Fast rounded corners in Photoshop

September 10, 2004 / Filed under: Software, Design

I have worked in Photoshop for years, and creating "rounded corners" is one task that I’ve always found myself "struggling to remember," when the time comes to actually apply the effect.

There is no "built–in" filter or option that will automatically do this. You have to manually apply the effect. Fortunately, with a few basic instructions, creating rounded corners will no longer take all afternoon.

The process I am going to show you is just one that I discovered recently. By no means is this the only way to accomplish the effect.

Note: The screenshots and process were accomplished with Photoshop CS. I am not sure if the same options are available with earlier versions of Photoshop.

Sample image

Let’s take a look at the sample image below, of Cameron and Kaiser:

Cameron and Kaiser, with boxed corners

This is a nice photo, sure. It looks good. But immediately noticed are those sharp, boxy corners. The image appears raw and untouched. With powerful tools such as Photoshop, there is no reason this image can’t be enhanced.

By simply adding curved corners, this image will immediately become more warm and appealing.

The process

Within Photoshop, take a look at the Layers palette. The photo should be on it’s own layer, and we’re going to create another layer right on top of that.

Create another layer on top of the photo layer

On this layer, we are going to draw a rectangle, with the rounded rectangle tool.

The rounded rectangle tool

Draw the rectangle on the new layer you created.

Draw the rectangle

It doesn’t matter what the fill color is right now. Just try to center the rounded rectangle as best you can. Essentially, whatever falls inside this rectangle will be included in the picture.

Now, go back to the Layers palette, and select the layer that you just drew the rounded rectangle on. Double click on that layer.

The Layer Style palette should open up.

The Layer Style palette

In the Advanced Blending area, slide the Fill Opacity percentage down to 0%.

Slide the Fill Opacity percentage down to 0

Back in the Layers palette, click on the Paths tab.

In the Layers palette, select the Paths tab

With the current Path selected, click on the little arrow button, in the upper right corner of the Layers palette, and select "Make Selection..." from the select list.

Make Selection...

In the "Make Selection" option box, make sure Feather Radius is set to 0 pixels, and Anti–aliased IS checked.

Make Selection option box

Hit OK. You should get a nice, smooth selection of the rounded rectangle that you created.

Almost done

Now, with the selection still pending action, go to Edit, Copy Merged. Create a new document, and leave the dimensions alone (they should reflect the copy you just made). In the new document, go to Edit, Paste. There you go!

Finished!

The image should now have nice, smooth corners, instead of the sharp, boxy ones it had before.

Also, for a more detailed explanation, check out my article at Pain in the Tech!

Comments/Mentions

# Daniel J. Wilson at 9/10/2004 12:13 pm cst

Thanks for posting this - I'm a Photoshop novice and this is one of the things I've wondered how to do without having to edit on a pixel level.

# Matthom at 9/10/2004 1:29 pm cst

No prob. Now if I could only figure out how to do the same thing in Flash!

# dale at 9/10/2004 6:31 pm cst

Cool Thanks for that :)

# Greg at 10/12/2004 5:51 am cst

Thanks. This was exactly what I was looking for. Super tutorial!

# Christopher McIntyre at 12/1/2004 5:55 pm cst

Thanks for that. I've been trying to figure this thing out for months on and off. Easy to do without the anti-aliasing other ways but this is one sure method to get the job done right.

Thanks again.

# Andy at 7/7/2005 5:26 pm cst

Great! Simple, easy to follow, I used it to customize my header image on my website. Thanks.

# Craig at 7/10/2005 10:36 am cst

I gotta tell you -- this really saved me some time. Thanks!

Cheers ~/

# Theresa at 1/23/2006 6:51 pm cst

I want this CD! :) Did you see them on SNL last weekend??

# Matthom at 1/24/2006 5:43 am cst

No, I didn't see them (or Death Cab for Cutie) on either of the previous SNL's... I should watch that more ;)

# Theresa at 1/24/2006 7:12 pm cst

YES! That's the ticket--stay home more often on Saturday nights! :)

# Matthom at 1/25/2006 1:57 pm cst

How was Death Cab on SNL? I'm curious what song they played, although I bet it was "Soul Meets Body" ...?

# Theresa at 1/25/2006 2:03 pm cst

It was good. And you're right. :)

# Matthom at 1/25/2006 2:32 pm cst

I still gotta give you their previous album, "Transatlanticism." Come out for a beer tonight, and I will do so... (tempting bribe...)

# Elaine at 2/28/2006 8:25 am cst

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Much easier to understand than some of the other info out there on this topic.

# Andrew at 4/4/2006 9:33 pm cst

Thnak you thank you thank you!!!!

# Elena at 4/11/2006 4:57 am cst

The first tutorial I’ve read that actually worked. Thank you!

# vai at 5/10/2006 1:20 pm cst

this is a great tutorial, easier than all other methods looked at, great stuff

# MWagner at 5/13/2006 7:02 am cst

Thanks! This was easy even for a relative novice PS user!

# ryan at 6/1/2006 3:16 pm cst

Great tutorial, however, you need to make sure that when you create your rounded rectangle that you click the path icon, (icon with the pen inside the shape).

# Leeterbean at 6/21/2006 7:41 am cst

This tutorial was really easy to follow and very helpful. Thanks!

# Roberta at 7/13/2006 2:56 pm cst

Thank you. I googled "photoshop rounded corners" and yours is about the 6th entry (good seo). :) Your is also the EASIEST and fastest instructions I have read. Thanks for sharing this with the world.

# Matt at 7/23/2006 1:22 pm cst

Thank you - you just saved me a lot of frustration. And my image is much better looling.

# Katharine Holden at 7/28/2006 8:56 am cst

Worked. Thank you. Appreciate you posting this.

# sam at 8/1/2006 8:01 pm cst

awesome, tutorial was very thorough, thanks for posting the step by step pics too

# alex at 8/9/2006 11:06 am cst

You are the dude!
You made it so easy and simple.. I can’t believe with all the unuseful rubbish in Photoshop they still haven’t worked out a script or filter to do this automatically.
Thanks for saving me time.
By the way in Flash is dead easy to do this with masks. You just create a front layer as a rectangle with rounded corners, select "mask" from its layer properties and put everything else as "masked" beneath. When you play it (or in the swf file), it will show only what’s underneath the mask layer: images, movie clips and so on..
[PS: I am a terrible teacher, but I hope to have been of some help.. you can email me for help]

# Jordan at 8/16/2006 12:38 am cst

Hey - Thanks !! I’ve been trying to do this for years!

You made it really easy.

Thank you

# fabio at 8/26/2006 2:21 pm cst

easy as kick a child, thanks you a lot!

# Tamanna at 9/6/2006 12:44 pm cst

This was so so easy. Thank you. I’ve been trying to learn for months now. Thanks again.

# madhu at 9/15/2006 11:22 pm cst

thanks to u fr helping me

# Emon at 9/25/2006 3:27 am cst

Thanks a lot. this is what i was looking for.

# MarkW at 9/28/2006 1:33 am cst

Nice instructions and worked like a dram

# Doug Case at 9/30/2006 3:11 pm cst

Thanks a million...I’ve been pulling my hair out over this. I found two other "how to’s" on this topic that I couldn’t get to work. Thanks to your graphic walkthroughs I got it down now!

# mur at 10/6/2006 5:03 pm cst

I still end up with small blank corners outside of the edge of the photo.Is there any way to remove those?

# Matthom at 10/7/2006 4:49 am cst

Mur, please see this thread regarding this issue.

Hope that helps.

# saed at 11/17/2006 2:34 pm cst

THANKS !!

# Ivanka at 11/23/2006 12:04 pm cst

Thank you!

Photoshop is so great when you know how :)

# alana at 12/5/2006 12:33 pm cst

adding my thanks. a very well done tutorial. no one will be able to stop me

# metachick at 12/6/2006 6:30 am cst

Simple and clearly communicated. Thank you for sharing this recipe

# Sikachu at 12/24/2006 12:00 pm cst

That's the cool tip! I should try it very fast!

However, I found your site on zickr! (That's Thai website :P) http://www.zickr.com/software/photoshop-1

Thanks for sharing this : )

# françoise at 1/6/2007 10:27 am cst

Great method (and clear explanations). I am a photoshop newbie and tried several tutorials I couldn't achieve. This one is so easy for a nice result. Thanks a lot.

# billie at 1/17/2007 9:54 am cst

thanks, this really helped me!!

# josh at 1/30/2007 1:56 pm cst

Thanks for posting this how to I found it extremely useful. I've been wondering how to do this for some time - thanks again!

# Diona Kidd at 2/6/2007 2:46 pm cst

This was so helpful today! Thanks for the post and the very clear instructions.

# Search Engine Optimization at 2/11/2007 9:02 am cst

Very helpful, accomplished exactly what I wanted in seconds.

# Ciarán at 2/27/2007 11:57 am cst

Spot on for a novice like me - this is what makes the Internet great :)

# Tom at 3/28/2007 7:29 am cst

Awesome! I have been wondering that for years. Thank you very much!

# Frank Gibson at 4/5/2007 11:12 pm cst

Hey this was really useful. Thanks a bunch

# erichdeleeuw at 4/9/2007 12:10 pm cst

This is great.

# Matthew at 4/10/2007 3:55 am cst

Hey Thank you very much for blogging about this...

I was pulling my hair out for 2 days trying to figure out how to do it and I managed to find this blog and got it done in 2 minutes flat.

Great help! I have saved your blog to my favourites

Regards

Matt

# Mike at 4/25/2007 8:02 pm cst

If I may suggest a shortcut: Create round corner rectangle of any color under your photo layer. Place cursor exactly between the two layers on layer palette, press ALT and click (option-click on Mac). Done.

# kristen at 5/15/2007 5:29 pm cst

thanks so much for this!! i've been looking everywhere =]

# taylor at 5/19/2007 3:29 pm cst

really helpful! now i know how to make rounded pictures. thanks!

# Troy Anglin at 5/22/2007 7:20 am cst

This is the first technique that I've ever used that actually worked...

Thanks allot

# Tammy at 5/26/2007 11:29 am cst

I do not understand this part here --> Create a new document, and leave the dimensions alone (they should reflect the copy you just made). In the new document, go to Edit, Paste. There you go! what do you mean when you say document? I don't understand. Can anyone please help me out?

# Bex at 5/29/2007 1:14 am cst

I spent ages trying to find a tutorial for this! I finally asked Google and find the solution in aboug five seconds. It works brilliantly. THank you so much :o)

# Cyril at 6/6/2007 10:47 pm cst

Thanks a lot,

Very helpful, it took me only 1 mn to do it.

# samantha at 6/14/2007 1:56 am cst

thank you for such an easy to follow explanation.

# Muriel at 6/14/2007 6:36 pm cst

Great tutorial. I've seen several options on how to make rounded corners in Photoshop and so far this is the easiest without sacrificing quality.

I actually saw somewhere that said to just draw a marquee box and choose Smooth - that was ridiculous.

# Steve at 6/15/2007 6:16 am cst

Simple but verrrrry usefullll! thanks a million!

# Gregori Martínez at 6/16/2007 5:12 pm cst

Perfect, simple and effective. Thanks a lot.

# Pete at 6/17/2007 4:39 am cst

Can anyone help?

I'm using PS CS3, and I get stuck at the following part:

'Back in the Layers palette, click on the Paths tab.'

I then click on 'Paths' and no paths are there? Does anyone know why I'm not seeing anything?

Any help or advice would be most appreiated!

# Matthom at 6/17/2007 4:46 am cst

Pete, there should be if you drew the rectangle with the rounded rectangle tool.

# Pete at 6/17/2007 6:29 am cst

Hi Matt,

I have been using the rounded rectangle tool, it must be something else I'm doing wrong. Any thoughts?

# Matthom at 6/17/2007 6:45 am cst

What layer are you drawing the rectangle on? It should be the layer where the content is that you wish to apply rounded corners to. Hope that helps... I'm curious myself why it's not showing up...

# Nicholas at 6/20/2007 1:19 am cst

Thanks!

These are very clear steps!

# Raghav at 6/21/2007 9:35 am cst

Thnaks for that info very informative & easy to understand , i did several times till now after watching your tutorials

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