Using Paths and the Pen Tool Intro to Multimedia/Photoshop

Creating paths with the Pen tool will allow you to outline any shape and save it as a “work path”. Paths are easy to alter because they are composed of “anchor points”.

Paths can be saved and used repeatedly in the path palette. Paths may be converted to selections. Paths may be filled or stroked.

Paths are vector-based outlines made up of anchor points and curve segments.

Anchor points are the points along the path that define a segment of the path. These segments may be straight or curved. You can drag individual anchor points to alter the shape of an object or line OR you can move an entire path to relocate it on your canvas using the Path Component Selection Tool.

There are several kinds of paths:

• Layer clipping paths used in a Shape layer
• Layer clipping paths in a transparent or Background layer
• Work paths, temporary, and stored in paths palette
• Saved paths, permanent and stored in paths palette
• Subpaths, a second path created in the same layer that can be combined with other paths in that layer.

Parts of the the Paths Palette:

Paths can be useful to carefully define a shape or object, and use it as a selection.

TO CREATE A STRAIGHT LINE WITH THE PEN TOOL:

Click once where the path is to begin, and click at another point where you want the path segment to end. Do not drag when you click or you will create a curved line.

TO CREATE A CURVED LINE WITH THE PEN TOOL:

Click and drag to set a starting point for your path. Then click and drag to continue establishing other points. Direction lines and points will appear from the anchor point.

You can use the “handles” on the ends of the direction lines to adjust the curve of the segment. These direction lines and points are not a visible part of the composition once the artwork is printed and they are only visible if the path is selected.

TO END A PATH AND BEGIN A NEW ONE:

· Click on another tool by clicking off the pen tool in the toolbox.

· Or Ctrl/Cmd + click somewhere on the canvas away from the path.

TO CONVERT A CURVED ANCHOR POINT TO A CORNER POINT (no curve):

· While still using the pen tool, hold down Alt/Option + click on the anchor point you wish to convert. This will take the curve out of that segment.

· Or if your path has been completed, you can go back and convert points by changing to the Convert Point Tool (an option under the pen tool in the toolbox) and click on each point you wish to convert.

TO STROKE OR FILL A PATH:

First choose the color you want to stroke or fill with using the color picker. Set the foregrd. to the color you want to use.

If you plan to stroke the path, then choose a brush or pencil size that is what you want, for instance: 5 pixels hard brush or 21 pixels soft brush.

· Go to the path palette and select the path. Right click/Ctrl + click to get a drop down menu that will give you the option to stroke or fill the path.

OR

· Go to the bottom of the path palette and click on the icons for stroke path or fill path.

OR

· Click on the arrow to the upper right of the path palette and choose Fill or Stroke path.

TO SAVE A PATH:

Very simple: you double click on the path and then click OK in the dialog box that pops up. If you want to name the path at this point, you can.

TO CHANGE A PATH INTO A SELECTION:

· Make sure the path is selected with the Path Component Selection Tool. Then go to the path palette and click on the icon at the bottom of the palette that says, “loads path as selection”.

OR

· Right click/Ctrl +click to get a drop down menu and choose Make Selection.

OR

· Click on the arrow to the upper right of the path palette and choose Make Selection.

With the selection active, go back to the layers palette and choose the layer where you want to do something with the selection. Once you have a selection you can use Quick Mask to refine or alter it. If the work path is saved, you can make a selection from it over and over.

TO MOVE A PATH FROM ONE FILE TO ANOTHER:

· Open the files you want to work with. Look at the path palette and choose or select the path you want to move. In the second file, open path palette, click on the “create a new path” icon at the bottom of the palette. Go back to the first file and click and drag the path onto the canvas of the second file. Notice that the path will appear as it’s own working path in the path palette.

· Click on the “create a new path” icon at the bottom of the palette in the file you wish to transfer the path to. Then go to the file with the path and select it. Copy and paste into the second file. It should appear in the paths palette of the second file.

WORKING WITH SHAPE LAYERS

When working with vector tools in Photoshop, there are “two phases” in the Options Bar.

Phase I is the beginning phase where you get to 1) choose whether you want to create a new shape layer for the path or 2) simply create a work path in a another layer, or 3) create a filled shape in a layer.

1) Shape layers will have a color fill that is easy to alter. The path in that layer is called a clipping group because it masks out the area around the shape so that the color in the color fill thumbnail of the shape layer is seen only within the path. The path within a shape layer is only seen in the path palette when that shape layer is selected. To change the color of a shape layer, click on the color thumbnail and choose a new color from color picker. You can move the path anywhere in the shape layer and it will still show that same color.

2) By creating a Work Path, you can create artwork within a separate layer . You can edit the path and use it a number of times. It will not be effected by scaling, because the path is vector based. Once the path is filled or stroked, the object in the layer becomes rasterized. But the path is available to you to use again and again.

3) When you use the “fill shape” option, the shape is created and rasterized at the same time. There is no path to alter. It is a quick and easy way to draw a shape, but it is uneditable as a vector path.

In Phase II, you can edit the path you created. There is a check button over to the right hand side of the Options Bar. By clicking on it, you commit to the changes you have made and the Options Bar will return to Phase I. *See pg. 292 in the Photoshop Wow book for a better explanation.

CREATING CUSTOM SHAPES:

You can add your own shape, created with one of the vector tools to the presets in the Custom Shapes window.

Create a shape with the pen tool or with shapes from the hidden menu under Custom Shapes .

With the path selected, go to Edit>Define Custom Shape.

The shape should now appear in the window (presets) for Custom Shapes in the Options Bar.