Created 12th March 2005. ©Copyright Tbab.co.uk
Property of Shelley Marlow

Today we are going to learn how to use a mask as a frame as decoration to your pictures.


This tutorial is written and made in Psp Version 9 and assumes you have a working knowledge of Psp. It can be made in earlier versions of Psp with a few adjustments, but for this tutorial I will only be explaining how it was made in version 9.

You will need:-

JASC's PSP (free 30 day trial) which you can get here


My zipped file which contains the mask, a pattern jpg and the main picture. You can get it here

Let's get started:-

Step One

Unzip the supplies folder that I have provided in your my documents. Then open smmask, img1.jpg and img4.jpg in your psp workspace. Then minimise each of them.

Step Two

Click       or go to File/New and open a new image 400 x 400 raster background, uncheck the transparent background and click the colour box and pick white.



Step Three

Go to Layers/Promote background layer

Step Four

Go over to you Materials pallette. In your foreground open the pattern box in category All you should see img1.jpg click that pattern to make it active. Angle 0, Scale 100. Food fill your white picture with the pattern.

Step Five

Go to Layers/New mask layer/From image.



In the source window use the drop down arrow to find smmask. Check the source luminance dot. Uncheck invert mask data. Click ok.
You should now have something like this :-



Step Six

Go to Layers/Merge/Merge Group

Step Seven

Go to Effects/3D Effects/Drop Shadow and use settings horizontal and vertical 2, Opacity 100, Blur 5, uncheck shadow on new layer.



Step Eight

Remember the images we opened right at the beginning and minimised. You can now close smmask and img1.jpg.

img4.jpg lets bring back up again, this is the picture of a plain background with a tube patten on it.

Go to Edit/Copy

Step Nine

Activate our masked image that we were working on in Step seven.

Go to Edit/Paste/Paste as new layer

Its ok dont panic if all of your mask is now covered. We are going to move the top layer to the bottom.

Go to Layers/Arrange/Send to Bottom.

Your picture should now look like this:-



Step Ten

Now dont forget always save your image first as a psp file. We do this so that we can always go back and work on at a later date if required.

Next go to File/Export/Jpeg Optimiser, click ok and give your file a name and save.

There now we are all done, congratulations you now have made your first picture using a mask as a frame.

For group tutorial purposes please use the materials provided and dont forget to put your name on using the text tool before posting to your group.




If you have any queries please dont hesitate to contact me:-




Please feel free to link to this tutorial, and/or print it out for your own personal use, but do not copy it in any way to put on-line, pass out, or re-write without my permission. Any resemblance to any other tutorial like this is purely coincidental.

Please respect my work by not claiming it as you own.
**NOTE--You may do anything you like with your results from these tutorials except make a profit from them. You got your results for free so let's keep it that way. Thank you! :o)


Created 12th March 2005. ©Copyright Tbab.co.uk
Property of Shelley Marlow