Basic But Not, Borders?

A4RingedONE8T · May 26, 2008

Just curious, what is everyones opinions on bordering a photo? I have always thought it enhances the picture but Ive seen quite a few comments recently about leaving them off!

If your "pro-border" what do you typically use to do so?

Shawn

bikefreax · May 26, 2008

I border all mine that I put onto sites or to flickr or photobucket but I still keep the original without. I use photoshop cs3 for mine. Here is my example.

Miaow · May 27, 2008

Ive started bordering mine recently - I think they do help to enhance a picture especially if it could possibly blend in with the background of a page etc.

Battou · May 27, 2008

Boarders are trickey....the point of a boarder is to emulate the appearence of an image that is framed and hanging on a wall.

Naturally, there are a lot of pictures that really don't fit the bill as something to be hung on a wall......this makes the entire arguement as to what should have a boarder and what should not subjective.

I use boarders sparingly, Of my boardered works I use two styles, one with alternate color

http://www.photo-lucidity.com/pic-576.html - Simple white

http://www.photo-lucidity.com/pic-857.html - Simple black

http://www.photo-lucidity.com/pic-757.html - Not sure what this style would be called but I am sure it has some sort of name of reference

A4RingedONE8T · May 27, 2008

How do you do borders in Photoshop, is there a bordering tool?

bikefreax · May 27, 2008

Once you have the picture open you go to image, canvas size. You then tell it how large you want it. ON mine I do 15 pixels for the small inner one and 250 for the larger outer one. I also like to use a color in the picture as the color of the inner along with the signature. Hope this helps.

pm63 · May 27, 2008

I, personally detest borders, and any text/watermarks that may go with them.

The distract from the photo, and I like to be able to view a photo as-is, on its own, without it being attached to fancy borders etc.

However, what DOES in my opinion work is the "view on black" option that some people put on their best photos on flickr. It improves the contrast by having an al-black background and makes a photo nicer to look at. A border, however, I frown upon.

JerryPH · May 27, 2008

Borders... for me they are not used very often if at all, and if used, VERY subtle.

There are actions in PS where they can auto create them for you with the press of a few clicks... or you can download actions from PS sites that let you "install" all kinds of frames, from mild to wild.

Personally, I just find them tacky. Watermarks are there for a very important reason... to protect the content from unwanted illegal use of your pics. Annoying yes, but in this age, a necessary evil.

A4RingedONE8T · May 27, 2008

Seems as if there is as much hate for borders as I thought, I guess I will have to pay more attention to what I do and do not border from now on!

Thanks!

Shawn

JerryPH · May 27, 2008

Its personal If you like it, do what makes you happy. If you do it professionally... do what makes the CLIENT happy.

A4RingedONE8T · May 27, 2008

JerryPH said:
Its personal If you like it, do what makes you happy. If you do it professionally... do what makes the CLIENT happy.

haha I am far from professional, I have just recently got into the photography hobby, other than P&S, but as with my other hobbies and my shop, if Im going to do something I try my best and expect nothing but!

nynfortoo · May 27, 2008

I usually border all of my photos, but only ever simple white/black ones.

To me, a border finishes off a photo; it sets the boundaries and stops my eyes wandering off the photo itself. They act as a container, helping to isolate your work from its surroundings.

There are certainly some very over-the-top borders in use, though.

(Ghastly) Krueger · May 27, 2008

pm63 said:
I, personally detest borders, and any text/watermarks that may go with them.

The distract from the photo, and I like to be able to view a photo as-is, on its own, without it being attached to fancy borders etc.

Bear in mind that no picture is seen without borders (digital ones). The border may be created by the photographer, or it may be the background of a web page... or the computer monitor. You can select the border for your photograph or leave it random...

elemental · May 27, 2008

I used to be somewhat anti-border, but I've started putting white borders around some of my shots recently. I agree with Krueger, there's a border no matter what. I just like to be able to define my pictures with white rather than let them be bordered by wherever they happen to appear. I share the general distaste for "fancy" borders- a 10 pixel white one generally does it for me. Don't get me started on watermarks.

BrandonS · Jun 1, 2008

99% of the time I use a 10 pixel plain black border. I like it, if others don't I really don't care. If I printed something out, it would not get that black border and it'd just go in a normal frame.