Presentation and impact have a big influence on how an image is judged in competition. Borders and Strokes add a finishing touch and are always appreciated by the judges. Here is a step by step of how I create my Borders and Strokes, there are other methods - which may be easier - but this works for me, maintains the Layers in my Tiff images, and lets me continue to adjust the stroke & border color/size. When finished, I flatten and convert to the required size jpeg for submission.
Adding a Border and Stroke for Image Competition or a Bordered Print.
For a Single Stroke on border of Photo:
1. Flatten image – at this point you can convert to 8 bit and RGB.
2. Duplicate Layer
3. Increase Canvas size on background layer – Command/Option/C – I normally use about 3 inches, but this can vary by image. Fill this increase with Black.
4. Select the top layer.
5. Double Click inside the top Layer in the Layers Panel to Open the Layer Style Box.
6. Choose Stroke, click on the Color Box, and the Color Picker opens. Use the eyedropper to select a color from within the photo.
7. Adjust the size, normally between 2&3, and adjust the transparency to your preference.
8. This will give you a colored stroke around the edge of your photo inside the black border.
To Add a stroke within the Margin of the Border:
Do the above steps and then:
1. Duplicate Background Layer.
2. Select Middle Layer and Drag new Guides to your preferred position for the inner stroke:
4. Use Rectangular Marquee to select outer guides, Invert Selection – Command/Shift/I, and delete. Command/x. If you hide the Background layer you will see this:
5. Select top Layer, Right Click. Click Copy Layer Style.
6. Select Middle Layer, Right Click and click Paste Layer Style. The Border is now applied to the middle layer.
7. The Stroke will now be on the outer edge of this border.
8. Unhide the Background Layer and you are in business.
9. Adjust the strokes by using the Layer Style and Color Picker as you see fit.