Creating circular mats in PS CS2?

[Ted]

Hi all,

I'd like to create circular mats. I was able to do it in my recent "Blossoms" layout... but here's what I'd really like to accomplish:

Is there a way to have layered mats where I can determine the size of the concurrent circles.

For example:

The photo will be a circle of 2" diameter
The mat behind it will be a circle of 2.25" diameter
The mat behind that mat will be a circle of 2.5" diameter, etc.

I realize each mat will be on its own layer... but I'm not sure how to make the circle an actual diameter.

(BTW, this is in Photoshop CS2) :)

Thanks for any help!

[diturpin]

Ted,

Draw your circle - any size.
Edit>Free Transform. This will bring up the transform tool bar. On either of the percentage of W or H boxes, right click and choose inches. Click on the linking box so that both W & H change together or make sure you enter the same dimension in each box (W & H) and it should resize to 2" diameter.

Duplicate layer and repeat for 2.25, etc. etc.

Hope that helps!

[Ted]

Hi Diane and thank you for answering!

Okay...that seemed to work...but here is what happened:

I right-clicked each box and check-marked it "inches". I clicked the linking box.

I then changed the "H" to 5...but the minute I went to the other box, it reverted back to PERCENT and didn't stay at inches. :(

Does that make sense?

Did I do something incorrectly?

[Kathleen]

If I wanted to make circles in a specific size, this is what I would do (I have CS3, and would think it is similar in CS2):

I would use the ellipse tool to make a shape (shortcut is U it is under the rectangle tool), then up in the tool bar, there is a little drop down next to a star, click on the drop down. Select fixed size and enter the dimensions of your circle. Click in your document to create the shape. Repeat this until you have the sizes you want. You can center the shapes by selecting all the layers by using the Align feature (Layer > Align). You might want to rasterize the individual layers for simplicity. Then you can use the shapes you have created as clipping masks for paper or photos, or whatever.

[Ted]

Thanks for the suggestion, Kathleen! I'll try that. :)

[felynn]

You can also try Selection > Contract. This is done in pixels so you'll have to do some math in your head. Select the circle then contract by however many pixels.

Selections can also be expanded but be warned on square and rectangular mats the corners will be rounded. It's easy to square the corners up again by hand but I just find it easier to start with my biggest and go smaller.

[felynn]

You can also choose the ellipse selection tool and then choose fixed size from the drop menu on the top then put in your sizes. When you click in your document you will automatically get a circle the size you specified.

This will help when making mats from scratch but not if you're going from the photo size and then making mats in incremental sizes of said photo.

[tshirt]

Here's the way I like. Cut all your circles out of paper and scotch tape them to your screen. Then open new window and click on view>print size. Then make your circles with the Elliptical tool the same size as the paper circles. Oh and don't leave the tape on to long or you get that gooey sticky stuff all over. LOL !