11/15/2015

PhotoshopPenToolDrawingShapesandMakingSelections

Photoshop Pen Tool Drawing Shapes and Making Selections

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DECEMBER 24, 2013 BY C. PARIS

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The pen tool in Photoshop is an extremely versatile feature

used to create your very own vector shapes, and even make
custom selections. With Photoshops pen tool, you can map
and combine a series of lines and curves to create easily
scalable images, you can create silhouettes by outlining
objects on an image layer, and more.

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Before we learn about how to use the pen tool, its important to understand the difference between vector

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graphics and raster graphics. While raster graphics rely on arrays of colored pixels to compose an image, vector

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graphics rely on mathematical points and paths to compose an image.

One of the most significant differences between the two is that vector graphics can be scaled to any size without
losing image quality. This is because a vector file stores the geometrical primitives used to map out the image

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lines, curves, etc. rather than the individual pixels.

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PhotoshopPenToolDrawingShapesandMakingSelections

Before you even get started, first things first. Create a new Photoshop file, name it whatever you want, and set it
to any size you feel comfortable working in. Were just going to be experimenting for now, so it doesnt really
mater.
Next, locate the pen tool. It should be in the toolbar on the left, in the same section as the path selection tool,
horizontal type tool, and the polygon tool, represented by the fountain pen icon. Or, you can press P to bring it
up immediately.
Once youre ready, lets get drawing!
Step 1 Create a new layer, and set up shape layers

Select the drop-down menu to the right of the pen tool icon at the top of the window. There should be three
options total: shape, path, and pixels. Select the shape option, since were going to start this tutorial out by
drawing shapes, and choose a fill color for your shape. Also make sure youre working in a new layer.
This next part is optional, but if youd like to work in a grid to make plotting points more precise, press Ctrl+
(thats the apostrophe key), and enable snap by pressing Shift+Ctrl+; (the semi-colon key). Or, simply go to View >
Snap using the menu at the top.

Step 2 Plot points to create your shape

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Next, start plotting points on your grid to create your shape. Think of it like a game of connect-the-dots. You can
start to visualize how your image is made up of various points, with straight lines connecting each point. As you
plot these points, the pen tool will automatically begin filling the image in.
In the example above, you can see the makings of a very oddly proportioned gold star. Dont worry if your shape
is perfect, this is just an experiment.

Once youre ready to connect the final dot and complete your shape, just click the point you started out with.
When you hover over the initial point for your shape, the pen tool cursor will appear with a small circle next to it,
as in the example above.
Step 3 Making curves with the pen tool

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Youll notice something interesting happen if you plot a point and drag your cursor, rather than releasing click.
That point will become an anchor for a curved line, which you can manipulate as long as you hold down the left
click button after placing the point. You can use this to create shapes with curves, rather than rigid shapes
composed only of straight lines, like our star example.

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Cut an Image Out Using the Pen Tool

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The pen tool can also be used to map out a custom selection. This is useful if you want to cut out only part of an
image, like the sign in the example above, and not the whole image.
Before you begin, make sure your image is on a new layer, and that youve selected the path option in the pen tool
menu. Were going to be mapping a path this time, not drawing a shape. If you leave the shape option selected,
well just be drawing a shape over our sign rather than preparing to cut it out.
You might be asking yourself what a path is in Photoshop. A path is basically the line that connects two points. In
Photoshop, even though we can draw a path using the pen tool, the path is not actually an image itself. There
are no pixels involved. Remember what we learned about vector graphics and raster graphics?
If this is still confusing, you can learn more about paths in this Photoshop
particularly this lecture

Essentials course

on understanding how paths and the pen tool work.

Step 1 Start mapping points!

There are two major steps in this guide, and the first uses techniques we learned in the previous guide. Just map
points around the image you want to select, as though you were drawing out its shape.

You can zoom in if you want to be more precise. This image in particular is fairly easy to trace, because its made
up of straight lines. Dont forget to close the shape by clicking its starting point!
Step 2 Load your path as a selection
This path doesnt mean anything for what we want to do until we load it
as a selection. Do this by clicking the Paths tab in the Layers swatch
there should be a path called Work Path in the shape of the object you
just traced and clicking the icon of the dotted line circle, as seen on
the left.
You should see the part of your image that you outlined with a path
highlighted with the dotted line, showing that its selected and ready to
be cropped. You can do this quickly by using the shortcut Ctrl+J, which

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copies and pastes the selection onto a new layer. If you set the two
layers beneath it to invisible, by unchecking the eye icons in the Layers
swatch, you can see your newly cut-out sign over a transparent

background!

Now you can overlay your sign on new backgrounds by taking advantage of layers. Learn more about using

layers in Photoshop with this tutorial!

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