Using the Frame tool to place and crop pictures
The Frame tool (K) in Paint by Zaweba draws rectangle or ellipse frames that crop any picture dropped into them. Move or scale it inside.
Laying out several photos in a grid, a circular profile picture on a banner, a set of product shots in boxes on a sale poster: all of them need pictures cropped to a shape, and all of them often need a different picture tried in each spot. Frames in Paint by Zaweba are built for that. Draw the frame once, then drop pictures into it as many times as you like.
Drawing a frame
Press K for the Frame tool. You can draw rectangular or elliptical frames. Drag out the shape where a picture should go. Draw as many as your layout needs.
An empty frame acts as a placeholder. You can set out the whole design, headings, text, colour blocks and frames, before you've chosen a single photo.
Putting a picture in
Drop or place an image into a frame and it fills the frame and is cropped to it. You don't need to resize it first or make a selection and mask it. The frame does that.
Then you can move or scale the picture inside the frame. If the face in a portrait is off centre, slide the picture until it sits well. If you want a tighter crop, scale it up within the frame. The frame stays put while the picture moves within it.
Jobs frames suit
Photo grids and collages are the natural home. Draw a grid of rectangle frames, drop a picture in each, and adjust the crops. If one photo doesn't work, drop another on that frame.
Circular avatars or badges use an ellipse frame. Draw it as round as you need and drop a portrait inside.
Templates for regular jobs, like a weekly social post with a photo in the same place each time, become quick once the frame is there. Save the document and next week drop in the new picture.
Mock-ups and layouts with several products benefit too, since each product photo can be framed to the same size and lined up neatly.
How frames fit with other tools
Frames are one of several ways to show a picture inside a shape. Paste Into gives a masked layer inside a selection, which is good for irregular shapes like a window in a photo. Inherit Alpha clips a layer to the pixels of the layers below, which suits painting or filling text. Frames are the quickest choice for clean rectangles and ellipses in layout work, and for swapping pictures.
Artboards in Paint by Zaweba pair well with frames when a design needs several sizes, since each size can have its own frames laid out for it.
Planning a frame layout
Decide on frame sizes before collecting pictures. Knowing the shape you need helps when choosing photos, especially for tall versus wide frames.
Use a high enough resolution picture. A frame crops, but if you scale a small picture up inside a big frame it will look soft. Pick pictures larger than the frame where you can.
Line frames up with the app's alignment tools so the gaps between them are even. Uneven gutters are the first thing people notice in a grid.
Frame mix-ups
Scaling the frame when you meant to scale the picture inside, or the other way round, is easy to do. Check which one is active before you drag.
Choosing a picture that's the wrong shape for the frame is the other. A tall portrait in a wide frame loses the top of the head or the chin, however you slide it. Pick pictures that suit each frame's proportions.
Frames are a small tool that make layout work feel organised. Draw the structure once, then fill and refill it with pictures until the design looks right.
