Do you ever wonder how to round the corners of your photos? I used to. If you use Photoshop a middling amount, it’s not that hard. It’s simply a matter of learning “masks.” Masking is a graphics art concept that’s somewhat counter-intuitive until you do it a few times. So my advice… don’t read about it; just do it.

Once you know the trick, you’re not limited to rounded corners. You can do all kinds of cool things with photos and shapes, though rounded corners is probably what you’ll use most. Here’s how….

Step 1. Find your photo and prep it, including shrinking it if you need to. (Mr. Web Diva was climbing trees again yesterday — and taking gorgeous photos at the same time, so I’ll use one of those.)

Step 2. Duplicate your photo in the layers palette.

Step 3. This is the easiest step to forget and it won’t work without it. Between the two photo layers, insert another layer and fill it with your page’s background color (in this case white).

Step 4. In the next to top layer (layer 3), put a rectangle with rounded corners using the shape tool.

Step 5. Click on the top (photo) layer, and then enter the Layer / Create Clipping Mask command. Voila. A photo with rounded corners.

Extra credit. For step 4, instead of using the rounded rectangle, go wild. Use a free-form shape, draw something yourself, or use a large font like this….