Framing a Photo with Quick Mask in Photoshop

Sometimes you may want to add a decorative border or edge to your image. Maybe you’re creating a postcard or greeting card and the standard rectangular shape image just doesn’t provide enough pizzazz. Although adding a border or edge might look difficult, it is a snap with the Quick Mask command.
1. Using any selection tool, create a selection on your image.
I started with a rectangle in my image and then chose Select-->Inverse to turn the selection inside out.
2. Click the Quick Mask mode button in the Toolbox.
A color overlay covers and protects the area outside the selection. Your selected area is open for you to edit as you so desire.
3. Grab the Brush tool, choose the Heavy Stipple brush, and set the brush diameter to 168 pixels.
You can find the Heavy Stipple brush in the Wet Media brush library of the Brushes palette.
4. Paint around the edges of the mask with black to add to the masked area.
5. Adjust the Flow setting to 35% to get a semitransparent area, and then click a few more times.
You could also paint with gray to get the same effect.
6. Again, adjust your brush diameter, this time to 80 pixels, and add a few random clicks here and there.
7. Switch your color to white and repeat the steps, clicking around the image and also in the interior of the mask.
Because white adds to the selected area, your image will start to show through. I ended up with a mottled mess. You can also apply a filter or adjustment (Image➪Adjustment) to the Quick Mask.
8. Click the Standard mode button to exit the Quick Mask mode.
The overlay disappears, leaving you with a selection outline. The selection outline correlates with the unmasked or selected areas of the Quick Mask. If you had a feathered mask, such as mine, the selection outline runs halfway between the selected and unselected areas of the mask, creating a soft transition.
9. Your selection is ready and waiting for your next command.
In my example, I deleted my selection, thereby filling the hole with my background color of white and leaving me with a stippled image. Note that because my brush was feathered and also varied in the Flow settings, some of my image is also feathered and semitransparent.