Hi creators! So in my story, I needed a scene where my character is holding a photo and you can see it in-detail. I’m pretty certain that many of you would appreciate having this included in your amazing story so here’s how you can get yours done in 5 minutes or less!

This is my finished product, by the end yours could look like this!

You will need:

A wallpaper [I get mine from the art catalog]

A digital editing program. If you’re using PC, I strongly recommend using getpaint.net, a free program that is extremely easy and useful for designing.

The picture you want in the frame. If you want a picture of a character, you need a cutout in PNG.

Pick your frame!

Step 1, create a new layer and place the photo frame.

Make sure that the sizing is 640x1136 so it fits in one-panel! Rename the layer “Photo Frame”. If on paint.net, you can rename by double-clicking on the layer.

Step 2: Find a background

Create a new layer under the photo frame layer we created earlier. Rename it “Background”

Find a background of your choice, and paste in Layer ‘Background’. This will also cover the inner-frame, but we will fix this later. For a better focus, add a blur effect by Effects>Blurs>Gaussian Blur and blur as much as you like.

Step 3: Erase wallpaper in frame area

Double check that the ‘Background’ layer is selected. Now equip the eraser tool, and set brush size to 200. Slowly go around the frame to erase out the wallpaper. Since the frame is in a separate layer above, you can erase over the frame but it will still remain. So satisfying!

Step 4: Adding our custom photo: Wallpaper

Create a new layer at the very bottom, and rename to “Wallpaper”.

Now find a wallpaper for your photo, and place it on the layer, adjust the position to your liking. Make sure you rotate the wallpaper so that it is in-sync with the paper!

Step 5: Do you know how to get your character with a transparent background?

If yes, move on to next step! Go to your character

In the ‘Characters’ section, select your character and animation pose. Then change the preview background colour to lime green. Copy and paste or screenshot your character and upload. Select the magic wand tool and cut-out the green wallpaper by selecting the green and CTRL+X or del, and there you have it!

If you are lost in this part, kindly make a thread requesting a cutout and this amazing community will assist you.

Step 6: Position your character.

Create a new layer beneath ‘Photo Frame’ and rename it to ‘Character’ and place your character here, and rotate so that it is in-sync with the paper.

EXTRAS!!

For an old photo effect, select the ‘Character’ layer then go to ‘Adjustments’ and select ‘Black & White’. Repeat with ‘Wallpaper’ layer.

For a vintage effect, select the ‘Character’ layer then go to ‘Adjustments’ and select ‘Sepia’. Repeat with ‘Wallpaper’ layer.

For a thrill effect, save as PNG, flatten, then go to Effects>Photo> Vignette and adjust as you like.

AND YOU’RE DONE!!

Hope you have fun designing your own and find this really useful for your stories!

xoxo, Rockified