Ok so here goes. 

Prepare yourself for lots of rambles and extra info that you may not need.  I find that some people learn really quickly and others need more detail.  So skim if you are a quick learner or take your time and hang off my every word if you need to. J  I don’t mind.

Rounding corners in Photoshop is pretty easy.  You just need to know which tools to use.  If you use some other program, well, scram...

OK just kidding.  You can probably transfer the ideas over to whatever program you use.

So to start I will assume you want to round the corners of a photo so you can print it off with this nifty little look.

Oh yes, Magnus is participating in this tutorial.  This is what he thinks of people who don’t scrapbook. ;)

So open your photo in PS.  Make any and all edits you want to make to your photo first.

Just image I am going to print this photo as a standard 4”x6”.  (Really this photo of Magnus deserves an enlargement cause it so funny but we’ll imagine it as a 4x6.)

So crop the image to 4”x6”.

Then you need to add a new layer on top of your photo.  Two ways to do this – click Layer (at the top of your screen) > New> Layer  (or to save time press Shift+Ctrl+N)

This will create a new layer on top of your photo.  Think of it as a clear transparent layer that sits on top of your photo.

So now you need to choose the tool that will give you the rounded corners – called the Rounded Rectangle tool.  Imagine that!  It can sometimes hide behind one of the other tools so click the little arrow in the bottom corner of that tool and it will pop up.

The first thing you need to do is set the radius for your curves.  I like mine at 45px but you can mess around and find out what you like.

Next you need to draw your rectangle.  Just move your cursor over your photo and you will see a little + show up.  To draw you need to just click and drag.  I like to start at the top left and work over to the bottom right but again, your choice! 

Now, since I am not so much about precision with these types of things I don’t measure things.  I just line up my little + sign in the top corner matching up the ends of it with the edges of the photo.  I cannot capture this in a screen shot so imagine my drawing is the way it will look. J

Then click and drag your shape out.  You should get something like this.

Then you need to go over to your layers box and click on the paths box.

At the bottom of that box is the “Load path as a Selection” button (they couldn’t come up with a snappier name??)  Click it.  The solid line that you drew will turn into a dotted line.

Now you need to invert your selection ‘cause right now you have the inside selected.  And we want the outside selected so we can fill it with white.  To do this you click on Select >Inverse (or Shft+Ctrl+I).  This will give you two dotted lines now (your rounded rectangle and the outside perimeter of the photo).

Now all we need to do is paint the area white.  Make sure the foreground color is set to white.  Then choose the paint bucket option (if you can’t see the paint bucket remember that it is hiding – just click the little arrow in the bottom corner of the button and it will pop up.)  (You cannot see my dotted lines in this screen shot cause they disappear in the capturing of it.)

Now take your little paint bucket and click anywhere in the area between the two dotted lines.  You will get this.

Now deselect your dotted lines.  Choose Select > Deselect  (or Ctrl D)

Now all that is left is to flatten your image so you can print (or save).  Either choose Layer > Flatten Image or I like to use Shft+Ctrl+E  (merge visible).

Done!  I know I broke it down into micro steps but if you are not a whiz at PS then I know it gets overwhelming.  And I am not by any means saying I am a whiz at PS – I know how to do a few things but there is still lots (and I do mean lots) that I need to learn.

Have fun and remember to share if you use this.

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(Oh, just wanted to add that for myself I set up a file so I could just drag this template onto my photos.  The only difference is you start with a new, transparent file (not a photo) but you create it using all the same steps.  You must do a “Merge Visible” at the end so that the middle part stays “clear” so you can drag it over your photo.  If you do this then you only need to do it once and you can use it over and over again.)