How To Draw Along A Path In Photoshop

Photoshop Paths and Pen Tool Tutorial

Adobe Photoshop CS-CS5 Painting Tutorials

Photoshop Paths | Airbrush/Brush Tool | Bones Painting | Layer Masks | Colour Management

In Adobe Photoshop CS, drawing line-art tin all-time be washed via the Pen tool (P). The Pen tool is one of the most useful tools in the Photoshop tool palette, only it tin as well be i of the near frustrating tools to chief for the Photoshop newcomer. Once you lot become comfortable with this powerful tool you volition rarely apply the Line tool.

The Pen tool can create straight lines by clicking point to point or by constraining its movement with the shift key. It can also create graceful bends, curves, and other PostScript shapes that are referred to as Bézier Curves (named afterward French mathematician and engineer Pierre Bézier). Note: The following hardware and software was used in this tutorial: Apple tree Mac Pro, a Wacom Intuos 6x8 cartoon tablet and Adobe Photoshop CS3-CS5 with vector cartoon capabilities.

Photoshop's Paths & Pen Tool Attributes

Photoshop's Pen tool has 5 attributes (A, B, C, D and E shown in Fig. ane). The main Pen tool A is the tool that y'all will utilise nearly of the fourth dimension. The "Freeform" Pen tool B is used to draw paths freehand. I exercise non recommend using the Freeform tool due to the crude and imperfect paths information technology creates. The "Plus" Pen tool C is used to add together new anchor points to a path. The "Minus" Pen tool D is used to remove existing anchor points from a path or stroke. Tools C and D are almost useless because you lot can easily admission their features via keyboard commands while in the Pen tool A mode. Pen tool Eastward can change a hard corner anchor signal into a Bézier bend anchor point as well as change a Bézier bend ballast bespeak dorsum to a hard corner point.

To create a rasterized line with the pen tool you will use the "Stroke" command accessed from the Menu Bar (Fig. 2 Edit>Stroke). The term "Stroke" refers to the actual line that is created when you "Stroke" the path'south pick. You should e'er "select" the path in lodge to stroke it (see next department). Stroking the path straight produces a flawed line. Y'all tin can also "Fill up" the selected surface area. The term "Fill" denotes the foreground or background colour that volition fill in the area within any shape that you create.

Photoshop Paths & Pen Tool

When creating line-art for technical illustration you would by and large "stroke" the selection in a 100% solid solid blackness. The line thickness (or stroke weight) is controlled by the "Stroke" palette shown in Fig. 3. To stroke the line straight nether the path you would use the "Eye" setting under "Location".

Photoshop Paths & Actions Palettes

To Select the Path to exist stroked, "Command>Click on the Path in the "Paths" palette shown in Fig. four. The active path will be visible on the artboard and highlighted in the "Paths" palette. To salvage a path, double click it (it will be chosen "Work Path") and rename it in the "Save Path" dialogue box.

You can use the "Actions" palette window (Fig. 5) to create several unremarkably used "Stroke" commands. This will make stroking a Path a "ane click" functioning when the deportment are set to the "Button Way" shown in Fig. 5. Use the actions palette's "Tape" mode to gear up all of the pre-defined parameters for the stroke upshot.

Photoshop Paths & Actions Palettes

Using Photoshop's Pen tool to create a straight line is as easy equally clicking from point A to point B (Fig. seven). To constrain the line to a horizontal, vertical, or 45° diagonal line you would hold the shift cardinal while you click point B. You volition notice that the agile anchor point is a solid box (betoken B) and the inactive anchor point (A) is an empty box.

Creating Bézier Curves & Cartoon Paths with the Pen Tool

To create the arc shown in (Fig. 8) yous would click and drag indicate A upwardly while belongings the shift fundamental to constrain the motility vertically. This will create a "Command Line" with a Control Handle." Next you will click betoken B dragging the Command Handle to the left. Holding the shift key volition constrain the dragging motion in a horizontal plane.

Now nosotros volition distort the arc'south shape (Fig. 9) past clicking on one of the Control Handles and dragging information technology toward the upper-right. The active anchor bespeak (B) is solid and the inactive anchor betoken (A) is an empty box. When you release your dragging motion the new shape will appear. Technical Note: If the stoke is not active y'all tin can re-activate it while in the Pen tool style by property the Command key while clicking anywhere forth the stroke.

Photoshop Stoke Paths

We will now add together a third anchor point (C) to our diagonal line in Fig. 10. By clicking this cursor forth the path you will create a new ballast point. When nosotros add together a third ballast indicate to Fig. 11 you will see Command Lines and Handles appear (D). These new Control Lines and Handles assume the correct positioning to follow our arc as it was before this addition. Now we will drag Control Handle D down and to the left Fig. 12. The Control Handle acts like a magnet, pulling the arc in the same direction every bit your dragging motion.

Technical Annotation: When you position the cursor over an active path while in the Pen mode a "plus" sign will appear next to the cursor. When you position the cursor over an existing anchor point while in the Pen manner, a "minus" sign will appear adjacent to the cursor. If you click on the existing ballast bespeak it will remove it from the path.

Paths Plus and Minus Selected Anchor Points

When yous position the cursor over the last anchor point in an open path while in the Pen mode a "0" will appear next to the cursor (Fig. xiii). This indicates that the path will be closed subsequently clicking on anchor point B from ballast point A. One time the Path is closed you tin make a "Option" out of the it (Fig. 14) by "Command>Clicking on the Path in the "Paths" palette shown in Fig. iv to a higher place. With the path choice made you lot would stroke the pick using the "Stroke" palette found in the carte du jour bar. Fig. xv shows a ane pixel (1 px) stroke weight with 100% black.

Technical Note (Early versions of Photoshop): Remember that in earlier versions of Photoshop the line thickness is controlled by the "Stroke" palette shown in Fig. 3 above. To stroke the line straight under the path yous would apply the "Heart" setting under the "Location" setting.

Photoshop CS4/CS5 and Later

It should be noted that current versions of Photoshop have a native "vector" path plan built into their software that is similar to Adobe Illustrator Paths although there are subtle differences in tool beliefs and keyboard commands. This totally eliminates the demand to "stroke" a path pick although it is my conventionalities that stroking a pick still creates the smoothest rasteized line - especially when the line is .25 points or thinner.

Anchor Points & Stroking Path Selections

Although this is a very basic lesson in the utilise of the Photoshop'southward Pen tool and its ability to create shapes and curves, by using the techniques discussed in this tutorial there is no limit to the complexity of the shapes you tin create.

Conclusion

The Acura NSX line art (below) was created entirely inside Photoshop using only the "Stroke Selection" characteristic to stroke each path later on it was created. This line fine art took approximately 210 hours to complete using the techniques described in this tutorial. To run into how this line fine art was painted go to the advanced Creating Ghosted Illustrations tutorial.

Photoshop Pen Line Drawing Artwork Sample