Now open the image in photoshop {file/open..} and using the rectangle marquee tool choose the area of the image you would like to use for your banner.

Then you go to {image/crop} in the drop down menu and your image should look like this:

Next we'll give the image a border. Go to {layer/new../layer from background} in the drop down menu. After you've made the image a layer, go to {layer/layer style/blending options} in the drop down menu. A window should pop up that looks like this:

Click on 'Stoke' and in the stroke options change 'Position: Outside' to 'Inside'. You can also change the color of the stroke to match your image. You can also have fun playing around with the other Layer Style options such as Bevel & Emboss and the shadows and glows. Here is what my banner looks like so far:

Now is when we get to be creative. If you down have any nifty brushes downloaded yet, google 'free photoshop brushes' and tons of sites will come up that you can get all kinds of pretty and interesting brushes (my favorites are the swirlys). Your banner doesnt have to be brushed but its a nice effect. Once you have some brushes to work with, select the brush tool on the table at the left and pick the brush you want to use. Im going to use a swirly and a heart on mine. You can change the color on the tool table and you can change the opacity of the brushstroke up top (change 'Opacity: 100%' to like 70%). Now brush away! Dont be afraid to experiment, theres always an undo button. Here my banner so far:

And thats pretty much it! Depending on where you want your banner to go you can add text to say 'Welcome' or 'Enter', stuff like that. To add text just use the text tool and write want you want. Change the font, size and color by using the menus on top.

The brushes I used on this banner came from http://scully7491.deviantart.com and http://tatsuyasaverem.deviantart.com

Written By Sandie