How to work with shapes in Photoshop. What is a free figure? Hiding the outline around a shape

Greetings to the conquerors of Photoshop! Today we will talk about this interesting instrument Photoshop as freeform shapes. Free-form shapes are rarely used in Photoshop; various brushes are more often used. But still a tool Free figure» is included in the program and finds its application.

Where arbitrary figures “lie”

You can select it on the main toolbar in the section where there is a rectangle, ellipse, polygon and line. For selection the right tool Use the keyboard shortcuts Shift+U several times.

There are quite a lot of settings on the tool’s auxiliary panel, but the best way to start working with the tool is from the “Shapes” drop-down window, in which you can select any of the proposed arbitrary shapes and start drawing it.

After selecting a shape, click the left mouse button anywhere on the image and move the cursor, without releasing the button, in any direction. You will see how the outline of the selected shape appears, which changes in size and thickness, depending on the movement of the mouse.

The resulting figure does not lose its quality depending on the size of the picture. Initially, an arbitrary shape does not have an outline or color, but they can be selected in the additional tool settings panel. In this case, the contour can be either a solid line or a broken dotted line, the intensity of which is indicated next to it.

If you select an arbitrary shape and simply click the left mouse button in the place where it is drawn, a window will pop up where you need to enter the parameters for the height and width of the stamp. For ease of editing, each new arbitrary shape is created on a new layer.

How to load custom shapes into Photoshop

You can create similar figures for use yourself; for this, vector images are used, preferably good quality. Also, the Internet is full of already made thematic collections; you just need to download and install them. All installation files have the extension . In the drop-down window where the outline of the figure is selected, there is a small button that opens the settings.

There you need to select the line “Load figures...” and find the required file. New shapes will appear at the end of the list.

If you want to replace existing shapes with new ones, select the “Replace Shapes...” command. The selected file will replace the current shapes. You can always roll back the original settings using the “Restore Shapes...” command.

If you want to keep the selected shapes forever, copy the file to your Photoshop system folder at this location: “C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS6\Presets\Custom Shapes”

That's all!
Sincerely, Ul Sartakov.

Hello everyone, dear readers of the koskomp blog and my Dear friends. Today I will tell you how to add shapes to Photoshop, how to use them and what they are for. And also at the end of the article we will draw a nice glass in vector style. Many people think that this tool is of no use, but I assure you that in web design this is almost the main function. Look at the design in my public page. It is literally built on figures. Therefore, you need to know this. In this case, the matter will not be limited simple drawing squares. Everything is much more interesting here.

Let's start with something simple, namely drawing. The group of instruments itself consists of six types:

• Rectangle
• Rounded rectangle
• Ellipse
• Polygon
• Line (more details)
• Free figure

Each of these types has its own some features that differ from each other. Therefore, let's look at the beginning general principles styles.

To add a shape, you need to select it in the tool group, and holding down the left mouse button, we begin to draw it, or rather, select the area and size. The figure itself can be of any size and by default it will be drawn disproportionately. But if you hold down the key SHIFT, then it will be smooth on all sides, and thus the rectangle will be a square, and the ellipse will be a circle.

In the top menu we will see the properties panel, where we can set the fill of the shape itself, as well as the stroke color. If you don't want any colors, just a line, then select the No Fill and No Stroke colors. We can also set the thickness of this very stroke if we decide to choose a color.

In order to change the color of the drawn object, you can simply select the “Shape” tool again and replace it in the properties at the top, or double-click on the icon in the layers panel.

Using custom shapes in Photoshop

If everything is clear with all the above figures (take it and draw), then I would like to linger a little on the free version. To get started, select this tool.

There is no clear form here (hence the name), but there are many ready-made options. In order to consider them all, in the properties there is an element “Shape”, or rather, expand it. As you can see, we have different contours here with which we can draw an arrow, a heart, a prohibition sign and much more.

Let's try to add a custom shape in the form of a check mark to Photoshop. I'll give it a color, a stroke, and draw it in the standard way, that is, by holding down the left mouse button and dragging it a little in the other direction. Don't forget to hold down the key Shift to maintain all proportions. This way you can draw cool non-standard objects. It is also noteworthy that no matter the size of the object we draw, it will always be even and smooth. All this is because the figure is initially a vector object. And vector objects do not consist of pixels, like normal image, but are formed based on formulas.

How to install shapes in Photoshop

But the best part is that this set can be replenished, that is, arbitrary figures can be downloaded additionally, expanding your collection. This is completely easy to do. To do this, you just need to download these sets from any site, for example pixelbox. There is very large collection with different sets. Let's say I download this wonderful set with skateboarders.

Now go to the “Downloads” folder or wherever your files are downloaded by default. Next, run the file that we downloaded. You don’t even have to unpack it; you can run it directly in the archive.

After this, Photoshop will open and new arbitrary elements will already appear in your collection. Take it and use it.

Shape capabilities

The figures themselves have very great possibilities. Initially, I thought that you could only draw squares and buttons with them, but I was very mistaken. Let's take a closer look.

Properties

It is worth considering that each figure has its own properties that can be changed to achieve the most interesting result. They are located in a separate window and are usually located somewhere in the layers panel area, but this is not necessary. If they are not activated for you, then do this by entering the main menu in “Window” - “Properties”. After that, you can draw any element and see what can be changed in it.

A rectangle and a rounded rectangle have the same set of properties. It mainly concerns the radius of corners. And if in the first case it is zero on all fronts, then in the second it is already established in advance. You can change this same radius, making the corners more rounded or vice versa, all at once or separately.

Let's just draw a rectangle for fun and set the radius to 35 in only two corners (top right and bottom left). Just before doing this, be sure to disable the connection of the angles by clicking on the paperclip icon between them, otherwise the values ​​will change for everyone.

If you are using a stroke, you can change its location. That is, it can be outside the figure, inside it, or go along the center of the contour. You can select this by clicking on the corresponding icon.

Also, notice the gear icon. It gives additional properties to your shapes. For example, if you have a rectangle or ellipse activated, you can immediately set it to draw in equal proportions, in order to get a square or circle, and you no longer have to hold down the key SHIFT.

If you are using a polygon, you can specify the number of sides, smoothing, or drawing a star. And in the case of drawing a line, you can specify that . Therefore, do not forget to use this function.

Cut and add

But it’s not enough to just add shapes to Photoshop; you need to learn how to use all their charms. By default, when you add a new object, it is created on a new layer. But if you don't want this, then "operations with contours" select item "Merge Shapes". Now you can create entire objects from several elements.

Many will ask, how can they be selected then if they are all on the same layer? The answer is simple: on the toolbar we have two cursors, one of which is responsible for selecting a path, and the other for selecting a node. It’s precisely with the help of selecting the outline (black cursor) that we can select only a specific shape on the layer.

In addition, we can cut out, or rather subtract a figure from another, without affecting the original one. To do this, draw another object inside the original one (don't forget to set the mode to "Merge Shapes", as we did just above, so that they are on the same layer). As you can see, nothing much has changed yet. But that's how it should be.

Now, select a tool "Outline Selection" and point at the shape we just drew. After that we go again to "Operations with contours", but this time we choose "Subtract front figure". You will see for yourself how skillfully it was cut out and now instead of it there is a piece of background. But actually it is not. The element remains as it was, it just became invisible, but you can still move it, transform it and make it visible again.

This feature is often used when creating logos, banners and other web design elements.

How to align shapes with other elements

Another important property when drawing figures is their alignment. For example, we need to make several shapes with the same distance from each other, as well as on the same line. Let's say I take the Ellipse tool and, using the held Shift I'll draw a few circles.

Now, let's take the already familiar black cursor, which is called "Outline Selection" and using the mouse button held down, select all four circles, provided that they are still on the same layer. If each circle is on a different layer, then you will need to select the layers. To do this, you can use the pressed SHIFT or CTRL in the layers panel. After that, right-click and click "Merge Shapes".

But you don’t have to combine them. If, for example, each element requires its own color, then simply select the layers and take the Move tool, otherwise you will not be able to do anything further, that is, the alignment functions will be unavailable.

When we have selected everything, go to the menu "Outline Alignment" and select the parameters that we need. In my case I have to choose "Vertical centers" And "Distribute by width". In this case, the shapes will be aligned to the center, and the distance between them will be the same. This function works in the same way in the case of vertical arrangement.

Now everything will be aligned to its centers, but nothing will stop you from centering the figures along the bottom edge.

Deformation of figures

Well, it remains to examine one more interesting property, namely deformation. No, this is not exactly what we studied in this article, but we will change appearance figures.

In the same way, I can make some kind of crown out of a star. To do this, I select a polygon, set the star mode in the properties, and then draw it. After that I select the tool "Selecting a Node" and start moving all available points. Something like this - before and after.

Drawing Objects Using Shapes (Practice)

Now, let's see in practice how to add shapes in Photoshop so that you can use them to draw cool vector objects. For example, let’s draw a vector cup of fast food coffee.

1. Choose "Rectangle with rounded corners" and draw the blank of our glass. Select immediately suitable color for a glass, for example brown. To do this, change it in the properties above. You don't have to put a stroke.
   
2. Now, let's select a tool "Selecting a Node" and select the entire left corner of the workpiece (you should use two points, not one).
   
3. Now pinch SHIFT and press the left arrow on your keyboard, after which a window will pop up telling you that this operation will turn the shape into an outline. Agree. After that, press the left arrow again while holding down Shift. There will be no more inscription. After this manipulation, the left corner should protrude.
   
4. Now we do the same with the right corner, that is, select it using the white cursor and make a couple of clicks on the right arrow to protrude the other side. If the message appears again, agree.
   
5. Next we will create the lid. To do this, again take a polygon with rounded edges, only this time select the item "Merge Shapes" It won’t work, since you can’t change the fill color of different contours on one layer.
6. Next, draw a rectangle on top of our resulting trapezoid. And if your color is not black, then put it in the properties.
   
7. Now I see that the lid is sticking out a lot on both sides. It would be necessary to reduce it slightly on the sides. To do this, press the key combination CTRL+T to activate "Free Transform", then press the key ALT and pull a little beyond the side area. This will allow us to reduce the lid on the sides proportionally.
   
8. Next, we take again "Selecting a Node" and just as in the previous case, we bend the corners a little, selecting first one and then the second in turn. It should end up looking something like this.
   
9. All that remains is to straighten out the whole thing. To do this, select both layers in the layers panel using the key held down. CTRL, and then take the “Move” tool and in the properties under the main menu set "Align centers horizontally".
   

You can also edit some elements, for example, highlight the nodes and reduce the size of the bottom to make the cup look more natural. Or you can add details, for example some arbitrary shape. But overall, we got a simple and at the same time stylish glass in vector design.

I hope that now you understand how to add shapes to Photoshop, what they are for and how to use them in web design and more. By the way, if you want to draw cool designs for social networks, banners, covers and even website layouts, then I recommend that you go through professional education V online web design school. There are a whole bunch of different directions here. You just need to choose and do everything under the guidance of a professional.

Well, if you want to know Photoshop with a bang and learn how to use it with an A plus, then I recommend that you watch and study these awesome video tutorials. To date, this is one of the best and most detailed Photoshop tutorials I have ever seen. And the most important thing is that everything is told in simple human language. so you won’t need to stick into the topic, you will understand everything, even if you complete newbie. Highly recommend.

Well, this is where I will end my article. Don't forget to subscribe to my blog updates, as well as to public pages in social networks so as not to miss the release of a new article and interesting news. I'm waiting for you again. Good luck to you. Bye bye!

Best regards, Dmitry Kostin

In this lesson we will look at everything related to creating arbitrary shapes in Photoshop and then working with them. Since there is quite a lot of material, we will divide it into two parts. In the first part, we will learn how to create a shape, define it as a custom shape, and then display it on the screen and use it as needed. In Part 2, we'll look at how to combine different shapes into separate sets of shapes and save them in the program.

The idea to create this tutorial came to me while I was looking through a scrapbooking magazine with numerous pages containing ready-made templates simple figures. These figures were grouped under various themes and were absurdly expensive. I then thought, “Hey, you can create all these shapes yourself in Photoshop and for free!” Plus, you don't have to be into scrapbooking to benefit from creating your own custom shapes.

First of all, you can just have fun while creating shapes! And if you create a lot various figures and combine them into a separate set, it will be even more interesting. Secondly, you can use arbitrary shapes as a decorative element when designing drawings or even in design. Thirdly, you can combine a custom shape with a vector mask and get a fun photo frame. But before we start using custom shapes, let's learn how to create them!

Before starting to master the material, I will allow myself one more digression. Creating freeform shapes requires using the Pen tool ( Pen Tool). You can create shapes using the basic Shapes tools, such as Rectangle or Ellipse, but if you don't want to limit yourself to creating shapes a certain shape, resembling boxes or bicycle tires, you'll need to use the Pen Tool. We looked at the Pen Tool in more detail in our How to Make Selections with the Pen Tool tutorial, so in this lesson We will touch upon this topic only lightly. If you are not familiar with the basic properties of the Pen tool, read our tutorial on using this tool first.

In this lesson we will create arbitrary shapes by first tracing an object in the image. If you know how to draw, great - then you can easily draw a figure by hand without outlining the object, since when creating an arbitrary figure, it does not matter how you draw it - using a stroke or by hand. For me, I prefer to outline the subject (because artistic abilities I don’t have it), so in this lesson we will do just that.

I'm going to make a freeform shape out of this cute Gingerbread Man:

Gingerbread Man

Let's start!

Step 1: Select the Pen Tool

As I mentioned, you can create freeform shapes using the basic Shapes tools, such as Rectangle or Ellipse, but if you try to trace our Gingerbread Man with these tools, he will most likely remain in best case scenario without a head (sorry for the slight irony). What we really need is the Pen Tool, so select it from the Tools panel:

Selecting the Pen Tool

You can also select the Pen tool by pressing the P key.

Step 2: Select the “Shape Layer” option in the Options Bar

With the Pen tool selected, let's take a look at the settings panel at the top of the screen. On the left side of the panel you will see a group of three icons:

Three icons in the Options bar that allow us to choose how to use the Pen tool

These icons show us what we can do with the Pen Tool. Icon on the right in this moment looks shaded. It is available to us only when we work with the main tools of the “Shapes” group (the “Pen” tool and the tools of the “Shapes” group have almost the same options in the settings panel). As we went through in the lesson “How to make selections using the Pen tool”, the icon in the middle is used when we want to draw outlines, but at the moment we do not need it. We want to use the Pen tool to draw a shape, and to do this we need to select the icon on the left, which is responsible for the Shape Layers option:

To draw shapes using the Pen tool, select the Shape Layer option.

The Shape Layer option is selected by default whenever you use the Pen Tool, so you may not have to set it yourself. But it's still a good idea if you check and make sure this option is selected before you start drawing the shape.

I should point out that there is no difference between drawing paths and drawing shapes with the Pen Tool. In both cases, you click in the document window to set reference points, then move the guide lines as needed to create straight or curved sections (again, if you're not familiar with these concepts, check out our How to Make Selections with the Pen Tool tutorial). In fact, whether you "officially" draw shapes or outlines, you are drawing outlines anyway. The difference is that when drawing shapes Photoshop program fills the outline with color already during the drawing process, which allows us to see the figure.

Oddly enough, this property will make our work a little more difficult. We'll look at why further.

Step 3: Start Drawing the Shape

Once we've selected the Pen Tool and the Shape Layer option in the Options Bar, we can start tracing the image. I want to start tracing the Gingerbread Man's head. To do this, I'll click to set the anchor points and start moving the guide lines to create a curved section of the stroke around the Man's head. In the picture below you can see the anchor points and guide lines, but there is a problem. Photoshop fills the outline of the figure with a background color (black in my case) as it strokes, preventing us from seeing the Man's head:

The program fills the outline with the background color as it draws, preventing us from seeing the image

In order for the program not to hide the image itself during the tracing process, we just need to go to the layers panel and reduce the opacity of the shape layer. At the moment, in the Layers panel you can see that we have two layers - a bottom layer of Background (Background), which contains the image of the Gingerbread Man, and a top layer of a shape called “Shape 1” (Shape 1). I can tell with confidence that the shape layer is currently selected because it's highlighted in blue, so to reduce its opacity, we just need to select the Opacity option in the top right corner of the Layers panel and reduce its value. In my case, I'll lower the opacity to 50%:

Reduce the opacity of the shape layer using the Opacity option in the upper right corner of the Layers panel

After reducing the opacity of the figure layer, the Man's head is visible through the background new color filling, as a result of which it will become much easier for us to do further strokes:

After reducing the opacity of a shape layer, the image is visible through the background fill color

Step 5: Continue tracing the image

Now that the Gingerbread Man is visible through the shape's fill color, I can continue tracing the image with the Pen Tool until I return to the beginning of the stroke:

The outline of the figure is completely finished

If we look at the shape layer in the Layers panel, we can see that a distinct Gingerbread Man shape has appeared on it:

The figure of our Man is now clearly visible in the layers panel.

Everything has been fine with us so far. We outlined the Gingerbread Man figure, and in some cases this would be enough. In my case, however, the outlined figure requires some work. At the very least, I think we need to include the eyes and mouth in the outlined silhouette, as well as perhaps a bow tie and two large buttons underneath. How do we add these details to the outlined shape? Very simple! We will not add them - we will remove (or subtract) these details from the figure!

Step 6: Select the Ellipse Tool

Let's start with the eyes. If we wished, we could select the eyes using the Pen tool, but since the Man's eyes are round, we will select them more the easy way using the Ellipse Tool. Select the Ellipse tool from the toolbar. By default, this tool is hidden behind the Rectangle tool ( Rectangle Tool), so click on the Rectangle Tool and hold down the mouse button for a few seconds, which will cause a pop-up menu to appear on the screen where you can select the Ellipse Tool:

Click on the "Rectangle" tool in the toolbar, then hold down the mouse button until a pop-up menu appears on the screen, where we select the "Ellipse" tool.

Step 7: Select the “Subtract from Shape Area” option

With the Ellipse tool selected, look in the Options panel where you will see several icons grouped together that look like little squares that are connected to each other in various ways. These icons allow us to perform various actions with shapes, such as adding a shape to an area, subtracting a separate area from it, and intersecting the areas of several shapes. Click on the third icon from the left, which is responsible for the “Subtract from shape area” parameter:

On the settings panel, click on the “Subtract from shape area” option icon:

Step 8: Draw individual shapes to extract them from the outlined silhouette

Now that we've selected the Subtract from Shape Area option, we can start adding detail to our shape by removing individual areas. I'll start transforming the figure by drawing an oval around the left eye:

Draw an oval around the left eye while holding down the mouse button

When I release the mouse button, the oval area around the eye immediately disappears or is “cut out” from the outline of the main shape, leaving behind a hole through which the left eye of the Man can be seen in the original image placed on the bottom “Background” layer:

The left eye is now "cut" out of the original outline of the figure, resulting in the eye being visible in the original image below the outlined silhouette.

I'll do the same with the right eye. To start, I'll draw an oval around the eye:

Draw an oval around the right eye

As soon as I release the mouse button, a second round hole will appear, through which the Man's eye in the original image will also be visible:

A second hole has appeared on the figure, through which the Man’s eye is visible.

Since the two buttons underneath the bow tie are also round in shape, I'll use the Ellipse Tool again to remove them from the outlined shape. To start, I'll draw an oval around the top button:

Draw an oval around the top button

When I release the mouse button, the oval area around the button immediately disappears from the outlined shape, leaving behind a hole through which the button can be seen in the image below:

There is a hole in the figure through which the top button is visible

Now I'll do the same for the bottom button, starting by drawing an oval around it:

Draw an oval around the bottom button

When I release the mouse button, a fourth hole appears in the outlined silhouette:

Both buttons are now cut from the outlined shape

If I look at the shape layer thumbnail in the Layers panel right now, I can see two holes for the eyes and two holes for the buttons that I cut out from the outlined shape:

The shape layer thumbnail shows us the holes for the eyes and buttons cut out of the outlined shape

Step 9: Extract the remaining details from the outlined silhouette using the Pen Tool

I'm going to switch to the Pen Tool again because I need to add some detail to the outlined shape that I can't select with the Ellipse Tool.

I want to add a mouth to the outlined silhouette, as well as a bow tie. Since the Subtract from Shape Area option is already checked when I select the Pen Tool again in the Options Bar, I'll just start tracing the mouth and bow tie to "cut" them out of the outlined Gingerbread Man silhouette.

In the image below you can see the stroke lines along with the original Gingerbread Man image peeking through the holes I created:

Both the mouth and bow tie are now cut out from the outlined Gingerbread Man shape using the Pen Tool.

Let's finish drawing the Gingerbread Man figure by cutting out wavy trails of powdered sugar on his legs and arms. Again, I'll use the Pen tool to create the tracks. First, I'll trace a trail of powdered sugar on the Man's left arm, causing it to be cut out from the original outline of the shape:

Using the Pen tool, cut out a trail of powdered sugar on the Man's left hand.

After outlining the first track, I'll move on to the remaining three and start tracing them until all four tracks of powdered sugar have been cut out of the Man figure:

The tracks of powdered sugar on the legs and arms are now cut out from the outlined silhouette

If we look again at the shape layer thumbnail in the Layers panel, we can clearly see the powdered sugar trails, eyes, mouth, bow tie, and buttons cut out of the shape:

The shape layer thumbnail in the Layers panel reflects all the details that were cut from the original outline of the Gingerbread Man shape

So, the Gingerbread Man figure is ready! We used the Pen Tool to make an initial stroke of the shape, and then we used the Pen and Ellipse tools along with the Subtract from Shape Area option to add fine detail to the shape.

Step 10: Increase the Opacity of the Shape Layer to 100%

Once we've outlined individual areas of our shape, we no longer need to see the original image underneath the outlined silhouette, so we'll again select the Opacity option in the upper right corner of the Layers panel and increase the value to 100%:

Increase the opacity of the shape layer to 100%

I'm also going to temporarily hide the Background layer from view by clicking on the layer's visibility icon (the icon that looks like eyeball) so that we can only see the outlined figure on transparent background. If you don't want to, you can leave the background layer unhidden. I do this only for the convenience of viewing the figure:

Click on the layer visibility icon to temporarily hide the background layer from view.

And here's what the Gingerbread Man shape I created looks like after hiding the background layer from view and increasing the shape layer's opacity to 100%:

The finished Gingerbread Man figure placed on a transparent background

After many steps, we finally created our figure! But this is not the end. Now we need to make an arbitrary figure out of it, and that’s what we’ll do next.

Step 11: Define the shape as a freeform shape

To turn a shape into a custom shape, first make sure the shape layer is selected in the Layers panel. You'll also want to make sure the shape layer preview thumbnail is selected. If it is selected, it will be surrounded by a white highlighted frame and you will be able to see the outlined outline around the shape in the document. If the layer thumbnail doesn't have a highlighted border and you can't see the outline around the shape, simply click on the layer thumbnail to select it:

If necessary, click on the shape layer thumbnail to select it

Note: If you ever need to hide the outline of your shape, simply click on the layer thumbnail again to deselect it

After selecting the shape layer and selecting the layer thumbnail, go to the Edit menu at the top of the screen and select Define Custom Shape:

Select “Editing” > “Define Free Shape”

This action will open the Shape Name dialog box, where you will need to enter a name for your shape. I'll name my figure "Gingerbread Man":

Enter a name for your shape in the appropriate section of the Shape Name dialog box.

Click OK to exit the dialog box when the name is entered, and that's it - your custom shape is ready to use! At this point, you can close the document in Photoshop since we have created and saved our shape. Now let's look at where you can find it and how you can use it!

Step 12: Create a New Document in Photoshop

Create a new one blank document in Photoshop by going to the File menu at the top of the screen and selecting New. This action will open the New Document dialog box, where you can specify any image size for your document. In the “Preset” line I will select the size 640x480 pixels:

Create a new blank document in Photoshop

Step 13: Select the Free Shape Tool

Having created a new empty document, select the Free Shape tool from the toolbar. By default, the Rectangle Tool is displayed on the screen, so click on it and hold the mouse button down for a few seconds until a pop-up menu appears with a list of other tools, where you can select the Custom Shape Tool Shape Tool):

Click and hold the Rectangle Tool icon, then select the Free Shape Tool from the menu that appears.

Step 14: Selecting our custom shape

Having selected the “Freeform Shape” tool, right-click in the document window, as a result of which a shape selection window will appear, where you can select any of the currently available freeform shapes. The shape you just created will be the last one in the list of shapes. To select it, simply click on the corresponding figure thumbnail:

Right-click in the document window to open the shape selection window, then click on the thumbnail of a custom shape to select it

Step 15: Drawing Our Shape

After selecting an arbitrary shape, simply click the mouse in the document window and, while holding the mouse button pressed, draw the shape. To maintain the proportions of the shape as you move the cursor and not accidentally distort them, press and hold the Shift key. You can also press and hold Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) to draw the shape from the center. If you want to change the location of a shape while you're drawing it, press and hold the Spacebar, then move the shape to a new location, then release the Spacebar and continue drawing the shape.

During the drawing process, you will only see a thin outline of the future figure:

As you draw the shape, a thin outline will appear.

When you are satisfied with the location and size of the shape, simply release the mouse button and the program will immediately fill the shape with the color that is currently the background (in my case, it is black):

Release the mouse button and Photoshop will fill the shape with color

Step 16: Double-click on the shape layer thumbnail to change the shape color

Don't worry about the color of your shape as you draw it and add it to your document. The program will automatically fill the shape with the color that is currently selected as the background color. If you then want to change the color of the shape, just double-click on the shape layer thumbnail. It is by the layer thumbnail, and not by the shape preview thumbnail located on the right side (which is formally called the vector mask thumbnail). You want a thumbnail on the left side that looks like a color swatch icon with a little slider at the bottom. Double-click on it with the mouse button to change the color of the shape:

Double-click on the shape layer thumbnail (color swatch icon) located on the left to change the shape color

This action will open the color picker where you can choose a new color for your shape. For my Gingerbread Man I want to choose brown color:

To select a new color, use the color picker

Click OK to exit the color picker once you've selected a color, and your shape will immediately fill with the new color:

The color of the figure has now changed

You can change the color of your figure as many times as you want, whenever you need to!

Step 17: If necessary, change the size of the shape using the “Free Transform” command

When working with shapes, you can change more than just the color. The big advantage is that drawing shapes uses vectors instead of pixels, so you can easily resize the shapes whenever you want without losing image quality! If you decide you want to make your shape bigger or smaller, simply select the shape layer in the Layers panel and then press Ctrl+T (Win) / Command+T (Mac) to open the Transform frame. Resize the shape by dragging any of the corner handles. Press and hold the Shift key while moving the handle to maintain the shape's proportions. You can also press and hold Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) while moving the handle to resize the shape from its center:

Resize a shape using the Free Transform frame

To rotate a shape, simply click the mouse outside the free transformation frame and move the cursor in the desired direction:

Click outside the transformation frame and move the cursor to rotate the shape

Press Enter (Win) / Return (Mac) when you're done resizing the shape to confirm your final transformation.

You can add as many copies of your custom shape to your document as you want, changing the color, size, and location of the shape each time you want. Each copy of the custom shape will be placed on a separate shape layer in the Layers panel. In my case, I added several Gingerbread Man shapes to the document, each of which had its own color, size and rotation angle. Please note that regardless of their size, all figures retain sharp, clear angles:

Add as many copies of your custom shape to your document as you wish, changing the color, size and rotation angle of each of them

And now we're done! First, we created the shape by tracing the original drawing using the Pen Tool. We “cut out” small details on our shape using the Pen and Ellipse tools with the “Subtract from Shape Area” option set. Next, we saved our shape as a custom shape using the Define Free Shape option in the Edit menu section. After that, we created a new document, selected the Free Shape tool and drew a freeform shape in our document. And finally, we looked at how you can change the color, size and angle of any shape at any time!

So, we have learned the basics of creating and using freeform shapes in Photoshop, i.e. studied the first part of our lesson. In the second part, we will look at how to combine the arbitrary shapes we created into separate sets and save them in the program.

Translation: Ksenia Rudenko

Drawing tools let you create and edit vector shapes. They make it easy to create various elements for web pages.

Create a new training file.

Left-click on the -shapes- tool in the toolbar, the tool selection window will open:

Here are the basic shapes we can use. Select any one and look at the options panel:

For any shape you can choose:

• drawing mode:
  • Shape layer. The figure is created in a separate layer. A shape layer consists of a fill layer that defines the color of the shape, and an associated vector mask that defines the shape's boundaries. The outline of a shape is a path that appears in the Paths tab of the Layers panel.
  
  
  • Outlines. This mode allows you to draw outlines of shapes that can be filled or outlined with any color. Paths appear in the Paths tab of the Layers panel.
  
  
  • Pixel Fill. When working in this mode, not vector, but raster images, which can be processed in the same way as any raster image
  
  
• style and color of the figure


• set parameters specific to this figure

Let's select the first shape - a rectangle. In the panel, select the mode - shape layer. Select a style by clicking on the triangle on the right.

Choose any one you like. By the way, if you click on the triangle in the circle (on the right), you can select additional styles in the context menu that opens. If you do not want to use a style, then select a white square crossed out with a red line.

Now you can set the geometric parameters:

• Arbitrarily- as you draw, so it will be.
• Square- when you stretch the shape with the mouse, the width and height will always be the same.
• Specified size- you can set the width and height of the rectangle (in cm) and click on the canvas. A rectangle with the specified dimensions will appear.
• Set proportions- you can set how many times the width will be smaller (or larger) than the height. When stretching the figure, the proportion will be maintained.
• From the center- draws a rectangle from the center.
• Snap to Pixels- the edges of the rectangle are snapped to the pixel boundaries.

Enough useful tool to create buttons and menus for your web pages, isn't it?

Draw rectangles with rounded corners

Let's select the second shape - a rectangle with rounded corners. In the panel, select the mode - shape layer, corner radius - for example, 15 and color (you can style it as you want). The geometric parameters are the same as for a rectangle.

This is what happened to me various combinations radius and style.

Why not news blocks and menu buttons?

Drawing circles

Let's choose the third figure - an ellipse. In the panel, select the mode - layer-shape, color and style. The geometric parameters are the same as for a rectangle, with the only difference being that you can choose a circle instead of a square. Select -randomly- and stretch the ellipse. If you want there to be a circle, then hold down the Shift key or select -circle- in the geometric parameters.

Here's what I got:

Drawing polygons

Let's choose a shape - a polygon. In the panel, select the mode - shape layer, the number of sides in the range from 3 to 100 (for example, 3 for a triangle, 6 for a hexagon), color and style. Let's consider the geometric parameters:

• Radius- radius of the polygon.
• Smooth outer corners
• Star- with the checkbox unchecked, the polygon is convex, with the checkbox ticked, the polygon is concave.
• Beam depth- if the polygon is concave, then its vertices seem to form rays. This parameter shows what part of the polygon radius will be occupied by rays. The higher the %, the longer and sharper the rays.
• Smooth outer corners- with the checkbox unchecked, the corners are sharp, with the checkbox checked, the corners are rounded.

The first hexagon has a radius of 3 cm, the rest of the boxes are unchecked.

The second hexagon has a radius of 3 cm, a checkmark at -star-, the depth of the rays is 25%, the rest of the checkboxes are unchecked.

The third hexagon has a radius of 3 cm, the depth of the rays is 50%, all the boxes are checked.

All have a style applied to them.

Drawing lines

Let's choose a shape - lines. In the panel, select the mode - shape layer, line thickness (in pixels), color and style. Let's consider the geometric parameters:

If all the checkboxes are unchecked, there will be just a line, the parameters are set by the arrows at the ends of this line.

• Start- arrow at the beginning of the line.
• End- arrow at the end of the line.
• Width- proportions of the arrow as a percentage of the line thickness (from 10% to 1000%).
• Length- proportions of the arrow as a percentage of the line thickness (from 10% to 5000%).
• Curvature- determines the degree of curvature of the widest part of the arrow where it meets the line (from -50% to +50%).

The first line has all checkboxes unchecked, width - 500%, length - 1000%, thickness - 2 pixels.

For the second line, everything is the same, but there is a checkmark at -beginning- and the curvature is 5%.

For the third line, everything is the same, but the -end- is checked and the -beginning- is unchecked.

The fourth line has both checkboxes, width - 500%, length - 1000%, curvature - 15%, thickness - 5 pixels.

All have a style applied to them.

Drawing arbitrary shapes

Let's choose a figure - an arbitrary figure. In the panel, select the mode - layer-shape, color and style. The geometric parameters are the same as for a rectangle. But here there is a choice of the figure itself:

If you click on the triangle in the circle (on the right), then in the context menu that opens you can select additional figures.

Drawing multiple shapes in one layer

The principle here is the same as with tools rectangular selection(in the first lesson we made a non-standard selection area using the tools in the options bar: add to selection, subtract from selection, etc.). The same tools are available in the Shape Options panel.

For example, create a rectangle shape, now in the options bar click on the "add to shape area" icon, and now select the ellipse shape. Move the mouse cursor to the upper border of our rectangle, press the left mouse button and, without releasing it, stretch the ellipse. It should look something like this:

If the ellipse is not stretched as desired, you can correct it. To do this, select the path selection tool from the toolbar:

Move the cursor to the border of the ellipse and, while holding down the left mouse button, drag the ellipse where it should be. Using all these tools, you can draw shapes of varying complexity.

Saving the shapes

Let's say we liked the last shape we created and want to use it in the future. To do this, you need to save it. For this menu Edit -> Define Custom Shape. Give the new shape a name.

Now our shape has appeared in the drop-down custom shape selection panel.

This concludes the lesson. Next time we'll deal with outlines and raster images.

It's good to have tools in the program that allow you to draw circles and squares, but what if we need to draw a more complex shape? What if we wanted to add a heart to a wedding photo or invitation, or draw a dog or cat for a pet store logo? How about using flowers, leaves, snowflakes, musical notes, or a copyright icon in your drawings?

In fact, Photoshop works with all of these shapes and more and allows us to add them to an image with the same ease that we added circles and squares. In the program, all these more complex shapes are called custom shapes, and we can draw them using the Custom Shape Tool, which we will learn about in this tutorial.

Free Shape Tool

The Free Shape tool is located on the toolbar in the same section as the other tools in the Shapes group. By default, the Rectangle Tool is displayed on the screen, but if you click on it and hold the mouse button down for a few seconds, a pop-up menu will appear with a list of other tools that are also available in this section. The Free Shape tool is at the very bottom of the list:

Click and hold the Rectangle Tool icon, then select the Free Shape Tool from the menu that appears.

If you already have one of the Shapes group tools selected, you can quickly switch to the Free Shape tool in the Options panel, where there are six icons representing the Shapes group tools. The Free Shape tool icon is the last one on the right (it looks like a blob):

If you already have another tool in the Shapes group active, you can select the Free Shape tool in the settings panel

Selecting the shape of an arbitrary figure

After selecting the Free Shape tool, we need to decide on the shape of the shape we want to draw. In the Options Bar, to the right of the Free Shape tool icon, a preview window will appear showing a thumbnail of the shape that is currently selected:

The preview window displays the arbitrary shape we have selected

To select a different shape, click on the preview window. This action will open the Custom Shapes palette, which will display all the shapes currently available for selection. In fact, Photoshop works with a much larger number of arbitrary shapes than the limited number that is initially presented in the palette. We'll look at how to load other arbitrary shapes into the palette next:

To open the Custom Shapes palette, click the preview window

To select a shape, simply click on its thumbnail, then click on the button Enter(Win) / Return(Mac) to close the palette. Or double-click on the shape thumbnail, which will select the shape and close the palette itself. I'll select a heart shape:

Select a heart-shaped shape from the "Custom Shapes" palette

Choosing a color for a shape

After choosing the shape of the figure, you need to choose a color for it. This can be done by clicking on the color swatch icon located to the right of the word “Color” in the settings panel:

Click on the color sample icon to select the desired color for an arbitrary shape

The program will immediately open color palette, where we can select the desired color. Since I decided to draw a heart shape, I will choose the color red. To close the color palette, click OK when you select the color you want:

From the color palette, choose a color for a heart-shaped figure

Selecting the Shape Layer option

As I mentioned in the last tutorial, Photoshop allows us to draw three types of shapes using the Shapes group of tools. We can draw vector shapes that are resolution independent and can be scaled without losing quality (the type of shapes we would draw in Illustrator). We can also draw paths, which are just outlines of shapes, or we can draw pixel shapes, which the program fills in with colored pixels. In most cases, we draw vector shapes, and to be able to do this, we need to select the Shape Layers option in the settings panel. It's the first icon in a group of three icons located toward the left edge of the Settings panel:

To draw vector shapes, select the "Shape Layer" option in the settings panel

To draw a shape, click in the document window to define the starting point and then, while holding down the mouse button, drag the mouse cursor in a direction away from the starting point. As you move the cursor, the program will show you a thin outline of the future figure:

Click to define the starting point and then drag to draw the shape

Release the mouse button to finish drawing the shape, and the program will immediately fill the shape with the color you selected in the settings panel:

Photoshop will fill the shape with color when you release your mouse button

Drawing a figure with correct proportions

Notice that my heart shape looks a little distorted. It is wider and shorter than I expected to see. This happened due to the fact that, by default, Photoshop does not try to maintain the correct proportions (or otherwise aspect ratio) of the figure in the process of depicting it. I'll press Ctrl+Z (Win) / Command+Z (Mac) to undo the action and try to draw the shape again.

To draw a shape with the correct proportions, position the cursor in the document window and, while holding down the mouse button, begin dragging the cursor and drawing the shape as usual. While doing this, press the Shift key and continue to hold it down as you move the cursor. As soon as you press (and hold) the Shift key, you will see that the outline of the shape has the correct proportions:

To draw a shape with the correct proportions, hold down the Shift key while moving the cursor

When you're happy with the size of the shape you've drawn, release the mouse button, and then release the Shift key (make sure you release the Shift key last). The program will fill the shape again with the selected color:

Release the Shift key only after you release the mouse button

I'll press Ctrl+Z (Win) / Command+Z (Mac) again to undo, and then select a different shape by clicking the shape preview box in the Settings panel to open the Shapes palette. This time I'll focus on the image of musical notes:

Click on the musical notes thumbnail to select a shape

In order to draw musical notes, I'll position the cursor in the document window to define the starting point and then, while holding down the mouse button, drag the mouse cursor in a direction away from the starting point. Once I start dragging the cursor, I'll press and hold the Shift key to lock in the correct proportions of the shape and continue drawing the image:

As I move the cursor, I'll hold down the Shift key to keep the shape's proportions correct

I'll then release the mouse button to finish the painting process, and Photoshop will fill the shape with the same color I chose for the previous shape:

The new shape will be filled with the same color as the previous one

Change the fill color of a drawn shape

What if I want my new figure to be a different color from the previous one? I could have just chosen a different color in the settings panel before I painted new figure. However, we can also easily change the color of an already drawn shape. Each new custom shape you draw is placed on its own shape layer in the Layers panel, and each shape layer has its own color swatch icon that represents the shape's current fill color. In order to change the color, you just need to double-click on the color swatch icon:

To change the current shape color, double-click the shape layer color swatch icon

Photoshop will re-open the color palette where we can select a new color. I'll choose purple:

Select a new color for the figure from the color palette

Click OK when you're ready to close the Color Picker, and this will allow Photoshop to change the shape's color for us:

We can change the color of a vector shape at any time

Loading additional shape sets

As I already mentioned, Photoshop works with a much larger number of custom shapes than the limited number that is initially provided to us. We just need to load additional shapes into the palette. We can do this by opening the Shapes palette in the Options panel and clicking on the small arrow in the top right corner of the palette:

Click on the small arrow in the upper right corner of the shapes palette

This action will open a menu with various parameters, at the very bottom of which there will be a list additional sets shapes installed in Photoshop. Each of these sets is a collection of figures united by a common theme, for example, “Animals”, “Music”, “Nature”, etc. Some of the sets only appeared in Photoshop CS5 (which is the version I use), but most of the sets are available in any recent version of the program:

All these additional sets of shapes are installed in the program, but they must be loaded into the palette manually

If you know which set of figures you need, you can select it by clicking on the corresponding set name in the list. However, it's easier to load all the shape sets at once. We can do this by selecting the name "All" at the top of the list of sets:

Select the name "All" to load all additional sets of forms

After this, a dialog box will appear and you will need to decide whether to replace the current custom shapes with new ones or add shapes to the existing ones. Select "Append" in the window, which will allow you to save the original shapes and add new ones to them:

To load new shapes when saving the original shapes in the palette, select “Add” (Append)

And now if we open the shapes palette by clicking on the preview window in the settings panel, we will see a variety of new shapes from which we can select the ones we need. I've expanded the shape palette a bit so that more miniatures can be seen. To view all thumbnails of the shapes, use the scroll bar on the right side of the palette:

The Shapes palette is now loaded with all the additional shapes available in Photoshop

Below are some examples of shapes that we can now draw in the program:

The Shapes palette now reflects all the additional shapes available in Photoshop

Despite all the variety of ready-made freeform shapes provided in the program, it may happen that even after downloading all the sets, we will not be able to find the image we need for the special design we are working on. And in this case, Photoshop will be an indispensable assistant for us, because it allows us to create any shape ourselves. To learn how to create, save, and use your own collection of custom shapes, check out our Create Your Own Custom Shapes tutorial!

And now we're done! We looked at how you can use the Free Shape tool to add a complex shape to your document. In the next tutorial, we'll explore the differences between vector shapes, paths, and pixel shapes!