Photo Tip – Putting a Vertical Photo in a Horizontal Frame

One of the Realtors® that took a photography class of mine called today to ask about how I put a vertical image into a horizontal frame. Sometimes you just want to show a great feature that can only be captured vertically.  Here in the Denver area the multi listing requires all photos be entered as a horizontal image that is 640 pixels wide by 480 pixels high. If you upload a vertical picture it will be stretched to fit the frame like this:

So to make your photo look like the image below I will list the step by step instructions using Photoshop Elements 7.0.  The same instructions should apply for all versions of Photoshop Elements since 3.0.

• Open the picture you wish to resize in Photoshop Elements
• Make sure your rulers are visible (under View – check Rulers)
• Then make sure the ruler is set for Pixels – right click on the ruler and select Pixels
• On the top where all the functions are listed – Click on File then click on New — Blank File
• When the next window opens type in the width box type in 640 pixels (that’s the size for Metrolist) and in the vertical box type in 480 pixels. Select OK
• Now go back to the original photo – click on Image — Resize
• In the height box type 480 – the width should automatically change in relationship to that number (if it does not make sure the three boxes on the bottom of that window are checked – Scale Styles, Constrain Proportions, Resample Image.)
• Now go to Select — All
• While that dotted line is around the photo type Ctrl C (this copies the image into the clipboard)
• Now open up that blank image and type Ctrl V (this will then paste the image into the center of the box)
• You can leave the space to the left and right white or fill it with the paint bucket – please only use Black, White of Grey. Any other color will take away from the image.
• Now click on Layer — Flatten
• The last step is to save your file where you can find it easily.

This seems like a lot of steps, but it is really easy and allows you to use those vertical photos without having to crop out valuable information from the image. Have fun!