Photoshop Question

I wish to print an eleven by 14 image with a digital mat. My problem is that I cannot get the mat edges to look as if they are beveled. I'm not a PS novice but I just can't get this to work. I want the finished, framed image, when viewed by the casual viewer, to appear as if it has an actual mat.

I found a site by John Hartman that has it nailed. However, his mats are a tad expensive for my taste and all I need is the technique, not a bunch of pre-made mats. You can see his mats here (http://www.jhartman.co​m/quickmats/samples.ph​p)or download one for a full size view here. (http://www.jhartman.co​m/quickmats/add_photo.​php). Notice how the inside of the mat appears to be beveled? That is what I want.

Can anyone help me with this or point me to a tutorial?

Play around with layer styles. There is a bevel and several options to get the effect you'd like.

Create a new layer above your art.

1) Fill the new layer with a solid color - the color of your mat.
2) Create a layer mask and fill the inner portion of the layer mask with black - this will be the "cut out" portion of your mat.
3) Use the layer style "Bevel and Emboss" to play around with the edge finish, light direction, etc..

I am sure there are 10 different ways to Sunday to accomplish the same thing, but this should get you started.

You can stack layers and masks to create stacked mats, and add textures to the bevel/emboss.

Have fun!

Kirk

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Thanks guys, the layer mask is the one thing I hadn't tried. I'll give it a go in the morning and see how it goes. Kirk, the white portion of your mat is the effect I'm trying for.

That cream colored mat has a texture applied to it, in addition to the bevel. The texture is applied in the Bevel and Emboss layer style - check the "Texture" sub-check box. It is the watercolor paper texture - you may have to append the set of paper textures to your current set of textures. The paper textures set comes with photoshop - access it using the little fly-out menu in the Textures palette.

Kirk

The textures I can handle. What I am trying for is a bevel on all sides. I can only manage the bevel on two sides. See what I mean in these two samples: The red one is mine and as you can see, the lower right corner (right and bottom sides) does not show a bevel. In the hartman sample, all four sides show the bevel. Your version above appears more like his with all four sides showing the bevel.

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Play around with the Depth slider to get more contrast, set the edge to "Chisel Hard" and also use the Shading light direction widget to modify the lighting angle - check "Use Global Light" to see if that overhead lighting gives you the result you are looking for. Also - you can always boost the opacity of the shading effects by upping the opacity of the highlight and shadow on the bevel (default is 75%).

Kirk