Geek Lab: How to Print Faux Polaroids Photos

July 11, 2015 by Mariah 9 Comments

Hi there!  I love the look of Polaroid Photos, but I don’t have any sort of device that would print a photo as a Polaroid i.e. an Instax.  I want to show you how I create Polaroid looking prints for my layouts.  You will need Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, or Microsoft Word, and a printer.  I use my Canon Selphy quite often because I have a super giant printer that requires 8 tanks of ink.  Today, I will be showing you how to do this with Photoshop, but much of the steps are the same in Elements or Word.

1.  First, create a new document that will be the size of photo sheet you will be using.

The Canon Selphy paper size is 3.94 inches by 5.83 inches.

2.  If you are using Photoshop or Elements you will need to create a new layer and a clipping mask.  If you are using Word, you will go to Insert>Photo.  In Photoshop, grab your Rectangular Marquee Tool.  I set the sized to 3.94×3.94…which is a square.

3.  Next, I fill the layer with the Paint Bucket tool. Then I hit “Command J” to copy the layer.

If you are using Word, all you will need to do is resize your photo to the size desired—skip this step.

4.  Next, in Photoshop, you will need to grab the photo you want to print, and place it in a new layer above Layer 1.

You see the photo on the sidebar is right above Layer 1.  Next, you will hover your mouse between Layer 1 and Layer 2 and press the ALT key.  This will allow you to place the photo in a clipping mask.  I resized mine by hitting Command T and holding the Shift Key.

5.  The next step is printing your photo.  It’s really important to make sure you have chosen to print your photo WITH a border.  For my printer it is Postcard NOT Postcard Borderless.

6.  Your photo will print like this.

All you will need to do is cut the bottom so that it looks like a Polaroid.

You can do different sizes to, such as 2×2, 3×3, etc.  It’s really very easy to do and it adds a nice touch to your layouts.  Let me know if you have any questions in the comments.  I will be happy to answer them.  Have a great day!