[Hall of tricks]
[Part 1]

Part 2

The Outline Drawing Tool is a much welcome addition to PI 5.0, it's easy to use and is very flexible. This is what we're going to use to create our frame. Since our image is filling the workspace, we'll start by increasing it to make space for the frame. If you have PI 4.2, use the Frame Designer from the Web menu.

• From the Edit menu, choose Expand.
• Enter the value 50 in the Left textbox. All four values will change to 50 if the lock button is enables.
• Make sure the Expanded color is set to black and click OK. 

Now the image is 50 pixels bigger all around. We'll use that space for the frame. The four settings in the following image should be set.

• Click Outline Drawing Tool.

• In the Shape box, make sure the Rectangle is selected.
• Click the Color box and choose Magic Texture Fill. Scroll down, choose Cells 10 (or whatever you like) and click OK.
• In the Mode list choose 3D Custom.
• Finally, click the Width button and choose More.... In the Line width text box enter a value between 12 and 16. I choose 15 for the tutorial.

Now let's give a nicer bevel to the frame.

• Click the Material box.
• Click the Bevel tab and choose 3D Custom. Under 3D Custom, click one of the button representing a bevel shape. I like the first or third one. Pick yours and click OK.

This where you need to be accurate. Using the Transform tool enlarge the frame in such a way that there is an equal space all around between the inside of the frame and the image. If you need help in order to do this perfectly click here otherwise do it your way. The space for the mounting frame should be about 15 pixels.

Now we're going to add an ornament inside the frame. The purpose for that ornament is to hide the edge of the cross-stitch and the mounting frame. Again we're going to use Outline Drawing Tool for this.

• Click the Outline Drawing Tool.
• The current shape should still be Rectangle.
• Click the Color box and choose Natural Texture Fill. Here we need something pale. Choose Cloud 1 and click OK.
• From the Mode list, choose 3D Round.
• From the Width button, select 2.
• Click close to the top-left of the cross-stitch and drag down very close to its bottom right.

We need to locate the ornament exactly one pixel inside the image all around.

• Zoom at the top left of the ornament.
• Using the Pick Tool, select the ornament and move it so that the inside upper-left corner matches the top-left corner of the cross-stitch.
• Using the keyboard arrow, move the ornament one pixel to the right and one down. Done for the upper-left corner, now for the two other sides.
• Using the Transform Tool's Resize command, make sure the right edge and the bottom edge of the ornament cover the cross-stitch one pixel. This will make it perfectly centered in the frame. If you need inspiration for doing this, click here to know how I located the frame. The same technique can be used for the ornament except that now we're resizing 1 pixel inside.

Here's my version:

What else can we do to improve the image? Well we could add a texture to the mounting frame (the black area between the frame and the ornament) and shed a light on the composition. That would look very cool!

Remember we turned the cross-stitch into an object earlier, well this allows us to modify the mounting frame.

• Press the spacebar to select the background.
• From the Effect menu choose Creative/Painting.
• In the Paint templates section scroll down and click the template 41. In the preview window you see that a light texture is applied to the mounting frame.
• In the Pattern section, click pattern 6.
• In the Fine control section, set the followings: Fineness: 450 and Opacity: 250.
• Click the Preview button. If you like what you see click the OK button (bottom right of your screen) otherwise click Continue and play with those two settings. You could also experiment with other patterns.

Do you like what you see? Hope you do because the next effect (lighting) requires that we merge everything. If you're afraid to mess-up the work, press Ctrl+D now. This will create a duplicate of the image (the title bar now says Untitled - <number>) . This way if you don't like what you did you'll be able to go back to the previous version (I love this feature).

• Right click in the image and choose Merge All.
• From the EasyPalette, click the + next to Filter Gallery and choose the Light group.
• Find a light effect you like and double-click on it. For instance L05 and L45 look nice. If you try something you don't like press Ctrl+Z to undo and try again.
• If you find a light effect you like (orientation and brightness) but you don't like the color, right-click on the thumbnail, choose Modify Properties And Apply... and change the color in the Light Brightness color box. Click OK.

Finally, I choose to crop a little bit of the frame, looks to symmetric to me.

• Zoom at 1600% on the very upper-left corner of the frame.
• Click the Standard Selection Tool. Hover the mouse about 8 pixels right and down.
• Click and drag off the right edge of the screen. When you get to the right end of the image drag down till you get to the bottom right corner. I'll tell you when to release the mouse!!
• From the very bottom-right corner, go up and to the left 8 pixels. OK, release the mouse!
• Click the Crop button in the toolbar and zoom back to 100%