The edges of a stroke are defined by the aliasing of the selection around which its formed. A stroke also has positional and blending attributes which a border hasn't.

To select a border surrounding a selection

• From the Select menu's Modify sub-menu, select Border...

The Border dialogue box is displayed.

The Border dialogue box

• Enter a value in the Width field
• Click OK

To move a selection border without moving its contents

• With any of the selection tools active, click-drag the selection border

To create a stroke around a selection or layer

• From the Edit menu select Stroke...

The Stroke dialogue box is displayed.

The Stroke dialogue box

• Enter a value in the Width field
• Click an option under Location
• Enter a value in the Opacity field and from the Mode pop-up menu, select an option
• Click OK

Creating Panels

You can place panels behind images to give a sense of depth or to group together different images visually. Panels are easily created using the Marquee tool. The elliptical version offers both soft and hard edges through its Anti-Aliased control.

Whether you are panelling a number of images or just one, it is best to devote a special layer to panels so that any alterations are easier to implement.

To create panels

• Create and name a new layer. See Chapter entitled Montaging Images, Page 74
• Position the layer beneath the layer containing the image(s) in the Layers palette
• Select the Marquee tool you wish to use, setting options in the Marquee Tool Options palette
• Select the panel area
• Fill the selection in the normal way

To create offset panels

• Follow the first two steps under "To create panels" above
• Select the Marquee tool you wish to use, setting options in the Marquee Tool Options palette
• Select the panel area
• With any of the selection tools active, click-drag the selection border to an offset position
• Fill the selection in the normal way

To give vignette edges (soft edges) to panels

• Follow the first four steps above
• From the Select menu, select Feather...

The Feather selection dialogue box is displayed.

• Enter an amount in the Feather Radius... pixels field
• Click OK
• Fill the selection in the normal way