How to create a border around a specific layer

Question

I have looked on two separate posts and the instructions were to select layer by double clicking (presumably in layers panel), "enable stroke" (presumably by selecting stroke in the box that opens when you go to "select") and choose what you want in terms of color and width. Been at this for an hour and cannot see how to do it. I should likely have created my image in InDesign. So I have about 20 layers and want to put a frame around ONE layer. There must be a way to do this.

War Unicorn · Accepted Answer

It doesn't matter what layer (not meaning this snarkily). In InDesign, I can create a box and then go to "stroke" and fill in all the deets and a frame appears. When I create a layer (let's say 4" x 3" so not that large) in PS, there doesn't seem to be a function for this. I double click on the layer and find myself with the window shown in the SS, fill in "5 px" and "black" but no frame appears around the layer I just created. I got around it by drawing four lines, but was hoping there is an easier way to put a frame around a box. No worries. I will move on. Thank you for your help.

Think I might know what's wrong:

When you add a stroke, it must be upon pixels. If the layer is transparent, there is no stroke because there aren't any pixels. To see the stroke, quickly add a color like white to that layer.

Next, "punch through" by using the "Fill" slider in the Layers panel. This will effectively set the opacity of the layer but keep the stroke effect. I use this all the time to frame my compositions.

Semaphoric · Answer

If you just want a frame that's actually on the layer, highlight the layer, Select All, and Edit > Stroke, then de-select.

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