How to Create a Border in Paint

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A couple is hanging a painting.
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Solid colored borders can function like virtual picture frames to accent and enhance your images. There are a couple of ways you can draw a border around your images using Microsoft Paint. You can use the predefined Rectangle shape or the Line tool to literally draw a border around your picture. You can also paste your picture within a larger a blank canvas. These tips apply to to the version of Paint included with Windows 8.

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Uses Shapes for Borders

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Paint's Shape tool will frame your picture with a border on all four sides. Select the "Rectangle" shape and then draw the outline from the upper left corner of your image to the lower-right corner. You can choose the thickness of your border, as well as its color. If you are not happy with the look of the color you chose, change it with Paint's "Fill with color" tool. Alternatively, if you have a steady hand, you can use the "Line" shape tool to draw a border across the top, bottom, left and right sides of your picture.

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Paste Into Larger Canvas

The downside of using the Line or Rectangular tool is that part of your image will be obscured by the border you draw. Preserve your entire image by placing it within a slightly larger, solid color canvas. If you select and then cut your picture, a copy of it will remain in your system's clipboard. Once the image is removed, you will be left with a blank canvas that you can re-size by dragging the bottom-right handle down and to the right. Create an area large enough to contain your image and leave some space around the edges. Paste and center your image within the canvas. You can change your border color using Paint's "Fill with color" tool.

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