Showing posts with label Pen Tool. Show all posts
I'll start form the bottom and work my way up explaining the uses of all the Photoshop tools that I use.
Image Ready - button lets you edit the image in Adobe Image-ready.
Screen Modes - Standard lets you see all the images you're editing in separate windows, the next button maximizes all the windows of the images to the workspace, and the full screen mode maximizes the image to the whole screed over the task-bar.
Foreground and Background Colors - lets you see and change the colors you're editing an image with.
Hand Tool - if you know what it does, tell me.
Zoom Tool - Zoom in a particular part of the image.
Eyedropper - Using Alt you can copy a certain color form an image and draw with that color on the image or a separate image.
Objects Tools - There are Rectangle, Rounded Rectangle, Ellipse, Line, Polygon, and Custom Shape Tools, each of which can be draw on an image.
Text Tools - Let's you put text on an image.
Smudge Tool - Smears the image in the direction you choose.
Blur Tool - Blurs an image in areas you select.
Paint Bucket Tool - Fills a chosen color on to an image with the selected color.
Erase Tool - Erases an image to its background, either white, a selected color, or transparent.
Clone Stamp Tool - Using Alt you can select a part of an image and recopy that part to a different image or to a different area of the same image.
Brush Tool - Draws lines of a selected brush in a direction you choose.
Pencil Tool - Draws lines of a selected brush in a direction you choose, without anti-aliasing.
Crop Tool - Crops the image to the area selected.
Move Tool - Moves the objects or layers in the image, or the image itself.
Wand Tool - Selects a color and its shades so that only that part of an image can be modified or added effects to.
Lasso Tool - Lets you select a part of an image to be modified by itself.
Marquee Tools - Let's you select a defined object of an image or creat a defined object.
Photoshop Tools lets you create your own workspace that fits you the best.
You can move or get rid of any options and settings windows in your workspace so that it can be used to your best interest.
How to Use Pen Tool
In this Photoshop tutorial we will explore how to use the pen tool.
First, we will look at the pen tool’s basic controls. We will examine creating paths, curvature modification and anchor point adjustments.
Next, on the following page, we will use our new pen tool skills to cut out an image. This skill is so essential to know when using Adobe Photoshop, and it really illustrates the power behind the pen tool.
Finally we will see how a path created with the pen tool can be used to create custom shapes. Custom shapes are vectors so they will never pix-elate or lose quality. Again this is such a handy skill, you’ll end up using it all the time!
BASIC CONTROLS OF THE PEN TOOL
- Photoshop’s pen tool you have three options: Create a new work path, Create a new shape layer, and Fill Pixels.
- We will use the Create a new work path option as this the most commonly used. You can find these options in the top left hand corner of the Photoshop window. See the image below.
- Just like selection tools, the pen tool has several different options for the resulting path. The most commonly used is “add to path area”. See image below.
- Take your pen tool and click on a blank canvas similar to what I have done below. Each time you click you create an anchor point.
- Hold down Shift, move the mouse and click again. Holding down shift while making an anchor point creates it in a straight line with the last anchor point.
- We can add and delete anchor points on the path we have created. Right click on the pen tool on the toolbar to reveal further tools. Use the Add and Delete Anchor Point Tool to do just that!
- I used the Delete Anchor Point Tool to remove the forth anchor point.
- Now, let’s look at the Convert Point Tool for curvature modification and moving anchor points.
- With the convert point tool click and drag on the second anchor point. Without letting go, move the mouse around and see how it affects the curve. The line that is created is called the Tangent Line. The tangent line controls the curvature of the curve.
- Holding down Ctrl click on the anchor point and move the mouse, see how this allows you to move the anchor point.
- Click on one end of the tangent line and drag.
- This breaks the tangent line in half and creates sharp path changes.
- Move the entire path by selecting the Path Component Selection Tool from the toolbar and drag the path to a new location.
- Delete your path by right clicking on the path and select Delete Path.
Finally I will briefly touch on another style of creating a path. With your pen tool create two anchor points however on the second click don’t let go, drag the click to create the tangent line. The tangent line will affect the next anchor point that you create. Try it out. I don’t use this technique because I find it slower but many do use the technique that feels right for you. Thanks for reading the Basics Photoshop Pen Tool.
