Shape tool in Adobe Photoshop Class - 14 [Adobe Photoshop for Beginners]

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Welcome to Tech Learning 4U

Earlier in this course, we looked at

how to use the Marquee tools to make specific selections

and fill with color.

In Photoshop, to make shapes,

we can indeed use the Marquee tool

to first draw a shape with the selection tools

and fill with color.

Though, in Photoshop, we also have

a specific tool to make shapes.

This is called the Shape tool.

You will find that using this tool

over making shapes with the Lasso and Marquee tools

will prove more flexible.

In this Blog we will be looking at the Shape Builder tools

and I will be demonstrating how to use them.

So to follow along with this Blog,

So here on the left, I have some examples

of some shapes that can be created

using the Shape tool.

As you can see, we have a range of effects applied to them.

Now, if we come over to the Layers panel

in the Example Area folder,

we have a layer folder here called Shapes.

If I toggle this down, we can see

that contained in this folder

is each of these shapes on their own layer.

But now if we look closer at the layers,

we can see something different here

that we have not seen up until this point on the course.

Each one of these shapes has a particular icon

on their image thumbnail in the Layers panel.

So what does this mean?

Well, this means that these are shape layers.

These are shapes made by the Shape tool

and are made from Paths.

Now, we have not got into Paths yet.

We will be going into more depth about Paths in Photoshop

in a later episode.

But for now, just bear with me.

This will make sense shortly.

So shapes that have been created with the Shape tool

can be edited quite easily.

But what we must keep in mind is that to edit them,

we need to use a new set of tools to do so.

Because these shapes are made from Paths,

we will need to use the Path Selection tool.

So first I'll come and select the square layer

in the Layers panel, I'll press V to activate the Move tool.

So with the Move tool active,

we can simply move the shape around in the canvas area.

But now, should we wish to edit the shape,

I will need to activate the Path Selection tool.

So the Path Selection tool can be found in the menu

towards the bottom, near the Type tool.

If I click and hold on the white arrow,

we will see the tool expand to reveal another tool,

represented by a black arrow symbol.

Okay, so with the square shape selected in the Layers panel,

if I come over to the menu

and select the Path Selection tool, notice what happens.

What you can see now is a thin gray stroke appear

around the shape in the canvas area.

This thin gray stroke represents the Path

that makes up this shape.

Also, notice up in the Control panel,

we can see a whole range of options become available.

Now with the Path Selection tool,

I'm going to select the square shape,

upon click I will now see four points become visible

around the outside of my shape.

Now, with the Path Selection tool still active,

if I now come to the Layers panel,

select the next shape, the rounded rectangle shape,

and then click on the shape.

Here we can see eight points around this shape.

Same with the ellipse,

same with the triangle,

and the same with this line.

And likewise with the custom shapes below.

Notice on the custom shapes,

we have a lot of points that make up the shapes.

Now, if you're familiar with how vectors work

in Adobe Illustrator, this will make sense.

So essentially, all these shapes are created with Paths.

Unlike raster images and shapes

that are created with physical pixels.

We learned earlier in the previous episode,

that if you repeatedly scale up and down

a raster image drastically, you will get pixelation

and distort the image.

Because raster images are made from physical pixels.

If I wanted to scale a shape made with a Path,

made with the Shape tool, up and down drastically,

there would never be any pixelation

as these shapes are not made with physical pixels.

They are made from values determined

in the points on the Path.

So when designing in Photoshop,

it would be beneficial to use the Shape tool

instead of creating raster shapes

made with the Lasso and Marquee tools.

You will find you will have more flexibility

to maintain control.

So as an exercise, we are going to create some shapes

over here on the right to learn

how to use the Shape tool.

So first, I'll come over into the Layers panel.

Toggle up the Example Area folder,

and toggle down the Exercise Area folder.

I'll click on the Shape Area layer

and begin Simple to create a square.

So the Shape tool can be found in the menu

towards the bottom, under the Path Selection tool.

Now, if I click and hold on the Shape tool,

we can see there is a range of shapes we can choose from.

So I will start by selecting the rectangle Shape tool.

With this selected, I'll just come up

and draw on top of my guide below, like so.

Now, as you click and drag, you can see an outline

representing the shape you will create upon release.

So you can click and move this around freely

to make a rectangular shape.

On this occasion, I wish to make a perfect square.

So if I press and hold Shift on the keyboard,

I will be able to create a perfectly scaled square like so.

Upon release, I have created a square shape.

So once the shape is created,

we will notice a new layer appear in the Layers panel,

with the special shape layer icon.

And up in the Control panel,

we can see a variety of options become active.

So starting over on the left,

we can see two values, fill and stroke.

So if I click on the fill color,

I can easily change the color.

So in this instance, I'll choose a red.

Easy.

Okay, so next I'll create a new shape.

This time I'm going to click and hold

on the Shape tool in the menu

and select the rounded rectangle shape.

Now before I come and draw my new shape,

if I pay close attention to the control panel,

there are some options I can tweak here.

For example, here over on the right,

I can tweak the radius of the corners.

So first I'll type in 10 pixels,

press Enter and draw my shape.

We can see here, we have rounded corners,

but not like the example.

So I'll press Command + Z to undo.

This time I'll click into the radius

and type 60 pixels.

Press Enter and draw a new shape.

And that's looking a lot closer to the guide.

So up in the Control panel, I can click the fill color

and I'll change this to a blue.

But also we have a stroke color next to this.

So I'll go ahead and click into this

and change it to orange.

Upon adding a stroke, we can see a stroke

appear on the shape.

So this stroke is completely customizable now.

Notice next to the stroke color,

we have a stroke weight.

I'll click into this and type 10 pixels and press Enter.

Then I'll click back in and press three.

So here we have the flexibility

to toggle stroke color and size.

So next I'll come back into the Shape Builder tool

and this time select the ellipse tool.

I'll come into the canvas area

and click and drag to draw an ellipse.

Remember, by pressing and holding Shift

on the keyboard, we can get a perfect ellipse.

So I'll draw over my guide and release.

Now, we can see it's not exactly the same size.

Fear not, I can use the Free Transform tool here.

So I'll press Command + T to activate the Free Transform,

I'll press and hold Shift on the keyboard

then click and drag on the bottom right point

to scale up like so, until I get the size

similar to the guide, easy.

So I have this ellipse here,

and we can see it's carrying the same color effects

as the previous shape.

So this time, I'll click to change the color to yellow

and I'll change the stroke to blue.

On shapes, you can customize the stroke even further.

Up in the Control panel, next to the stroke size,

you will also notice a stoke type.

In this instance, I'll click this

and here we have some options.

I'll click the third one down,

and now we have this dashed stroke with circles.

At the bottom of the stroke type,

we have some additional options.

If I click on the alignment option,

I can set the stroke to outside.

So now I have a circle dashed stroke

on the outside of my shape, nice.

So next I'll come back into the Shape Builder tool

and select the polygon tool.

Now likewise, with the rounded rectangle tool,

we can toggle some values up in the Control panel.

With the polygon tool active,

we can set how many sides we wish to apply to the shape.

So first I'll type in three, press Enter,

and draw the shape like so.

So here I have a triangle.

But on this occasion I want to create a pentagon.

So I'll just press undo.

Up in the sides value, I'll add in five, press Enter,

and draw a new polygon shape.

And now I have a pentagon shape.

So applied to the pentagon shape

is the same color effects we used on the previous shape.

This time I'll click and change the fill color

to a magenta, and I'll change the stroke to black.

In the stroke type, I'm going to click on the top line

to set this back to normal.

Down on the alignment, I'm going to set this to outside.

Then over on the corners, I'm going to set this to rounded.

Easy.

So earlier we saw that when we created new shapes,

the color effects were carried across

from the previous shape.

This time, before I create my shape,

I'm going to come into the Layers panel

and click off any shape layer I have selected.

This will ensure that when I create my new shape,

I will not carry the same style effects across.

So next I'm going to create a line stroke.

I'll come back into the Shape Builder tool

and select the line tool.

Before I draw my stroke, I'm going to set

the weight up in the Control panel to seven pixels.

Then I'll come and draw a stroke like so.

Now, by pressing and holding Shift,

you can get a perfectly straight line.

Upon release, I will have my new line shape.

I'll come up into the Control panel

and change the color of the stroke to green

to change to color of the line.

So that's how we can create lines

quite swiftly in Photoshop.

So for the last two shapes,

we will use the Custom Shape tool.

By choosing the Custom Shape tool,

with it active, up the Control panel,

you can choose from a variety of shapes

that come pre-installed with Photoshop.

I can come over to Shape on the Control panel

and click this to make a choice.

To the right of this menu, there is a small cog.

By pressing this you can choose

from a variety of categories.

So I'll choose arrows, I'll pick an arrow shape,

and click and draw onto the canvas area like so

to create the custom shape.

On this occasion, I'll set the fill color to none,

and the stroke color to green.

And I'll set the stroke size to three.

So now I have a transparent shape

with a stroke around the outside.

On the stroke type, I'll set the align to the middle

and corners to hard, easy.

So I'll make one last custom shape.

With the Custom Shape tool still active,

I'll come back up to the shape selector,

I'll click the cog, this time I'll select animals.

And select a dog shape.

I'll click and draw the shape.

This time if I click the fill color,

instead of applying a solid color,

I'm going to look closely at the options

at the top of the menu, and this time select a gradient.

From the gradient option below,

I'll select one and apply the gradient effect.

And should I wish, I can add new colors

and tweak the gradient.

So that is how you can create shapes very easily

and customize the color and stroke effects.

In the next Blog, we are going to learn

about the Type tool.

And look at how we can create and manage type in Photoshop.

See you in the next Blog.