Welcome to the Simple Border tutorial.

This tutorial shows you how  to make a simple but interesting border, like the one used on the Lucy Maximum Wallpaper . This tutorial is for PSP 6(Paint Shop Pro 6) only.

If you are adding this border to an image, create a new layer first. This will make modifications easier and it will not affect your original image until you merge. I created this image with a black line but you can use any color you like, it just depends on the background, what will work for you. For your first time out, pick a contrasting color.

Select the Preset Shapes Tool  
Settings ~Shape type: Rectangle ~Style: Stroked ~Line width: 1
Check the boxes "Antialias" and "Create as a Vector"

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Tool Options Menu for Preset Shapes Tool Preset Shapes Tool Cursor used to create border lines Create as a vector to allow you to adjust the size on the edges if your original shape is not right. Do not use the fill option, we will do that later (with an effect)If you want to use another shape for your border, go ahead. The reason the Antialias is turned on is to get the effect when we fill our borders it give the border a subtle 3D effect. Normally I have it turned off for this kind of line/image. You will need to draw 4 lines (rectangles). Use the Preset Shapes tool , make sure you have selected the shape you want. You can vary the width as you like. The border lines in the Lucy Maximum image were all 1 pixel. Each border is about 10 pixels wide. After you have drawn your borders, you need to merge all the vector rectangles into one layer (as a raster). But don't merge it to your background or base image. Merge it into its own layer. To do this go to your layer drop down menu, turn off the view of everything except what you want to merge into one layer
Layer View: only the border layer(s) Note the red "X's" over the layers that you are NOT looking at. At the right you can see that border is the only thing visible. This is what you should see, just before all the visible layers are merged. Merge Layer to Raster You can see in the examples below, each pair of borders had a different width. This was done to make it easier to identify each border line pair. You can make your border lines any width that suits your artistic flare. After you have drawn your borders, merge the layers (containing the border lines), as above. Then use the "Magic Wand" tool to select the area for one of the borders. You will notice that the magic wand has selected an area that is one pixel inside the line you have drawn. This is because when you created the line you created it as as antialias. Only the area selected will be colored. The one pixel area created by the antialias will allow one pixel of your graphic to show through on your border. Layers Merged MagicWand Select     Select the Flood Fill Tool from your tool bar. Your "Tools Options" menu should display one of the two tabs displayed below. FloodFIll: Selections Menu FloodFill: Options Menu From the Selections Menu Tab Select: ~Fill style: Linear Gradient ~Blend mode: Normal ~Paper texture: None ~Match mode: None ~Opacity: 100 From the Flood Fill Options Menu Tab  Select: ~Gradient: Black and White ~Angle: 180 ~Repeats: 0 You can now fill your border. If you want to use the edit function. If you do edit the selections to create a new gradient, save it as a new selection, that way you still have the original "Black and White" default configuration for future use. For a variation you can select a texture to fill with. You now have a nice simple border. For the Maximum image: Next portions of the border layer was erased (that covers the image) The portion of the border that looks like it is speckled, the same as the edge of the Maximum was modified the same way as the image.  Once the border is completed, just merge the layers and save as a format (.jpg, .bmp, .gif) that your friends can enjoy.