Photoshop Tip: Creating Stroke Outlines

Written by Angie

Sometimes when I draw a digital caricature in Photoshop for a studio piece, I play around, looking for interesting results.

Recently, I did a caricature with a white border around it and another artist asked how I had created it. This isn’t an earth shattering, but it does add a nice element to certain caricatures.

1. Select Your Object

Select the layer with your object. This is what will have the stroke around its border.

2. Select the “Fx” Icon

On the bottom of your layers panel is a little circle labeled “Fx.” Select this and choose the bottom option, “Stroke.” You can also right-click on the layer you want to apply the stroke and select “Blending Options” from the drop down menu.

3. Tweak

Tweak the stroke to match what you need. You can select the colors, blending options, and much more. For example, you can select whether the stroke is drawn on the outside edge, the inside edge, or on the middle of the edge. Hit OK and you are finished.

While I created a stroke around that layer, you can also apply it to text layers or other types of layers. You can also add other things like drop shadow, inner shadows, and other types of effects.

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