminosity" check box. Slide the Density slider to "40%," and then click the "OK" button.
- 10
Click "Image" and "Adjustments" at the top of Photoshop, and then click the "Levels" option. Move the Levels slider to adjust the colors to your specifications.
- 11
Click "Layer" and "Merge Visible" at the top of Photoshop when you are satisfied with the look of the Polaroid.
