Written By Steve Patterson

In this Photoshop tutorial, we'll learn how to create a fun and simple halftone pattern photo border using a couple of Photoshop's filters, a basic selection tool, a layer mask, and a layer blend mode. We'll be using Smart Filters to create the effect, which will allow us to easily make changes to the photo border after we've created it without having to undo or redo any steps. Smart Filters were first introduced in Photoshop CS3, which means you'll need at least Photoshop CS3 if you want the added benefits that Smart Filters offer (I'll be using Photoshop CS4 myself), but this effect can be created with any version of Photoshop, including Photoshop Elements, so don't lose hope just because you don't have CS3 or CS4. If you're using Photoshop CS2 or earlier, or Photoshop Elements, simply ignore the few steps that deal specifically with Smart Filters and apply regular filters to the layer as you normally would. The only thing you'll be missing out on is the added flexibility and editability that Smart Filters give us.

Here's the halftone pattern photo border that we'll be creating:

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Let's get started!

Step 1: Add A New Blank Layer

With our photo newly opened in Photoshop, we can see in our Layers palette that we currently have one layer named Background. This is the layer that contains our image. We're going to create our photo border on a separate layer above the image, which means we need to add a new layer to our Photoshop document. To add a new layer, click on the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette:

A new blank layer appears in the Layers palette directly above the Background layer. Photoshop automatically names the new layer "Layer 1". If we look at the preview thumbnail to the left of the layer's name, we can see a gray and white square pattern. This is how Photoshop represents transparency, letting us know that our new layer is currently transparent. In other words, there's nothing on it at the moment:

Step 2: Fill The New Layer With White

We're going to use white as the color for our photo border, so we'll need to fill our new layer with white. Go up to the Edit menu at the top of the screen and choose Fill:

This brings up Photoshop's Fill dialog box. Choose White from the list to the right of the word Use in the top half of the dialog box. Also, make sure the Mode option in the bottom half of the dialog box is set to Normal and the Opacity is set to 100%. These are the default settings for these options so you probably won't need to worry about them unless you've made changes to them previously:

Click OK to exit out of the dialog box. Photoshop will fill the new layer with white, temporarily blocking the photo on the Background layer from view:

Step 3: Select The Rectangular Marquee Tool

We need to define the edges of our photo border, and for that, we'll use Photoshop's Rectangular Marquee Tool which allows us to easily draw rectangular-shaped selections. Click on the Rectangular Marquee Tool in the Tools palette to select it, or press the letter M on your keyboard to quickly select it with the shortcut:

Then, with the Rectangular Marquee Tool selected, click in the top left of the document and drag out a selection outline to define the edges of the photo border. The area outside of the selection (between the selection outline and the edges of the document) will become the photo border, while the area inside the selection will be where the photo is visible. If you need to reposition the selection as you're drawing it, hold down your spacebar and drag your mouse to move the selection as needed, then release the spacebar and continue drawing the selection. When you're done, you should have a rectangular selection outlining the four edges of the photo border:

Step 4: Fill The Selected Area With Black

We need to fill the selected area with black, and we can use the same Fill command we used earlier when we filled the entire layer with white. Go back up to the Edit menu at the top of the screen and choose Fill once again. This time, when the Fill dialog box appears, choose Black from the list to the right of the word Use:

Click OK to once again exit out of the Fill dialog box. The last time we used the Fill command, Photoshop filled the entire layer with our chosen color. This time, since we have an active selection in our document, only the area inside the selection is filled. Press Ctrl+D (Win) / Command+D (Mac) to deselect the selection and remove the selection outline:

Next up, we'll convert the layer into a Smart Object so we can begin applying Smart Filters to it. As I mentioned at the beginning of the tutorial, if you're using Photoshop CS2 or earlier, or Photoshop Elements, simply apply standard filters to the layer as you normally would. In either case, let's continue on with our photo border effect!

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