Step 3: Add A New Blank Layer Above "Layer 1"

Back in the Layers panel, you should see "Layer 1" highlighted in blue. This means the layer is currently selected. If it's not highlighted in blue, click on it to select it. We're going to place our photo border on its own layer above the image, which means we need to add a new blank layer. To do that, click on the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel. You'll find it directly to the left of the Trash Bin on the far right of the row of icons:

Nothing will appear to have happened in the document window since the new layer is blank, but we can see in the Layers panel that a new layer has been added above "Layer 1", which Photoshop has predictably named "Layer 2":

Step 4: Add A Selection Outline Around The Original Image

Next, we need to place a selection outline around our original image (as in, the image before we added the extra canvas space). Our original photo, without the extra canvas space, is sitting on "Layer 1". To quickly place a selection outline around it, hold down your Ctrl (Win) / Command (Mac) key and click on the preview thumbnail for "Layer 1" in the Layers panel. There's no need to select the layer first. Simply hold down Ctrl / Command and click on the preview thumbnail:

This places a selection outline, also known as "marching ants", around the photo in the document window:

Step 5: Convert The Selection Outline To A Path

We need to convert the selection outline into a path. Once we have our path, we'll create our photo border effect by applying some brush strokes to it. To convert the selection outline into a path, switch over to your Paths panel. You'll find it grouped in with the Layers panel. Click on the name tab at the top to switch from the Layers panel to the Paths panel:

With the Paths panel now open, click on the Make work path from selection icon at the bottom of the Paths panel (third icon from the right):

You'll see a new path named "Work Path" appear in the Paths panel. The term "Work Path" simply means that the path is temporary. We could make the path permanent if we wanted to by dragging it down on to the New Path icon at the bottom of the Paths panel (the icon directly to the left of the Trash Bin), but there's no need to do that for the effect we're creating:

If we look back at our photo in the document window, we see that our selection outline has been replaced by a thin line. The line is our path, and in a moment, we're going to use it to create our photo border:

With our path in place, we're ready to create our photo border. We'll do that next!

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