It may be a cliché, but it’s true: You don’t have to be able to draw a straight line—or a round circle, or a symmetrical square—to create digital art with Photoshop. That’s because Photoshop provides you with a handy arsenal of predrawn shapes that you can use via the Shape tools. You can use the Shape tools to create filled shape layers or invisible paths, which you can then edit, stroke, fill, or even designate as clipping paths. After you create your shapes, you can resize and reshape them and place them wherever you need them. Photoshop has six Shape tools (see Figure 7.1): the Rectangle, the Rounded Rectangle, the Ellipse, the Polygon, the Line, and the Custom Shape tool, which can take on any of dozens of shapes included with Photoshop or even shapes that you design yourself.
The Tool Options bar offers more choices and is more important when using the Shape tools than with any other group of tools, except perhaps the Type tools. Settings on the Options bar control the color and style of each shape you draw, as well as how that shape relates to any other shapes in the image. When any Shape tool is active, you can access the others by clicking buttons on the Options bar. Of course, you can also switch to any Shape tool by pressing U, then Shift+U to cycle through the tools until you get to the one you want to use. In this hour, we’ll use all the Shape tools and explore their options to learn how to get the most from them.
To draw a shape, first switch to the appropriate tool. If you are using the Custom Shape tool, use the Shape pop-up menu on the Options bar to choose one of the available shapes. Next, if you don’t want to use the current Foreground color, click the color swatch on the Options bar and choose a new color.
As you draw a shape, you can constrain its angle or shape. Press Shift while dragging with a Shape tool to constrain a rectangle or rounded rectangle to a square, or to constrain an ellipse to a circle. If you press Shift as you draw a line, it’s constrained to 45° angles, and pressing Shift ensures that your polygons stay level (see Figure 7.2). Press Option (Mac) or Alt (Windows) as you drag to draw from the center of the object.
Tip: Play It Again, Shape Tool
Tool presets for Shape tools can include the shape’s style and, for the Custom Shape tool, which custom shape you were using at the time. So if you want to create bunnies using the Tie-Dyed Silk style in all your documents, all you have to is switch to those settings and then create a tool preset using them. You’ll find the preset in the tool presets menu at the left end of the Options bar, as well as in the Tool Presets panel (choose Window, Tool Presets).
After you’ve drawn a shape, you can change its color to the Foreground color by selecting the layer and pressing Option-Delete/Alt+Delete. Or press Command-Delete/Ctrl+Delete to fill the shape layer with the Background color. If you prefer, you can double-click the layer’s color thumbnail in the Layers panel to open the Color Picker and choose a new color.
When you draw a shape, you have a choice of three ways it can manifest: as a regular shape layer, as a path (which doesn’t add a new layer), or as pixels (see Figure 7.3). What to choose? Here are your guidelines:
Tip: A Multitude of Shapes
Photoshop comes with zillions of custom shapes, some of which you’ll find in the Shape pop-up menu on the Options bar and some of which you have to load in order to see in the menu. To see your choices, click the arrow in the upper-right corner of Shape menu to see yet another pop-up menu, akin to the panel menus you’re used to from the Layers panel and other panels. Scroll to the bottom of the menu and choose a shape library, such as Animals, Ornaments, or Talk Bubbles. The resulting dialog box asks you whether to replace the existing shapes with the ones from the new library (click OK) or just add the new shapes (click Append). You can restore the default Shape menu at any time by choosing Reset Shapes from the pop-up menu. Note that replacing the existing shapes with one of the built-in sets deletes any custom shapes you’ve created yourself; be sure to save these first using the Save Shapes command in the panel menu.
Shape Layer—. When you want to draw a shape but you know you might want to modify its size or shape later, choose the Shape Layer option.
Path—. If you need to create a precise geometrical selection or you want to create a clipping path for use in an EPS file, go with Paths. This option won’t create a new layer, and you won’t be able to see the path if you print your image, but you can edit it and use it as a mask or as the basis for a selection. If you lose track of your paths, check the Paths panel to locate them (see Figure 7.4).
Pixels—. If you know from the start that you’re going to apply a filter to the layer right after you create it—or if you plan do something else that you can’t do to a shape—choose this option to skip the step of rasterizing the shape layer. You’ll still get a new layer, but instead of an editable shape, it will contain just pixels, as if you’d created a selection in the appropriate shape and filled it with color. When you use the Pixels option, Photoshop doesn’t apply a layer style, but you can choose a blending mode and an opacity percentage in the Options bar before you draw the shape. You’ll see a dialog before you start drawing, asking if you’re sure you want to create a rasterized shape instead of a vector one.
If you want to draw a shape that’s a particular size or that uses specific proportions, click the triangle at the end of the row of Shape tools on the Tool Options bar. This opens a dialog containing a variety of options, which change depending on which Shape tool you’re using (see Figure 7.5). Here’s a look at what options apply to which tools:
Tip: From Shape to Pixels
If you decide you want to work with a shape layer as pixels after it’s been created, you can rasterize it by choosing Layer, Rasterize, Shape. Sometimes Photoshop asks you if you want to rasterize a shape; this happens when you try to apply a filter to a shape layer. Other times, the commands you want (such as Image, Adjustments, Hue/Saturation) just aren’t available in their respective menus until after you rasterize the layer.
Rectangle and Rounded Rectangle—. Unconstrained means you can draw the shape to any size and proportions you like. Obviously, Square constrains the shape to fit in a square area. Fixed Size and Proportional are similar: For Fixed Size, you enter measurements for the shape, and for Proportional, you enter a ratio (such as Width 2 and Height 1 for a shape that’s twice as wide as it is tall). You can also choose to draw outward from the center, instead of from corner to corner, and you can force your shape to align perfectly with the pixels in the image, instead of drawing paths between two rows of pixels, so you’ll be able to see exactly where the shape will be when the image is displayed or printed in its final form.
Ellipse—. As with the Rectangle and Rounded Rectangle tools, the Ellipse tool can produce unconstrained shapes, circles, fixed-size shapes, and proportional shapes. It can also draw from the center. Because it draws curved lines, the Snap to Pixels option isn’t available; pixels are always arranged in straight lines, so there’s no way a curved path can be aligned to the image’s pixel grid all the way around.
Polygon—. Here the options start to get a little different. Before visiting the Shape Options dialog, enter the number of sides you want your polygon to have in the Options bar. Then you can choose a Radius value to produce a shape of a specific size. The Smooth Corners option produces rounded corners instead of sharp angles, and you can specify whether you want the shape’s sides to indent (as in a star) or not (as in a pentagon) by checking or unchecking the Star box. If you do want indented sides, just specify a percentage greater than 0 in the Indent Sides By field. You can also have the indented corners smoothed, if you prefer.
Line—. Start by assigning the line a Weight value to determine how heavy it is. Then, in the Shape Options dialog, you can give it arrowheads. Choose whether there should be arrows at the start, the end, or both. Then specify a Width (relative to the line Weight value) and Length (relative to the line Weight value) for the arrowheads. Set the Concavity value, which controls the flat end of the arrowhead, to a value between –50 and +50, with 0 giving you a flat line. Negative values indent the arrowhead’s back, and positive ones poke it out toward the line (see Figure 7.6).
Custom Shape—. Here you’ll find that the Unconstrained and Fixed Size options work the same way as they do for Rectangles and Ellipses. You can also choose either the Defined Proportions or the Defined Size option to constrain the shape to its original proportions or even its original size. Check the From Center box to draw from the center of the shape instead of from corner to corner.
After you set these options, click or click and drag in the image window to place the new shape. Then you can use the Tool Options bar to specify a blending mode and opacity for the shape.
Because shapes tend to be rather plain all on their own, Photoshop offers you the option of applying styles to them as they’re created, instead of having to go back later to add styles. The Style pop-up menu that you see in the Options bar whenever a Shape tool is active (see Figure 7.7) contains the same styles as the Styles panel (choose Window, Styles). You can apply them either from the Options bar or from the Styles panel. Either way, you can also remove a style that you applied previously or switch a shape to a different style.
Apply a Style to a Shape
To apply a style to a shape you’re about to draw, just choose the style from the Options bar before you draw the shape. Each new shape also gets the current shape color, as shown in the Options bar (this isn’t necessarily the same as the Foreground color), and that underlying color affects some styles but not others. If the shape’s appearance doesn’t match the style thumbnail, try changing its color to white. To do that, or to apply a different style, follow these steps:
Click either of the shape layer’s thumbnails in the Layers panel; clicking the layer’s name doesn’t work.
Click the Link button on the Options bar to activate it.
Choose a new style from the Style pop-up menu or click the color swatch to open the Color Picker and choose a color.
The Link button is just to the left of the Style pop-up menu on the Options bar (see Figure 7.8). When you click it and select a shape layer, any changes you make in color or style are applied to the current layer. Otherwise, the changes apply to the next shape you draw. Again, you must click either of a shape layer’s thumbnails—its color swatch or its vector mask thumbnail—to activate that layer. If you don’t feel like fiddling with the Link button, you can simply drag a style onto any layer’s entry in the Layers panel.
A shape layer is really just a fill layer with a vector mask. Hour 11, “Creating Layered Images,” covers fill layers, but there’s not too much to know about them. They’re special layers that contain a solid color, a pattern, or a gradient, and you can’t directly edit their contents. You can change what they’re filled with by applying a different color, pattern, or gradient. When they have masks, as shape layers do, you can edit their masks to change the apparent shape of the filled object. Fill layers can use either vector or raster masks. A vector mask is made of scalable paths instead of made by coloring specific pixels, and you can edit those paths in the same way you can edit any other path (see Hour 13, “Using Paths”).
By default, each new shape is placed on its own layer, but you can draw more than one shape on a layer. To accomplish this, select the existing shape layer by clicking its color swatch or mask thumbnail in the Layers panel; then click the Add to Shape Layer button on the Options bar and draw your new shape. Keep in mind that when you put multiple shapes on a layer, they all have the same fill because each shape layer can contain only one color, pattern, or gradient. We talk more about combining shapes in the next section.
One way to use a shape layer doesn’t display the shape’s fill at all. You can use a shape as a clipping mask for an image layer by placing the image layer above the shape layer and Option-clicking/Alt-clicking the line between them (see Figure 7.9). You’ll learn more about clipping masks in Hour 12, “Using Masks,” along with how to create and edit other kinds of masks and which type to use when.
Note: In Context
For quick access to shape layer functions, use contextual menus. In the Layers panel, Ctrl-click or right-click the shape thumbnail to access the normal Layers panel functions, including thumbnail size. If you right-click the layer’s mask thumbnail, on the other hand, you’ll be able to disable, delete, or rasterize the mask. Finally, right-click the layer’s name to access a variety of other layer commands, including Disable Mask and Rasterize Layer.
One shape is fine, but you’ll really be rolling with shapes when you create a bunch and then combine them to create more complex shapes. In this section, we look at a few different ways to change the outline of a shape created with one of the Shape tools.
To edit a shape after you’ve drawn it, first make sure that the shape layer is selected and then click one of the following buttons in the Options bar:
Add to Path Area
Subtract from Path Area
Intersect Path Areas
Exclude Overlapping Path Areas
If you choose Add and draw a second shape, they’re both filled. If you choose Subtract and draw a second shape touching the first, you can cut out part of the filled shape where the two overlap. Intersect fills the shapes only where they overlap, and exclude fills only the area where the two shapes don’t overlap. Figure 7.10 shows some examples.
When you use these options, all the paths on the shape layer mask remain intact and editable with the Path tools; what you’re doing just changes what shows through the mask. If you want to permanently combine or intersect shapes, select both paths with the Path Selection tool (the black arrow, not the Direct Selection tool’s hollow arrow), click the appropriate button on the Options bar to do what you want to do with the paths, and then click the Combine button. Don’t worry—the button says Combine even if you’re intersecting or subtracting, but Photoshop will perform whichever function you chose.
To modify the outline of a shape, click the shape layer’s vector mask thumbnail in the Layers panel or the Paths panel. Then change the shape using the Shape tools (as described in the previous section) or the Path tools. You might have to click the edge of the shape with the Path Selection tool or the Direct Selection tool to see the path. While you’re editing a shape’s path, press the spacebar while dragging to move the shape without changing its size or proportions.
Tip: Line ’Em Up
When you select shape paths with the Path Selection tool, you can use the Align and Distribute buttons on the Options bar to reposition them relative to each other. We cover this topic and lots more about editing paths in Hour 13.
If you’ve used Adobe Illustrator or another vector drawing program, you already know how to use Photoshop’s Path tools. If not, hang on until Hour 13, when we go over their capabilities in detail.
My favorite feature of the Custom Shape tool is the capability to create my own shapes so that I can reuse them any time I want. This is great for logos or similar graphics such as “Happy Birthday!” To make a new shape, start by creating a shape using the other Shape tools, or select the path containing the shape you want to use. To add your shape to the Custom Shapes panel, open the Paths panel (choose Window, Paths) and make sure your chosen path is selected. Then choose Edit, Define Custom Shape and enter a name for the new shape in the dialog (see Figure 7.11). When you click OK, the shape is added to the panel.
To use your new custom shape, choose it from the pop-up menu in the Tool Options bar. If you want to save the new custom shape as part of a new library so that you can share it with friends or keep a backup, choose Save Shapes from the pop-up panel menu.
Tip: Kicking It Up a Notch
You can convert any vector drawing into a custom shape by opening it in Illustrator, copying it, and pasting it into Photoshop. When Photoshop asks how you want to paste the data on the Clipboard, choose Shape Layer. Then choose Edit, Define Custom Shape and follow the procedure described earlier. You might find that you have to edit the drawing before it translates correctly to a shape layer; for example, “holes” in the drawing have to be real holes (you’ll need to make a compound shape) instead of just white shapes in front of black ones.
You don’t have to be able to draw with a pencil or pen to draw perfectly shaped figures in Photoshop. The Shape tools offer a bevy of different shapes that you can use one at a time or in combination. You can fill shapes with any color, pattern, or gradient, and you can apply any of Photoshop’s layer styles to them. After you create a shape, you can edit it and combine it with other shapes. You can even create shapes for use by the Custom Shape tool from your own vector drawings.
Practice making shapes on new layers; then try putting more than one shape on a layer. See if you can create a combination of shapes that looks like a city skyline or a dog bone, or any other geometrical object. Then combine those shapes and use the resulting complex shape to create a new custom shape. Finally, switch to the Custom Shape tool and create some shape layers using your new custom shape; see how they look with a variety of layer styles and colors applied and at different sizes.