Create a black soft edge border using Photoshop

There are number of ways of adding a soft edge border to a photo let me show you one of the more useful and adjustable ways.

Open a photo.

Click  Create new fill or adjustment layer and choose Curves...

In the Curves window click and hold the right end of the line/curve ...

... and drag it down (see picture).

This is how it should look like at this point.

Choose the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M for a keyboard shortcut).

Now create a selection inside of the picture (see picture).

Maska of the adjustment layer should still be selected (see picture).

Set the black foreground color if not already set.

Now press Alt (Option on MacOS) + Delete to uncover the mask selection.

Remember: black color uncovers the mask, white covers the mask.

In the menu click Select and choose Deselect, to remove the selection (Ctrl + D for a keyboard shortcut).

In the menu click Filter, Blur and choose Gaussian Blur...

Set Radius to about 25 pixels (depending on your photo and border size) and click OK.

This way we created a smoother transition between the border mask and the image.

Set the adjustments layer's opacity to about 80% (see picture).

Try different settings, and you can also try another blending modes like Overlay or Color instead of Normal.

Done deal.

Press Ctrl (Cmd on Mac OS) + T, to transform the mask at your will.


Also recommended:

  Use a photo for its own background in Photoshop