This tutorial will show you how to make a simple, yet effective double layer tech border for a sig in Photoshop CS, (should be similar in earlier versions of PS). This uses some of my shortcuts, because I am basically a lazy person and will always look for the easiest way to do something. The main one in particular is the "Tech Borders" style file, attached here. Download the file now, then extract and save the file in to the "Presets > Styles" folder of your Photoshop folder. You will need to restart Photoshop, if you had it open, for the styles to appear in the list.

First decide what size sig you want and the base size of your border, for this example I want the sig size to be 350px wide by 150px high with a 20px border. Create a new document the size you want and press Ctrl+A to select the entire canvas. Now go to "Edit > Stroke..." and set the controls like in the picture below.



This will give you a 20px border as the base for your tech border as shown below.



Now we have the 20px border we can start cutting sections out to give it that tech look. Do not make your cutouts any larger than 50% of the border thickness so we can do the double layer later. If you want close vertical lines like in the example below, here's an easy way to do it. Use the text tool with Arial font to type as many "|" (vertical bar) characters as you want, this will create a new layer. Turn off anti-aliasing for the text. Position the text on the sig where you want the bars and set it to the size you want. With the text layer selected, now use the magic wand, (with anti-aliasing turned off) to select a blank area around the text, (I find this easier than trying to select the small text) and then inverse the selection. Now select the layer your border is on and press delete to cut the small sections out the border, (you may need to hide the text layer to see it). You can use this same process for other types of symbols (e.g. dots). I find this the easiest way to make sure the cut outs are uniform and neatly aligned. For larger cutouts use the polygon lasso tool, remembering to press shift if you want 45 degree cutouts. I find it best to use only 90 or 45 degree cutouts.



Once you are satisfied with your cutouts we can start adding effects to give the border a 3d metallic look. This is where I have made it VERY easy for you, by using the attached "style" file, all the hard work is done for you. Open your "Styles" palette if it's not already open and select the "Tech Borders" style, you will have a palette like the one shown below.



Now it's just a matter of selecting the layer for your border and then clicking on the style you want, how easy is that? You can modify any of the settings in the styles to suit your taste, but the 5 presets I have given you will provide a good place to start. You should now have a nice single layer tech border looking something like the picture below, I used "Tech Border 5".



Now to do our second border layer, which is very simple. Select your border with the magic wand making sure you have anti-aliasing turned on and contiguous turned off. Make a new layer and go to "Select > Modify > Contract..." and contract the selection by 5 pixels. Now with the paint bucket tool fill, this selection with white. Now you can again apply a style of your choice, choose a different style than the bottom layer. You now have a simple double layer tech border that looks something like the picture below, I used "Tech Border 3" for my top layer. The rest of the sig is up to you!



This post has been edited by Avalon: Apr 5 2006, 12:04 PM