Enhancing a selection with a stroke of colour can result in an interesting and pleasant effect. Even better, it is a very simple and straightforward technique to perform.

 

To begin, make your selection around any part of your image that you want. In this example, the entire image can be selected by choosing Select->All from the menu bar (or by using the Ctrl +A shortcut).

 

 

Once you have a selection, right click on your image and choose the Stroke option from the pop up menu.

 

 

When you choose the stroke option, the dialog box above will appear. In this box you can choose the width of the stroke in pixels, the colour, blend mode, and opacity. Also, you can select a radio button to locate the stroke on the inside, the outside, or centered over the selection border.

 

In addition, you can also specify the transparency of the stroke by entering a percentage into the opacity field. The higher the value, the less transparent the stroke will be.

 

 

Here is the image after applying a stroke to the inside of the selection. The stroke has a width of 10 pixels inside the selection border and an opacity value of 50%.

 

You can also create a stroke around a path drawn with the pen tool. To do this, select the pen tool, draw a path, and then right click on your image canvas. When the pop up menu appears, select the Stroke Path option to invoke the following dialog box.

 

 

You can use the tool drop list to select which tool will apply the stroke. When you have made your decision, click the OK button and the stroke will appear. The thickness and other qualities related to the stroke will depend on the settings of the tool you select to create the stroke. The colour of the stroke will be the foreground colour.