I did a post a couple of months ago on this topic when I was working on one picture of a set for a customer. I’ve now finished the other picture which is of his precious baby. This one is done in black and white to match the other, and also has a deep vignette. It will also be printed onto a gallery wrap canvas, so most of the dark edge will be wrapped around the sides and top of the picture.

This is an example of how you can take a small and pixelled photo and turn it into wall art. There are a few things to remember, though.

1. Up-size your photo using Photoshop’s Actions. By only up-sizing the image in 10% increments you will greatly reduce the overly pixeled look of the final product. (Let me know if you are not sure of how to do this)
2. Create a new layer on top of the layer with the photo, and do all of your editing on that layer so that if/when you make a mistake you don’t have to start from scratch.
3. Match colors found in the original (you may want to adjust the color, brightness, hue, and/or contrast of the original first) and use appropriate sized paint brushes with a very low opacity and with no hardness on the edges to “paint” over the original smoothing out edges and creating the desired effect.
4. The easiest way to add the vignette without affecting either of the photo layers is to add a new layer and fill it with the color you want your border to be. Then, simply using an eraser with a low opacity and no hardness, erase away the middle to reveal the picture beneath.

That’s the simple version. Of course, depending upon how much editing needs to be done will depend upon how long it takes to finish your picture. It can be a slow and tedious project, but it is well worth the effort. Click on the picture to see both the originals and edited versions located in my Photo Gallery.

© 2009, Sarah Roberts – Reflecting the Designer. All rights reserved.