Working with Photoshop Shapes

Other Shape Ideas

Stars are simple to make:

1. Select the Polygon tool.
2. Set the number of points on the star by entering a value in the Sides box.
3. Display the Geometry Options palette, using the drop-down arrow.
   NOTE

   Although the tool tip shows Geometry Options, the palette name displays as Polygon Options when you open it.
4. Select the Star check box. If desired, click Smooth Corners.
5. Adjust the indent amount, if desired, and select the Smooth Indents option if you want a more organic (less pointed) shape.
6. Click Paths, Fill Pixels, or Shape Layers as needed and drag outward from the midpoint to create your star shape. To adjust the star’s rotation, rotate the shape with the mouse before letting go (see Figure 7).

Figure 7 Use the Polygon tool and the Polygon Options palette to create a star-shaped path.

All shapes can be used to make cutouts from photos. Select the shape, select the Paths option, and draw the shaped path. From the foot of the Paths palette, click the Load Path as Selection icon to convert the path to a selection. Invert the selection by choosing Select > Inverse, and then press Delete to cut a shaped selection from an image (see Figure 8).

Figure 8 Convert a path to a selection, invert it, and use it to crop a shape from an image.

Another option when drawing shapes using the Paths option is to edit the path and create your own shapes from Photoshop’s built-in shapes. Draw the shape as a path and then use the path-editing tools to deform and alter the shape before saving it as a new custom shape.

Working with Photoshop Shapes

Building a Personal Shapes Collection

When you add a new shape, it appears at the bottom of the Custom Shapes Picker. However, you’ll lose your new shape if you ever reset your shapes and haven’t already saved them. The ideal solution when creating shapes is to make your own shapes collection. Here’s how:

1. Before you save a custom shape, open the Custom Shapes Picker, click the fly-out menu, and choose Reset Shapes.
2. Delete all the shapes from this collection by right-clicking each in turn and choosing Delete (on the Mac, select the shape and click Delete Shape from the fly-out menu). While this technique is a little time-consuming, you only have to do this once!
3. Return to your custom shape, select the Direct Selection tool, and choose Edit > Define Custom Shape.
4. Name the shape and click OK. Your new shape is now the only shape in the Custom Shapes Picker.
5. Click the fly-out menu, choose Save Shapes, type a name for your personal shapes collection, and click Save. Now you can open and load your personal shapes whenever you need them.
6. Before saving more new shapes, load your new collection as the only collection. Then create your shapes and save them in your custom collection so you won’t lose them.

You can share your personal shapes collection with other users by giving them a copy of your shapes file. Your collection will appear in the Shape Files list at the foot of the fly-out menu when you’ve closed and reopened Photoshop.

Working with Photoshop Shapes

Making Your Own Shapes

Making your own shapes is fairly simple:

1. Start with a new blank document.
2. Choose the Pen tool and click the Paths option in the Tool Options bar.
3. Click the image to start the shape; then click a second point to create a line. If you click-and-drag the second point, you can make a curved line.
4. Continue clicking or clicking-and-dragging until you complete your shape by clicking the starting point again (see Figure 4).
   

   Figure 4 Use the Pen tool to create a simple shape by clicking and dragging to make curved lines.
5. To edit the shape, click the Direct Selection tool and click the shape to see the nodes. Drag the nodes to move them, or drag their handles to change the curve.

TIP

To break the handles apart so you can move them separately, make sure that they’re visible; then click the Convert Point tool on the Tools palette and drag one handle to break the connection between the handles.

With a few small adjustments, you can make a heart shape from just two points, as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5 A simple heart shape can be created with the Pen tool, using just two points.

When you have a shape you like, save it so you can reuse it. With the Direct Selection tool selected, choose Edit > Define Custom Shape. The thumbnail image shows the shape you’ve made. Type a name for the shape and click OK. You can now select the shape from the Custom Shapes list and use it any time.

To create a hollow shape, create one path inside another. We’ll use the heart shape for this example:

1. Click the Direct Selection tool and click somewhere on the path
2. Hold down the Alt key (Option on the Mac) as you drag on the path to create a duplicate path.
3. Size the second path smaller than the first, and place it inside the first.
4. Select the Path Selection tool and drag over both shapes to select them.
5. Click the Exclude Overlapping Shape Areas option.
6. Click Combine to combine them into one shape.
7. With the shape still selected, click the Intersect Shape Areas option.
8. Create your shape by choosing Edit, Define Custom Shape. This time the thumbnail will display the shape as a hollow rather than filled, as shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6 Creating a hollow shape.

If you’re unsure what the shape looks like, display the Paths palette—the area that’s colored white is the current shape. Keep an eye on the Paths palette as you experiment with the Add, Subtract, Intersect, and Exclude from Shape Area options on the Tool Options bar to create your shapes.

Working with Photoshop Shapes

Shapes to Use

The Photoshop shapes collections offer lots of pre-built shapes. Select the Custom shape and then open the Custom Shape Picker and double-click a shape to use. Click the image and drag to draw your shape.

To find more shapes, click the fly-out menu in the Custom Shape Picker and choose a collection of shapes to load from the list at the foot of the menu. Any of these shapes can be used to create a path, filled shape, or shape layer.

One way to use the shapes is to add a subtle visual element to a collage:

1. Open a photo and add a new layer to it.
2. Choose a foreground color to use for the shape.
3. Select a custom shape.
4. Choose the Fill Pixels option and draw the filled shape on your photo.
5. Use the layer blend modes in the Layer palette to blend the shape into the photo. You can also reduce the opacity to blend the effect even more.

With some filled shapes and colored text, both treated the same way, you can create attractive collage-like photo effects, as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3 Using filled shapes with blend modes, you can add dimension to photos to use in a digital collage.

Working with Photoshop Shapes

Need a fun embellishment for a collage? Want to cut out a heart-shaped photo of your sweetie? Need a star to make a web icon? Well, Photoshop’sshapes are for you. Photoshop has plenty of fun built-in shapes you can use in your photo-editing and digital art—better yet, you can edit the built-in shapes and save them as new shapes, or even make your own from scratch. If you’ve never given shapes more than a passing thought, now is the time to check out shapes and put them to work in your Photoshop projects.

Using the Shapes Tools

Accessible from the Tools palette are the following basic shapes you can click to select:

• Rectangle
• Rounded Rectangle
• Ellipse
• Polygon
• Line
• Custom

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After selecting a shape, you can switch shape tools by selecting a different one from the Tool Options bar, without having to return to the Tools palette.

There are three options from which to choose when creating a shape. These options are displayed in the Tool Options bar and are accessible whenever you have a shape tool selected.

• Fill Pixels. If you use the Fill Pixels option, the shape is filled with the current foreground color when you create the shape on your image, as shown in Figure 1.
  

  Figure 1 Using the Fill Pixels option, this custom shape is filled with a solid color—the current foreground color.
• Paths. Use the Paths option to create a working path from your shape. The tool won’t make any changes to your image, but you’ll have a shaped path with which you can work.
• Shape Layers. This option creates a new vector shape layer in the image. The layer is filled with the color visible in the box on the Tool Options bar. With the Shape Layers option selected, you can create a shape using a Style from the Style palette. For example, you might use this to create a shape with a glass style, as shown in Figure 2. Also, with Shape Layers selected, you can change the style in use by opening the Style palette on the Tool Options bar and choosing an alternate style to apply to the layer.

Figure 2 Use the Shape Layers option to create a new layer for your chosen shape, and fill it using a Style such as the glass button shown here.