[JohnR]

I've noticed that images presented on the web with borders and (sometimes) titles have more impact. Image galleries will put a border around an image, but when images are embedded in a forum web page, they look bland without a border.

So anyway I spent some time on this today and this is what I have come up. I needed something that would be the same for every image (for now anyway). I have a way to go to automate this, but what do you guys think of how it looks?

[BradJudy]

Looks nice.  If you're using Photoshop, you should be able to quickly droplet this.  I just made one on my machine, although PShop crashes when I run the droplet.  The action itself runs fine when executed within PShop, so I don't know what's up.  It's my first droplet, so I might have done something wrong.  Anyway, I just recorded an action that did a canvas size increase (select "relative", set the size to double the thickness you want, select black as the color), then another one (same thing, but white and thinner this time), then a third one (black and much larger).  Then did a save to filename_border.  While I didn't do it, you could also add text as part of the action. 

I followed these instructions - http://www.photoshoplab.com/droplets-for-the-lazy.html

[BradJudy]

I fixed my droplet.  It looks like you have to run it as admin once first under Vista. 

Oddly, it pops up the JPG save options dialog for some JPG files, but not others. 

[ooheadsoo]

I've always liked the border.  If I knew how to make one easily, I'd do it.  Well, thanks to BradJudy, maybe I will...

[ipy]

JohnR,
Looks great & sometimes I include a drop shadow to the image to make it stand out more.


As for automating borders, I use "BorderMaker" which is available free to download.
http://www.bordermaker.nl/en/home.html
The good thing is it keeps the EXIF intact when putting borders around the images.  It does not have a drop shadow feature though.

[low.pfile]

john,

in general, I've disliked the frames, borders, titles and drop shadows added to digital images. I immediately think of postcards when I see them. To me this type of composition conveys a commercial aspect and distracts from the art. It all started back when easy-to-use desktop publication became available. While in a newsletter it looks acceptable, in the context of an image gallery I find it superfluous. I would rather let the image alone speak for itself. A simple black or white frame (without any extra line inset border or ornamentation) is much more tolerable-that is similar to a mat on a framed printed photograph.

The only benefit I see of the added frames is the watermarking it provides, though that is always defeatable.

ed

[ooheadsoo]

Hm, my pictures are still no good even with a border.

[JohnR]

ooheadsoo - try a wider border. ed - good points... though to me it seems that when you frame a picture you are "presenting" it... putting some borders etc around it for the web seems to me the same. However I think I will try a few more variations on that basis. To me, ipy's borders and the shadow make the image look more like it's framed and hung. I really quite like that. I'm not trying to get too fancy, just to separate the image from whatever background and other junk is on the website that I'm posting in (including this one ).

Anyway, now you guys tell me there are easy ways to do this! I just could not figure it out in photoshop (CS2) I did the one above using a command-line program called ImageMagick. I'll mess with it some more next weekend.

[nathanm]

For the web I think it makes more sense to leave your images borderless and then use the web page itself to provide the backdrop. But a simple border isn't bad, it does make it look more formal.  I would skip the drop shadows, though.  It only works if you can control the background.  For instance ipy's image has an additional transition of the white behind the drop shadow and the light grey of the AC page.  I am not sure of the various browsers and their compatibility with PNGs, but if you wanted to go that route that would be ideal.  Let's see here…





Hey!  Hmmm, still not crazy about the drop shadow, though.

How about…

 

Mmm, no.

[WerTicus]

i like the deckled edge look.

[JohnR]

I didn't get any further with automation or with adjusting the colors/widths/etc, but I did start adding titles. This is from yesterday afternoon. The plant Dianella Caerulae (can never remember how to spell it! - also known as Blue Flax Lily for reasons that mostly escape me) is very common but it's not all that often you notice the little yellow part of the flower. (Perhaps because it is quite small).

[BradJudy]

For giggles, here's a series of borders using the same image for comparison:

Basic white



Basic black



JohnR style



Reverse JohnR style



Basic studio framing



Basic white with blur



Colored mat with frame



Full studio frame

[JohnR]

Cool, thanks for that! The blue mat seems to suit this picture, kindof a vintage look? I think I will try the "basic studio frame" as well. Can't really get into the blurred outlines though.

[WerTicus]

here is a deckled edge mask i found

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2250/2418843412_41fa1dc085_o.jpg