Creating a Canvas

Notes on finishing a photo using Adobe Photoshop

When you have completed working on your picture you are ready to create a canvas.

First select the required background colour.

With your image on screen, go to the File / New menu and create a new A4 or A3-sized document. Use a resolution of between 150 to 300 pixels per inch and set the contents to white. Click OK and you’ll have your virtual canvas, sized exactly the same as your paper.

Make sure you can see part of the canvas and part of the image on screen (so don’t let one cover the other entirely) and with the Move tool selected, hold the shift key and drag your picture into the blank canvas window. This will ensure it ends up bang in the middle of the canvas you have created.

Hit Control+T to enter Transform mode and while holding Alt+Shift, drag a corner handle of the bounding box around the image to make it the size you want on the canvas. Leave a margin around the print if that’s what you want – this means it can go straight in a frame without any need for mounting. Once the size is to your liking on the canvas, hit Enter.

If you wish, you can now apply a border to your image. In the Layers palette (Windows/Layers), first click on the Create a new layer icon and then hold Ctrl and click on the thumbnail of your image layer to select the contents. Now go to Edit / Stroke and adjust the settings to give a border width and colour to meet your requirements. When you are happy, go to Layer / Flatten image and save it under a new name.