Composite to create a mat effect

Frank Victor

• May 13, 2023 13:25

I cropped a photo to panoramic shape, composited with white layer behind to create a wider, asymmetrical frame for effect of a mat.  It prints as intended,  but when I merge and save to send off for large print, I only get the cropped layer.  What am I missing?

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  Brian Lawson Community moderator

  • May 13, 2023 13:47
  • Edited

  Some screenshots showing your work and the results might be helpful so we can see how things are set up in the program.

  Have you considered creating your own border to do this? Start with the File > New Canvas command setting the dimensions as needed. Layer > Add Color Fill Layer… for the white. Now create a Layer Mask to remove the center where the image will appear. You might want to temporarily add an appropriate image behind this Layer, then reduce this Layer's opacity so you can see the image to use as a guide for the crop. I'd use the Line Mask tool to draw around the image. Remove that image once the mask has been created. Now Export the image to your Borders folder as a .png file then you can use it in any of your photos via the Borders Effect.

  The Borders folder is at ~/Library/Application Support/ON1/Extras 2023.

  You can also examine an existing Border from that folder to see what the program is expecting before you start.

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  Frank Victor

  • May 13, 2023 14:36

   

  Thanks for quick response.  I will try the new border creation later today.

  The screen shot is the image I was using.  It prints with wider top and bottom, but the merged file only shows the cropped part.

   

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  Frank Victor

  • May 13, 2023 14:37

  

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  Brian Lawson Community moderator

  • May 13, 2023 18:40

  Would you care to share your file for me to look at? Zip together the .onphoto file shown above and its .on1 sidecar file then post that to a web sharing service like Dropbox or WeTransfer and post the download link here.

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  Brian Lawson Community moderator

  • May 14, 2023 13:14

  Good morning Frank, I've downloaded your files if you want to remove that link now. I've got to go to work for a couple of hours now so I won't be able to take a look at them until later.

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  Frank Victor

  • May 14, 2023 13:24

  Thanks for your attention.  I am trying to do the custom frame today.  Frank

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  Brian Lawson Community moderator

  • May 14, 2023 20:40

  I'm not sure how you got that jpeg from the .onphoto file I'm seeing. Both the Color Fill Layer and the original HEIC files have the same pixel dimensions and the Color Fill Layer is on top which hides the image. That is why you lowered the Opacity so you could see through it.

  What I would do is

  1. Move the Color Fill Layer to the bottom of the Layers stack. Reset its Opacity to 100%. 
  2. Use the Canvas Size command to increase its size to match the desired proportions for the full finished image.
  3. Use the Transform tool on the Color Fill Layer and click the Fill Canvas button.

  You should now have the cropped photo sitting on top of the white background.

  It's usually best to put backgrounds at lower levels in the stack when you're building them yourself. From the above it would be a simple thing to use the Line Mask tool on the Color Fill Layer to mask out from behind the image. Delete the image Layer and you'll have things set up for Exporting to a .png file for future use as a Background Effect.

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  Frank Victor

  • May 14, 2023 22:07

  Thanks so much. Will try that tomorrow. 
  Frank

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