Step 7: Apply The Color Halftone Filter

Go back up to the Filter menu and this time, choose Pixelate, then choose Color Halftone:

This brings up Photoshop's Color Halftone dialog box. The Color Halftone filter was designed to simulate the look of a traditional four color offset printing press, converting the image into a series of overlapping colored dots at various sizes. If that was the effect we were aiming for here (which it isn't), we'd first need to convert our image from the RGB color mode to the CMYK color mode, since the filter requires four color channels (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black) to work properly and the RGB color mode uses only three channels (Red, Green and Blue). However, we're simply using the filter to create a repeating pattern of circles, so there's no need to worry about which color mode we're working in. You're most likely working in the RGB color mode and that's fine for this effect.

First, set each of the four Channels options to 45 degrees. This will give us a clean, even pattern of circles. The Max Radius option at the top of the dialog box sets the size of the largest circles in the pattern. Much like the Gaussian Blur filter that we applied earlier, there's no specific value to use here since it depends entirely on the effect you want to create and the size of the photo you're working with. Again, this is where Smart Filters make things easy since we can go back and try different settings without having to undo any steps. Since I've already applied this effect several times while preparing this tutorial, I know that a value of 12 pixels works well with my image. You'll most likely need to experiment a few times to find the size that works best for your photo:

Click OK when you're done to exit out of the Color Halftone dialog box and apply the filter to the layer (or Smart Object). You should now see a series of repeating circles at various sizes around your photo border. The size of the largest circles in the pattern was set with the Max Radius value a moment ago:

If you're using Photoshop CS3 or CS4 and you're not happy with the size of the dots in the pattern, continue on for now since we'll see how to edit the Smart Filter settings at the end of the tutorial. If you're using an older version of Photoshop and you want to try a different Max Radius value to change the size of the dots, press Ctrl+Z (Win) / Command+Z (Mac) to undo the last step, then repeat Step 7 again using a different value. You can undo the step and retry the filter with a different value as many times as needed.

Step 8: Change The Blend Mode Of "Layer 1" To Screen

Finally, to hide the solid black color on "Layer 1" and allow the photo on the Background layer below it to show through, go up to the Blend Mode option at the top of the Layers palette and change the layer's blend mode from Normal to Screen:

The Screen blend mode, which I cover in much more detail in our Five Essential Blend Modes For Photo Editing tutorial, hides any areas on the layer that are filled with black while areas filled with white remain untouched, and if we look in our document window after changing the blend mode, we can see that our white halftone pattern border remains visible while the black has been completely hidden from view, allowing the image on the Background layer to show through and completing our photo border effect:

Step 9: Change The Smart Filter Settings To Edit The Effect (Optional)

If you're using Photoshop CS3 or CS4 and you're working with Smart Filters, you'll see both filters that you've added to "Layer 1" listed below it in the Layers palette, with the most recently added filter at the top of the list. You can try different filter settings to change the look of the photo border at any time simply by double-clicking directly on the filter's name. For example, I'll bring the Color Halftone dialog box back up by double-clicking on the name of the filter in the Layers palette:

I can now try a different value for the Max Radius option without needing to undo any steps. I'll try a value of 20 pixels this time, which should make the circles in the pattern a bit larger:

Click OK to close out of the dialog box and Photoshop updates the image in the document window with the new settings. As expected, the circles in the halftone pattern are now larger. You can go back and try different settings as often as you like with Smart Filters:

You can also go back and adjust the width of the halftone pattern by changing the Radius value that we used for the Gaussian Blur filter. Simply double-click on the Gaussian Blur filter's name in the Layers palette to bring its dialog box back up. However, when you do, a little warning box will appear:

Unless you select the Don't show again option in the bottom left corner, you'll see this warning box any time you go to re-edit a Smart Filter that has other Smart Filters listed above it (in this case, the Color Halftone filter is listed above it), and you can safely click OK to exit out of it, at which point the filter's dialog box will appear. The warning simply tells us that Photoshop will be unable to show us a preview of how the changes we're making are affecting the other filters above it until we click OK and accept the changes. It's nothing to worry about since we can always go back and change the filter settings again if we don't like the results. I'm not going to bother editing my Gaussian Blur filter settings since I'm happy with the way my photo border looks, but be sure to play around on your own to see how incredibly easy it is to experiment with different filter settings thanks to Photoshop's Smart Filters.

And there we have it!

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