Strategically placed borders can turn ordinary pictures into professional works of art. Borders exist in many areas of life. They surround paintings in museums. Film processing centers often place borders around photographs they process. Borders even exist around the paper money that you spend. Web developers also use them when creating photo galleries. You can add a colorful border to any picture using Pixlr's free online image editing tool.
Create Border Color
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Step 1
Visit the Pixlr Website. Click the "Open Image from Computer" button. A file selection window opens. Navigate to one of your computer's image files and double-click the file. It opens in the Pixlr editor.
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Step 2
Press "Ctrl" plus "N" to open the "New Image" dialog window. Type 1300 in the "Width" text box and 1300 in the "Height" text box. Click "OK." A new blank image named "Untitled" appears on-screen.
Step 3
Locate the "Tools" panel on the left side of the editor. Click the "Drawing Tool," then click the top left edge of the "Untitled" image. Hold down your left mouse button and draw a rectangle that fills the image.
Step 4
Find the black rectangle at the bottom of the "Tools" panel. This tool sets your main drawing color. Double-click that tool. A pop-up window opens and displays different colors. Click the color you wish to use for your border and click "OK."
Step 5
Find the "Paint Bucket" tool in the "Tools" panel. Click that tool to activate it.
Step 6
Click the "Untitled" image. Pixlr fills it with your chosen color.
Add Border to Picture
Step 1
Click the original image you uploaded to select it.
Step 2
Press "Ctrl" plus "A" to select that image, and then press "Ctrl" plus "C" to copy it.
Step 3
Place your cursor over the other "Untitled" image and click that image to make it the active image. Press "Ctrl" plus "V." Pixlr pastes your uploaded image onto the large "Untitled" image. Click the "Layer" button at the top of the Pixlr window and then click "Flatten Image." At this point, your uploaded image will have a very wide border around it.
Trim Border Size
Step 1
Move to the "Toolbox" panel and click the "Marquee" tool. Click a location a quarter of an inch above your uploaded image's upper left corner. Hold down your mouse button and draw a rectangle around your image so that the rectangle includes the border color you selected.
Step 2
Release the mouse button. You will see your uploaded image surrounded by a quarter-inch border in the color you selected.
Step 3
Press "Ctrl" plus "C," then "Ctrl" plus "N" to open the "New Image" dialog window. Click "OK" to close that window. A new blank image window appears.
Step 4
Press "Ctrl" plus "V." Pixlr pastes your picture and its new border into the blank image.
Step 5
Press "Ctrl" and "S." Type a name for your picture in the "Name" text box. Click "OK" and "Save" to save it to your hard drive.