PSE7 Newbie - How do I do this -- see attached photo.

Question

I have a question about the attached photo which was photoshop'ed by a family friend (out of state and I don't have his number).
I know he did it with photoshop and I am wondering if I can do the same thing in Elements.
I am still trying to figure out what he did, so could someone give me a clue as to what he did and let me know if it is something I can do in PSE 7.0.
The part I am interested is the frame around the people in the family picture.  Did he do something inside the frame (and what) to highlight the area inside the frame or did he do something (like what) outside the frame to dull down this area (I suspect the latter, but don't know what or how he did it.
I think I have the text figured out; just a Text layer, isn't it.
So could someone help me with the frame business.
Ron in Round Rock
(P.S. I hope the attached photo comes through OK.)

Answer 1

Mark,
Thanks a lot for the tutorial -- it was exactly what I needed (I wasn't ignoring you, just got busy with thanksgiving).  Although, it was not as easy as it appeared, at least for me -- I did manage to figure most of it out.  It was educational and helped me a lot.
However, I did have one small problem -- which was step 6.
I managed to get the color into the inverted selected area, but I did not use the "color picker" references in step 6 -- because I could not figure out where the color picker thing was.  In fact, I wasn't even sure how to fill in the selected area (finally used the Fill Selection option), but upon re-reading your instructions, I think that maybe the Fill Selection was the option I was supposed to use for this step.  You just had it at the end of step 6 instead of the beginning.
And you know what, as I am re-reading your instructions, is the color picker the thing/option in the popup you get after selecting Fill Selection.  I.E.  Instead of using the Foreground or Background options, I chose "color" on the Fill Selection popup -- so was I using the color picker when I did that, and didn't realize it.
OK, got it, I think.  I guess I was using the Color Picker after all.  I went back to my book and found I got my figures mixed up.  I think I was looking for something called the Color Swatches instead of the Color Picker -- guess I just need to do some more reading to get more familiar with the terms.
So, I think I have everything figured out now, if everything I have said above is correct.  I have had this happen before -- that is, when you try to explain what is happening, you figure it out.  Thanks for listening -- and if you have any more suggestions, I'm open to them.
Ron in Round Rock
P.S.  Maybe one more somewhat unrelated question.  When I execute one of the options you suggested, like using the Strobe to create the frame or the Fill Selection -- what if I get it wrong (frame too wide or narrow, or the fill color wrong), is there a way to "edit" what I have just done or is the only option to just do an undo and do it again.