Hello and Welcome to complete beginners guide to Adobe Photoshop
Now as you create in Photoshop, there will be many occasions where you will need to make selections and create shapes in your composition. We learned in a previous episode how the lasso, marquee, and magic wand tools work to make selections in our document. And we learned how the shape builder tool can help us make common shapes fast. From selections made with the lasso, marquee tools, and the magic wand, we can copy parts of an image, modify part of an image, erase parts of an image and build new creative elements. In Photoshop, there is another tool that we can use to make selections and also build shapes within Photoshop. This is the pen tool. Now this tool works a little differently to the selection tools and the shape tools. When using the pen tool, we create the parts. In this tutorial I'm going to discuss the pen tool and the concept of paths in Photoshop. I'll be briefly discussing some examples and then demonstrating how the tool works. Where you will have the option to follow along and have a go yourself. I will also be referencing an additional video I have created previously. In this video I will only be covering the very basics of the pen tool. Though in an additional tutorial, I will be going into more depth of how to use the pen tool. So I strongly recommend you watch this when we come to it. By the end of this tutorial you will know everything you need to know about the pen tool. So to follow along with this video you will need to open this document I have prepared especially for this tutorial. This document can be found in the essential practice folder in the project folder. Now you can download this project folder for free, the download link is in the description. So, with the project folder open, click essential practice, open the pen and paths folder and open the pen and paths PSD. Then you should have something that looks like this. Now, we are going to be covering a lot in this video. The topics covered in this video are listed in the description along with their times. So be sure to check that out. So, in this tutorial I'll be referencing the paths panel. To follow along you will need to have your paths panel visible. If you cannot see your paths panel, you can come up to window, scroll down, and activate it there. For the sake of this tutorial, I'm going to drag out my paths panel so you can see clearly what I'm referring to. Now, before we begin I suggest you come to the top right of your paths panel, click the top-right menu icon, come down and click on panel options. Up will pop the paths panel options, click on the bottom tab and click OK. This will make the paths thumbnails bigger in the panel for us to see. Okay, so what exactly is the pen tool? And what are paths? Well, the pen tool is used to simply draw and modify paths. Paths are then used to perform a series of creative tasks. Once a path is created, it can be saved and can be activated from the paths panel. Here we can see that there are currently quite a few paths in this document. Now, it's important to mention at this stage that paths do not exist on layers. A path can be activated regardless of which layer you have selected in the layers panel. information for each path is stored in the paths panel and can be activated at any time. Later, we will be learning how to use paths to create. Only then, do we need to be conscience of layers in the layers panel. Now, if any of you are familiar with Adobe Illustrator, the pen tool works exactly the same. But the way paths work is a unique concept to Photoshop. So, let's begin by taking a look at some examples. So, over here on the left I have a series of created elements. Some of these are raster layers and some of these have been created by paths. So, these are here to demonstrate some of the uses of the pen tool. So, the first example here is an apple. Now, if we come into the paths panel and click on the apple trace path, upon click, we will see a thin gray stroke appear around the outside of the apple. This thin stroke is a path. Now, if I wish to select this path, I can come into the menu, down towards the bottom, and choose the path selection tool. This tool is represented by the black arrow. With this tool active, I can carefully click on the gray stroke. Upon click, we will see all the anchor points that make up this path. So, this is a path that has been created by tracing around the photo example with the pen tool and saved in the paths panel as "apple trace." So, if we look at the example to the right of this, here I have a solid orange shape that looks like the apple to the left. Now, if we look closely in the layers panel, this object exists on the apple fill layer. We can see that this is an ordinary raster image layer. If I come into the paths panel and click on the Apple fill path, we can see the path around this. And I'll press A to activate the paths selection tool. I'll select the path and we can see the anchor points making the path. So, this raster apple shape has been created from the path that was made by tracing the apple photo to the left. The traced path from the apple image has been duplicated. And the orange shape has been created from the duplicated path. And we shall be taking a look shortly how we can generate raster shapes from paths. Now, if we come down to the next row, here we have an image of an origami bird. Now, if I come into the paths panel, and this time select the bird trace path, this time, we will see a gray thin stroke around this image. And if I click on the stroke with the path selection tool, again, we will see the anchor points that make up the path. So, here, we have another path that has been drawn with the pen tool and saved as "bird trace" in the paths panel. Now, moving over to the right, here, we have another solid shape. Again, if we look in the layers panel this layer exists on the bird fill layer and, again, is a raster element.
If we look in the paths panel, we have another path here called bird fill. So, again, this raster shape has been created from a path traced from an image. Now, the next example is something quite unique. This is where is begins to get quite creative. If we look in the layers panel, we can see that this layer, bird custom shape, has a shape layer icon on the image thumbnail in the layers panel. Now, because this is a shape layer, we have some effects applied which can be toggled up in the control panel when we select the shape in the layers panel and select the shape with the paths selection tool. Now, like the raster shape on the left this shape was created from the bird trace path created from the photo example. In Photoshop, you can create non-raster custom shapes with the pen tool to be used over and over again. And we will be also seeing how this is done shortly. So, if we come down to the next row and look carefully in the layers panel, here we can see we have another shape layer and we know this because we have the shape layer icon on the image thumbnail. Now, unlike the shape example above, which was created from a traced path, this object here was created using the shape tool in the menu. Now, both being shape layers, they both behave in the same way. For example, you can apply various color and stroke effects up in the control panel. So, I'll come over to the final example here and, here, we have another unique created element. If we look in the layers panel, we can see that this is, again, a shape layer but, unlike the first shape layer example that was created from a traced path, and the second example that was made from the shape builder tool, this shape was drawn manually using the pen tool. And we will be also seeing how this was done shortly. So, when you have a path active in your canvas area, an easy way to deactivate it is to simply press enter. Though, you will need to have the path selection tool active first. So, a quick tip: to activate a path we can simply select it in the paths panel. But to remove it from visibility, we can press A to activate the path selection tool or the direct selection tool and simply press enter. Try and keep that in mind, as it will be useful. So, with that brief intro to paths, let's now take a look at how we can use the pen tool to create paths. So, let's now come over to the right-hand side of the worksheet where we will have a go at using the pen tool. So, first, I'm going to come into the layers panel and toggle at the example area group and toggle down the exercise area folder. So, in this folder, we have a layer called green bird raster image and we are going to start by tracing this shape. So, the pen tool can be found over in the menu about three-thirds of the way down. The pen tool icon is represented by a fountain pen tip. Now, if we click and hold on the pen tool, we will see that the pen tool is part of a series of five tools. Each one of these tools works to build and refine a path once created. So, we are going to start with the first tool: the pen tool. So, with the pen tool active, you will see the mouse cursor has now changed to a fountain pen tip. So, now we are ready to draw out a path. So, before we start, I'm going to come into the paths panel and make sure I don't have a path currently highlighted. I'll click into the space below to deselect any path currently selected and begin to draw a new path. So, I'll begin by placing an anchor point on the tip of the bird. When you click for the first time with the pen tool, you will drop down one anchor point. So, I'll move my mouse up to the next corner and click again. Upon click, we will drop a new anchor point and notice a gray stroke join them together. So, I'll carry on, around the bird shape, dropping anchor points on each of the corners like so. As I progress around the shape, I will begin to draw and create a path. Now, when I draw around a shape and get to the other side, as I move my mouse cursor over the first anchor point I dropped down, I will notice a little O shape appear on the mouse cursor. This is Photoshop telling me that, if I now click, I will click to join the parts and create a shape. Now, if we look over in the paths panel, we will see we have a new path. So, I'll double click on the name in the paths panel and rename this to "green bird" and click OK. That will save the new path. Excellent! So, once I have created this path, I can use various tools to modify this path. So, if I come down and choose the path selection tool from the menu, the black arrow, just like earlier, I can select the path. By using this tool, I can also move the path around on the canvas area like so. If I use the arrow keys, I can also move the path around in small increments. Now, should I wish to modify a particular anchor point on the path, for this I will need the direct selection tool. This can be located with the path selection tool in the menu. By pressing and holding on the path selection tool, we can choose the direct selection tool, the white arrow. With this tool selected, we can click a particular point and move it around like so. Simple. Now, what if I want to modify the path and add another anchor point? Well, this can be done by going back to the pen tool and from the series of tools, I'm going to select the add anchor point tool. With this tool active, if I move my mouse cursor over the path, notice the mouse cursor change shape. As I move the cursor over the path, it will change to a fountain tip with a plus symbol. This is indicating that if I click, I will add an anchor point to the path. So, I'll click once and a new point will be added to the path. Now, if I chose the direct selection tool, I can click on this new anchor point and move it around to modify the path. Now, should I wish to take and anchor point away, I can come into the pen tools and click the delete anchor point tool. If I move my mouse cursor over an anchor point, a minus symbol will appear and as I click, it will remove the point. Easy. So, that's how easy it is to create and modify a path using the pen tools. So, what can be done with the path once it is made? Well, once created, you can do a lot with paths. You can use them to create layer masks, new custom shapes, or raster shapes. So, let's have a go at some creative examples here. So, once a path is made, we can use the path selection tool to move it around. So, I'll just move it over to the right. So, in the layers panel, with the green bird layer selected, I'm going to press Command + Shift + N to create a new layer. I'm going to call this layer "bird fill." So, I'll come over into the menu and click on the foreground color and choose a purple. So with the path currently active, I'll come into the bottom of the paths panel and click the icon on the far left: fill path with foreground color. Upon click, I will now create a solid raster shape from the paths shape.
Now, I'll press enter to make the path deactivate. I'll press V to activate the move tool, which will now give me the freedom to move my new shape around. So, using the path, I quickly created a raster shape. Now, it's important to remember, to create a path, you do not need any layers selected. Though when you come to create a raster shape from the path, you must first create a new layer for it to be placed. So, that's one creative use of a path. Another, is to make a selection. So, I'll come back into the paths panel and select the green bird path. With the path selection tool, I'll click on the path and move it down to the left. With the path still active, if I carefully place my mouse cursor on the path and right-click, I have an option here called make selection. Upon click, a menu will appear. I'll make sure radius is set to zero and click OK. Upon click, we now have an active selection of the shape. Now, in a previous video, I demonstrated how to make selections using the lasso and marquee tools. This can be another way to make a selection. So, with this selection, I can copy part of an image, delete part of an image, or mask part of an image away. On this occasion, I'll press Command + Shift + N to create a new layer. And I'll call this "fade." I'll press B to activate the brush tool, I'll right-click, choose a feathered brush, and set the size to around 130. Up in the control panel, I'll change the opacity to 30%. I'll choose a color from the foreground color menu box, and I'll just click into the selection to paint with the brush tool like so. Once I'm done, I'll press Command + D to deselect, and, just like that, I have created an interesting raster color effect. Now, another creative use for paths is to create a custom shape. So, I'm going to come back into the paths panel and select the green bird path. I will select the path selection tool from the menu and select the path so we can see the anchor points. Now, I'm carefully going to place my mouse cursor over the path and right-click. From the menu that appears, I'm going to select define custom shape. In the menu that pops up, I'm going to call this "origami bird" and click OK. Now, check this out. If I now come to the shape tool in the menu and select the custom shape tool, I can come up into the control panel and select shape. From the shapes, I will find my new shape I just created. And now I can click to make as many of these as I like. But what's great about this is that this now a shape layer and not a raster layer. So I can scale the shape up or down as many times as I like and I will not lose any quality. I can also apply fill and stroke effects up in the control panel. So, should I want this as a red stroke with a transparent fill, I can set this up in the control panel. Creating custom shapes like this gives us much more creative flexibility. Now, whatever shape you make with paths, be sure to save them. You can do this by coming back to shapes with the custom shape tool active and clicking the cog and choose save shapes. Now, if you don't save your shapes, you will lose them if you choose a different category. If this happens, you can simply load in your shapes again by coming back to the cog and choosing load shapes. Simply navigate to your saved shapes file and load them back in. Easy. Now, the last creative use for paths is to simply draw a shape layer. To do this is quite simple. For this, I will need the pen tool active. So, I'll come over to the menu and select the pen tool. Now, this time, before drawing a path, I'll come up to the control panel and over to the top-left. Here, there is a dropdown menu. By default, this is set to path. Now, if I click this and select shape, then come out and draw in the canvas area, I will now create a new shape layer in the layers panel. To this new shape layer, I can apply stroke and fill effects up in the control panel. And if I wish to modify my shape further, I can use the pen tools to add new anchor points and take them away. I can also use the direct selection tool to click an anchor point and move it around like so. Easy! So, that's a brief introduction on how we can build and use paths in a creative way. Now, there is a lot more to be learned with regards to building paths and using the pen tool. If we take a look back at the apple example here, I'll click back into the apple trace path in the paths panel. I'll select the direct selection tool from the menu and select the path. We can see here, in this path, there are a lot of curves. Now, if I click on an anchor point on a curve, we can see we have these handles. If you would like to learn more about the pen tool and how to create and refine curved paths around more complex shapes, I recommend you watch my other tutorial on the pen tool and paths. Simply click the screen or find the link in the description. This is essential training for any beginner to Photoshop. After watching this article, you will have a complete understanding on how to use the pen tool. Now, in Photoshop, there is a smart way of working with creative elements to help maintain quality and a neat organization in your document. In the next article, I'm going to be discussing the use of smart objects in Photoshop. (upbeat electronic music) I'll be discussing why we use them and how to build them into a composition.
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