Step 5: Convert "Layer 1" To A Smart Object

If you're using Photoshop CS2 or earlier, or Photoshop Elements, you can skip this step since it only applies to Photoshop CS3 and higher. We're going to be applying a couple of Smart Filters to "Layer 1" which will allow us to go back and change the filter settings any time we want after we've created the initial photo border in order to fine-tune the effect. Before we can use Smart Filters though, we first need to convert our layer into a Smart Object. Applying one of Photoshop's standard filters to a Smart Object automatically converts the filter into a Smart Filter.

To convert the layer into a Smart Object, go up to the Filter menu at the top of the screen and select Convert for Smart Filters. You could also go up to the Layer menu, choose Smart Objects, and then choose Convert to Smart Object. These are just two different ways of saying the same thing. In either case, we're simply converting the layer into a Smart Object:

In fact, to make it more obvious that all we're doing is converting the layer to a Smart Object, if you select "Convert for Smart Filters" from the Filter menu, Photoshop will pop up a dialog box warning that the layer is about to become a Smart Object. Click OK to exit out of it:

Nothing will seem to have changed in the document window, but if we look in the bottom right corner of the preview thumbnail for "Layer 1" in the Layers palette, a small Smart Object icon has appeared, letting us know that the layer is now a Smart Object:

Step 6: Apply The Gaussian Blur Filter

If you skipped the previous step because you're not using Photoshop CS3 or CS4, welcome back! We're now going to create our halftone pattern effect, and these next few steps are the same no matter which version of Photoshop you're using. First, we need to soften the edges of the photo border. Go up to the Filter menu, choose Blur, and then choose Gaussian Blur:

This brings up the Gaussian Blur filter's dialog box. Soften the edges of the photo border by dragging the Radius slider at the bottom of the dialog box. The further you drag the slider towards the right, the more blurring you'll apply to the layer resulting in a wider transition area between the black part in the center and the white photo border around the edges. There's no specific radius value to use since it will depend on the size of the photo you're working on, with larger photos requiring larger radius values, so keep an eye on your image in the document window as you drag the slider to judge the results. Keep in mind that the width of the halftone pattern that we'll be adding in the next step will be determined by the width of the transition area that we set here. This is why Smart Filters make life so much easier, since we can easily go back and try different filter settings any time we want.

I'm going to set my radius value to somewhere around 16 pixels. Again, the value you use may be different:

Click OK when you're done to exit out of the dialog box and applying the blurring to the layer. The edges where the black and white areas of the layer meet are now much softer:

We'll add the actual halftone pattern to the photo border next!

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