Tutorial: Create Your Own Photoshop Frame & Text Overlays

Last week I posted another riveting installment of "This Day in Zielske History," and one reader asked, "Hey Cathy, could you show us how you make those overlays? And I say, blog reader, yes!

Here's a video tutorial using Photoshop CS3, and below you'll find a printable PDF with the corresponding step-by-step instructions. For those of you using Photoshop Elements, you should be able to achieve the same results. There's nothing in CS3 on this particular tutorial that you can't replicate in PSE. 

Photoshop Frame & Overlay Tutorial from Cathy Zielske on Vimeo.

Download CZTutorialOverlays

Note: PC users may have to right-click the above link and then "Save Target As."

I will check comments throughout the day to see about any questions you may have. Good luck in building your own overlays.

Comments

[Karen Breen-Bondie]

Cathy, I've watched tons of youtube tutorials and the quality of yours was so much nicer. What are you using and how do you get it to zoom in/scroll/highlight to your dropdown selections? Whatever it is...it's brilliant.

[Leslie]

Can't thank you enough for this very well explained tutorial - now if I could learn to take such a crisp
photo as yours, I'd be really happy!

Leslie

[Dawn]

Hey Thanks Cathy... I always wanted to learn how to do this!!

[Rhonda P]

CZ is AWESOME! Thanks for the share. I can't wait to try it out thi weekend. I'm such an impatient person when it comes to learning digital but you make it look easy. Thanks!

[Joan in Kingman]

Very cool! Thanks. I had a picture to add words to and this was perfect for me to know what I was doing! You are the best!

[Jana]

Too cool for school! Love it---thanks for the tutorial & pdf :).

[Jane Simmons]

Thanks for the video. I've been looking all over for how to kern text in PSE and I think you've shown me an approximation that'll work for me.

[Lee]

Hi Cathy -
Thank You!!!
You have a lovely, calm, relaxed way about you on this tutorial, which I so appreciate!
Great tips. I love "Stroke", but I have never used it in this way.
I use stroke to create a quick border for photos to give them an old fashioned look.
Then I sometimes will "write" on the bottom border to label and date them.
Thanks again!
;o)
- Lee
P.S. Your PDFs are always great. Unfortunately, online PDFs have begun to crash my Safari browser on the PowerBook G4. Grrrrr... But my husbands MacBook Pro handles them just fine.

[Jacqueline M. Dunn]

that was awesome Cathy! Thanks for sharing!

[Mari]

This is awesome! So glad I saw it on COTW & took the time to watch. Every little tutorial teaches me something great. And even though you weren't using PSE, I found it really easy to follow along. THANKS!

[Linda Lum DeBono]

Thanks for the terrific tutorial! Q.: I did everything but when I tried to delete the part of the outline where "life" busts out, it doesn't delete when I hit delete. I am on the outline layer and I've used the lasso. Any help? Thanks.

[Stefanie]

Cathy, your voice sounded so different to what I imagined. Weird how the mind does that.

I loved the video tutorial and was totally able to do it in PSE5, haven't got the rounded tool so will still follow that link. You can see my efforts here.

http://cathyzielske.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/07/video-tutorial-create-your-own-photoshop-frame-and-text-overlays.html

Thanks so much, it was totally awesome and loads of fun.

[Stefanie]

Thanks so much Cathy, so easy when you know how. I was totally able to do it in PSE5.
If you'd like to see my efforts?
http://semplydone.blogspot.com/2009/07/home-today-with-me.html

[jillconyers]

For everyone that was asking. With a little googling, PSE does not support tracking (or kearning).

[rebekah]

Thanks for the info!

[Heather H.]

Thank you Cathy. That was awesome! It worked great in PSE. I've always wondered how to make just a line around the edge like that without having to draw the lines individually. I didn't imagine was so stinkin' easy!

[Jo E]

Thank you, thank you, thank you Cathy! Been wanting to be able to do this for ages. Tried it tonight and it worked a dream on PSE and I learned some techniques like the Lasso tool which up til now I had no idea how to use. Can you do some more of these tutorials, pretty please?!

[Carolyn]

Awesome awesome tutorial. I really enjoyed this (and learned a few new things, thank you). What I would like to know is how you do that track out shortcut on a PC? You said "Option key and arrows" for the Mac but sadly I'm on a PC : ( Suggestions?

[cathy]

Ahhh. I get it. There is no rounded rectangle tool in CS3. Good thing i ordered CS4 this week!

[Sandra K.]

Thank you!! This is great! Now I can make my own!!!
Sandra :-)

[Maureen in IL]

I finally had time to sit down and give this a try. I love how simple you make this. As always, Cathy, you ROCK! Between your tutorial and Renee's class, I can finally work in PSE and accomplish something other than frustration.

[Anthonette]

Thank for sharing your talent! I can hardly wait to try this out. I want to make some photo thank you cards...my son had a b-day party a week ago. I'm sort of a newbie to PSE.

[Sarah]

Thanks SO much. I have an older version of Photoshop Elements--4.0--but was able to use your tutorial and make my own version. This was my very first venture into digital scrapbooking, and I'm SO excited!

http://yesourhandsarefull.blogspot.com/2009/08/i-learned-something-new-today.html

[Malin]

I'm on a MacBook with Leopard OSX and Safari, but can't view any of your vimeos on your blog. Just wanted to let you know it's not working for some reason.

I'll drop by at a later date to see if it might work then.

Thanks for sharing so much fun on your blog - our stuff is amazing!

[Malin]

Update to the comment below:
The video works now - thank you!

[Sharon]

oh, thankyou, thankyou,thankyou Heidi!! I have been trying to work this out - have pse6, and no rounded rectangle marqee tool that I can see :-( wouldn't that make life too easy!! but now, with some playing to perfect those jagged edges, I can now make my own overlay WITH ROUNDED CORNERS! I feel like all my Christmases have come at once! did I say thankyou?!

[Marie-Précieuse]

Hi Cathy!
Thanks for this cool video! :)
English is not my mother tongue and there's one word I don't understand in the video. It's the name of the key to make the text smaller or bigger. You say "something" and it should be the coma key at the same time I think. I don't know if it's because I have an european keyboard, but my coma-key will not make my text bigger or smaller...so if you can write the name of this special key I'm looking for, and maybe describe it ;) I'll be able to do it like this as well. :)
Thanks a lot!!
By the way, I loved your grid tutorial as well and have been using it tons since I know about masking!! Thanks for every thing!!!

Marie

[pinnacle security]

Thanks for the wonderful tutorial. I've been also using the same basic plan for placing type on top of a photo. Your creations are really admirable.

[nike air jordan]

He liked to share his knowledge not by answering questions but by asking them.

[Melissa]

I just wanted to thank you SO much for this tutorial! I just came across it during a google search and it is exactly what I was looking for. I'd recently purchased PSE and wanted to know how to make overlays for my photos for Project Life. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

[cathy]

Oh cool! I love hearing that an older blog post gets seen and actually helps!

[Meg M]

Love, Love, Love! Thanks for posting this, it was so helpful.

Does anybody know how I save my .psd file into a .jpg format? Is that possible? I'd like to have all my photos in .jpg so I can upload them a little quicker.

[cathy]

Yes, totally do able. Simply open your PSD file, go to File Save As, and choose JPEG as the format. It will save a copy of your PSD file in JPEG format!

[khloe]

I can only say to you: THANKSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Kylie]

Thank you so much for this amazing tutorial. So easy and perfect to understand!