Making the canvas bigger using the Canvas Size command

- Although you can certainly add canvas size to your image using the Crop tool, if you want to be more accurate, you might want to use Canvas Size instead. Now for added flexibility, I'm going to convert the background into a layer so that we add transparency around the photograph and not a solid color. In order to do this, I will click on the lock icon next to the Background on the Layers panel. That unlocks it, allowing me to add transparency to a layer because it's no longer the background. Then, I'll choose Image and select "Canvas Size." We can either enter in specific values, or we can add a relative amount.

So, for example, I could type in 10 for the width and then 7 for the height, and I can use this anchor area in order to tell Photoshop where to place the image. If I want it in the upper left or the upper right, or if I want to keep it centered. If I choose the relative amount, you should know that if you wanted to add, for example, one inch around the whole image, so on both sides, then you'll need to add in 2 inches here, because it's going to add 1 inch on either side.

You also might want to note that we can change the units of measurement. So if I don't want to use inches, but percent instead, I can select them from the list. In this case, I'm going to change it back to inches, uncheck Relative, and then I'll enter back in 10 for the width, and 7 for the height, leaving it anchored in the middle. And when I click OK and then zoom out using command + -, we can see that Photoshop has added that extra canvas size around my image.

If I wanted to fill this area with a color, I would do so by adding a new layer. I'll click on the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel. That adds a new blank layer. And then choose Edit, Fill. And for my contents, I'll select a color by choosing Color. And then from the color picker, I can use the elevator ramp over here in order to select the hue and then I can choose any of the saturation or brightness values I wanted by clicking in the large square.

Or I could reposition my cursor on top of my image and click with the Eyedropper tool to pick up a color from my image. I'll click OK, and then OK again to fill with that color that I selected. But that layer is on top of the photograph, so in the Layers panel, I need to click on Layer 1 and drag it down below Layer 0 so that I can see the photograph on top of that filled background. If I want to add a little bit of separation between the photograph and the background, then I need to select the layer that the photograph is on, Layer 0, and then I can choose from a variety of different effects by clicking on the Effects icon.

In this case, I'll add a simple Stroke around my image. I'll move the Layer Style panel out of the way. And I'll increase the size of the stroke. We can see that the position is set to the inside, the fill color is black, and I like the way that that looks, so we'll click OK. And there you have it, an easy way to add a colored area around your photograph using the Canvas Size option in Photoshop.