Matting Paintings

[afqu]

I do original water colors. I want to display them on my web page, matted but not framed. I am looking for a program that has a ready made matting process.

I know most have picture frames (ugly as they are), but I would think they would have a click picture> add double (or single, triple etc.) mat> with beveled edges, and change colors.

I have manipulted my own matting from scratch, but would think this such a basic need, some program would have one automatically.
Thanks for any help,
Jean

[afqu]

I do original water colors. I want to display them on my web page, matted but not framed. I am looking for a program that has a ready made matting process.

I know most have picture frames (ugly as they are), but I would think they would have a click picture> add double (or single, triple etc.) mat> with beveled edges, and change colors.

I have manipulted my own matting from scratch, but would think this such a basic need, some program would have one automatically.
Thanks for any help,
Jean

[molucca]

I looked at AutoFX Photo Edges, but I don't think that would work. My preference is drawing my own frames and mats. That way the aspect ratios of the mats and frames work with the drawings. So, I would draw mats for a particular set of dimensions. The mat in this case is from a butterfly wing made into a seamless tile in PS CS. This is a vector drawing and it is easy to adjust colors.

Rich

[afqu]

HI Rich,
great job and nice frame too http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/wink.gif If all my pictures are the same size, can I make a master and just change colors as needed?

I have Ulead 5 and just purchased 8, which I will install today. From reading all the archives, do I need Xara also? or instead of?
Thanks for the help
Jean

[molucca]

Edie at http://www.pixelparity.org/ is more familiar with frames in PSP.

My idea was to make a master and apply fills as required. This is especially easy in Xara X. I made several hundred tiles,and some would be good for mats. My preference is making tiles in Xara X or using the Photoshop pattern maker.

I would try PSP and see if you get acceptable results.

I liked the ability to scale fills in Xara X. You can apply transparencies to change color. I have done some Hue shifting to change the tiles, too. I liked the corners I was getting. Everything is a separate piece, and I can control the appearance.

Rich

[Grafixman]

Since you've just purchased PI8 and the pictures are going to be displayed on the web, you could try making a rectangular 2D path object, convert it to an image object and use the image fill tool to fill a texture to it. The fill tile is is scalable, and you could use the preset tiles or import your own. You can also add a canvas texture to your images if you want. You'll find that PI8 has a lot more features than PI5.
Familiarize yourself with the tools you have, instead of buying everything on the market. I find that PI is adequate for web images and home printing.