The best thing about EdgyGirl is its simplicity. Each edge is simply a layered Photoshop file. First, open the file with the desired
edge in Photoshop. Then copy and paste your image file into the
edge effect file and adjust to taste. The Photoshop files even tell
you where in the layer stack to paste your image—there will be a
layer labeled “Paste Your Image Above This Layer.”
The edges are grouped into several categories: 4 x 5 Polaroid,
Painted, Sloppy and More Edges. The 4 x 5 Polaroid edges simulate the peel-apart Polaroid films and the unique artifacts they
leave behind. Most of these edges also add a bit of smudginess
and scratchiness, too. (The lowest numbered file, EdgyGirl_00,
has the least smudginess and scratchiness, with the higher
numbered files having progressively more.) The Painted edges
have a more sharply defined inside border and painterly outside
borders with white space around them. The Sloppy borders are
fairly conservative black borders with some irregularities, and
these are the closest thing to the sloppy borders that are offered by many photo labs. The More Edges folder has one edge
that simulates two Polaroid SX-70 prints that are paper clipped
together and two others that are Polaroid peel-apart films with
the paper still attached.
I found it difficult to choose the best edge by viewing the file
icons on my Mac, as the icons are simply too small for this pur-
pose. Instead, I viewed the same folder via Adobe Bridge with
nice big previews. This made for much more efficient work, and
I knew I’d be happy with an edge before opening it.
While EdgyGirl provides a simple way to access some useful
edges, there is one inconvenience that comes with this simplic-
ity: The image sizes are fixed and may not match the size of the
image file you are working with. This is easily remedied with the
Image Size command. I never found it necessary to match the
pixel dimensions of the edge and the image file exactly. Instead I
just ballparked it—with good results.
EdgyGirl is so simple that anyone who understands layers can begin to use
it immediately. It also has a nice variety of edge styles. The Polaroid edges
and painted edges are very eye-catching and make for some
nice variety along with the more conventional sloppy borders
it provides.