{"id":3501,"date":"2023-06-20T07:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-20T11:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yourscrappingcafe.com\/home\/d19521157\/public_blog\/?p=3501"},"modified":"2025-07-19T10:24:51","modified_gmt":"2025-07-19T14:24:51","slug":"its-all-about-the-frame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yourscrappingcafe.com\/home\/d19521157\/public_blog\/its-all-about-the-frame\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s All About The Frame"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ever run into a lovely frame that just doesn\u2019t fit the size of your photo? I run into this a lot. And It\u2019s not always easy to resize a frame without messing up the proportions. Today, I want to help you with a few tips\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resizing Frames Correctly<\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"Bad<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Sadly, I\u2019ve seen this more than once. Someone will resize a photo or frame to make things \u201cfit\u201d and it\u2019s so easy to see that the result isn\u2019t quite right. If you don\u2019t do it correctly you end up with a distorted image. Just like in the example above, if you merely shorten the height or lengthen the width, things start to look funny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m going to show you how to keep things in proportion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rectangle Frame<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I have this cute picture of a friend\u2019s corgi running along a path. I found a frame that fits the rustic yet artsy look I want. Note:<\/strong> The frame used for this example is from \u201cBarnyard Frames<\/a><\/strong>\u201d by Lynn Grieveson Designs.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Original<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I want to keep the picture\u2019s landscape orientation so I obviously need to rotate the frame (I chose to rotate it 90 degrees left).<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Frame<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Clearly, the frame needs to be resized. So, how hard can it be to adjust this frame? That all depends on exactly what part of the photo I want to remain visible. I could just choose. To \u201cgrab\u201d a corner and resize by dragging the frame to the appropriate size:<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Resize<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Here\u2019s what happens if I just size it to fit the picture:<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Frame<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The frame stayed in proportion but I really don\u2019t want all of the right side of that photo to be in the frame. And I do want the dog to be centered. If I just \u201cgrab\u201d the right & left sides of the frame and drag them to the point of the photo I\u2019d prefer to keep, this is what happens:<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Frame<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Do you see how the sides of the frame are now much narrower than the top & bottom? That clearly looks way out of proportion. I really love the look of this frame but not with these proportions. So, how do I fix this?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Create New Layers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, I\u2019m going to copy portions of the left & right sides of the frame onto their own layers. I do this using the Rectangular Marquee Tool to create new layers via copy. I was very careful to include a large enough section on each side to preserve some of the rustic detail. With the new layers created I then moved them into the desired positions (I\u2019ve hidden the original frame for now):<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"New<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

When I unhide the original frame it\u2019s easy to see I\u2019m not going to be happy with how I\u2019ve lost some of the original detail at the top & bottom.  And I don\u2019t have the new layers positioned quite as nicely as I\u2019d hoped:<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The positioning is easy to fix. But I\u2019m sure you\u2019re wondering how I\u2019m going to get back some of the lost detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m going to use a layer mask and brush away parts of each new layer until I\u2019m happy with the result. Then I\u2019ll delete the parts of the original frame (and photo) that are unwanted:<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"New<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

And now I have a proportionately resized rustic frame for that cute little corgi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clearly this technique will be much simpler with a frame that has less detail (i.e., a solid color frame). In those circumstances you can generally skip the \u201cmasking\u201d step I used above. Extra tip:<\/strong> anytime I resize a frame using this technique I tend to save the newly created frame under a new name just in case I ever need the size\/shape of that particular frame in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Saved<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Note:<\/strong> Even if you don\u2019t plan to save the newly created frame, you\u2019ll need to do one thing to allow for proper shadowing. You\u2019ll need to merge the pieces of the new frame within your current project. If you don\u2019t do this each \u201cpiece\u201d of the newly created frame will have its own shadowing. This can result in shadows on places you don\u2019t want to see shadows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Square Frame<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before you go, I want to show you that square frames can also be tough to resize. I\u2019m going to use the same photo. But this time I\u2019m going to use a deckle-edged frame from the \u201cMy Story Collection\u201d by Karen Schulz (retired). And this time I also want to keep the entire photo.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

As with the rectangle frame in the prior example, just \u201cstretching\u201d the frame to be wider isn\u2019t going to provide a proportionate result:<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Frame<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

You can see that the top and bottom of the frame are narrower than the sides. The distortion isn\u2019t quite as obvious as with the prior frame. But for a Type-A personality such as mine, this still looks off to me. So, what\u2019s a girl to do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once again, I\u2019m going to copy a portion of the original frame onto a new layer. But first I\u2019ll position the original frame all the way to the left side of the photo:<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Create<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I\u2019ve used the Rectangular Marquee Tool <\/a>to select all but the left most portion of the frame to create the new layer. This is going to give a new piece that is clearly more than I need to span the remainder of the photo. But I\u2019d rather copy too much than too little.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the new layer created all I have to do is move it all the way over to the rightmost portion of the photo:<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"New<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Then, I\u2019ll delete the rightmost portion of the original frame and check to see that I don\u2019t need to clean up any part of the deckle edge. To exam the edge carefully I just zoom in pretty close and look for any odd overlapping. If I find any of that I\u2019ll once again just use a layer mask to brush away anything that looks off.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"New<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Thankfully, having a deckle edge didn\u2019t result in a need for any masking (at least on this particular frame). So, now I have a nicely proportioned rectangle frame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know to some the difference is pretty subtle and may not seem worth the effort. But for me, this makes for a much more balanced look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There you have it, two different examples of how to properly resize a frame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Single Most Important Tip About Proportionate Resizing<\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"Proportion<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Proportion and balance in any creative work is important. Proportion is necessary to maintain harmonious arrangement or relation of parts or elements within a whole. Balance creates apparent harmony in art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Always be sure that resizing frames, actually any element, is done properly so you maintain the correct proportions. Not only will you achieve a much more balanced look, this is yet one more way you can get the most use out of the supplies you already have on hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also be sure you merge layers when creating new frames to allow for proper shadowing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, if you have any questions or need a bit of help, please don\u2019t hesitate to \u201cMessage Me<\/a><\/strong>\u201d for some assistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks for reading this week\u2019s Tuesday Tip. <\/em>If you want to stay informed about new posts, just click \u201cFollow Me<\/a><\/strong>\u201d to stay in touch. I hope you have a wonderful week!<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Stay<\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ever run into a lovely frame that just doesn\u2019t fit the size of your photo? I run into this a lot. And It\u2019s not always easy to resize a frame without messing up the proportions. Today, I want to help you with a few tips\u2026 Resizing Frames Correctly Sadly, I\u2019ve seen this more than once. Someone will resize a photo or frame to make things \u201cfit\u201d and it\u2019s so easy to see that the result isn\u2019t quite right. If you…<\/p>\n

Read More Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3500,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"0","landing_page":"","tag":"0","restrict_content":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tuesday-tip-day"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yourscrappingcafe.com\/home\/d19521157\/public_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yourscrappingcafe.com\/home\/d19521157\/public_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yourscrappingcafe.com\/home\/d19521157\/public_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yourscrappingcafe.com\/home\/d19521157\/public_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yourscrappingcafe.com\/home\/d19521157\/public_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.yourscrappingcafe.com\/home\/d19521157\/public_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3501\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yourscrappingcafe.com\/home\/d19521157\/public_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yourscrappingcafe.com\/home\/d19521157\/public_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yourscrappingcafe.com\/home\/d19521157\/public_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yourscrappingcafe.com\/home\/d19521157\/public_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}