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

The following family of tools allows you to create geometric figures different shape.

Rectangle (Rectangle)() - respectively, allows you to draw a rectangle (and with the key pressed - a square), filled with the foreground color.
Rounded Rectsngle (Rounded straight square)- creates shapes similar to those described above, but allows you to set the radius of the rounding of the corners of the rectangle.

Ellipse (Ellipse)- creates ovals (in combination with the pressed key - circles).
Polygon(Polygon)- allows you to create geometric shapes with an arbitrary number of angles, as well as multi-beam stars. By default creates a convex pentagon.
Line- draws straight lines of arbitrary or specified length, thickness, color and direction.
Custom Shape- allows you to create a geometric figure of arbitrary shape and save it for later use.

Create a new training file.

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

Here are the main shapes that we can use. Choose any and look at the options panel:

For any figure, you can choose:

• drawing mode:
  • shape layer. The shape is created on 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 boundaries of the shape. The shape's borders are a path that appears in the Paths tab of the Layers panel.
  
  
  • contours. This mode allows you to draw outlines of shapes that can be filled or stroked with an arbitrary color. Paths appear on the Paths tab of the Layers panel.
  
  
  • Pixel fill . When working in this mode, not vector, but bitmaps, which can be processed in the same way as any bitmap
  
  
• style and color


• set parameters specific to this figure

Draw rectangles

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

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

Now you can set the geometric parameters:

• Arbitrarily - as you draw, so be it.
• Square - when stretching 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 aspect ratio - you can set how many times the width will be less (or more) than the height. When stretching the figure, the proportion will be preserved.
• From the center - draws a rectangle from the center.
• Snap to pixels - rectangle edges snap to pixel borders.

Now select -arbitrarily- and drag your rectangle on the canvas with the mouse. Here, for example, what happened to me when using styles Button, Glass Buttons and Web Styles.

Enough useful tool to create buttons and menus for your web pages, right?

Draw rectangles with rounded corners

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

Here's what I got with various combinations of radius and style.

Why not news blocks and menu buttons?

Draw circles

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

Here's what happened to me:

Draw polygons

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

• Radius is the radius of the polygon.
• Smooth outer corners
• Star - with the checkbox unchecked, the polygon is convex, with the checkbox checked, the polygon is concave.
• Beam depth - if the polygon is concave, then its vertices, as it were, form rays. This parameter shows how much of the polygon's radius will be occupied by rays. The higher the %, the longer and sharper the rays.
• Smooth outer corners - with unchecked the corners are sharp; with a tick, the corners are rounded.

For example:

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

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

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

All have a style applied.

Draw lines

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

If all the checkboxes are cleared, it will be just a line, the parameters set 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 in the place where it meets the line (from -50% to +50%).

For example:

The first line is unchecked, width - 500%, length - 1000%, thickness - 2 pixels.

The second line has everything the same, but there is a tick at -beginning- and curvature - 5%.

The third line has everything the same, but the -end- checkbox is ticked and the -beginning- checkbox is unchecked.

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

All have a style applied.

Draw arbitrary shapes

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

Draw multiple shapes on one layer

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

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

If the ellipse is not stretched as you would like, you can fix it. To do this, take on the toolbar Path selection tool-

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

Save 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 a name to the new shape.

Now our shape has appeared in the drop-down panel for selecting arbitrary shapes.

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

Create a new training file.

Click the left mouse button on the tool -shapes- on the toolbar, the tool selection window will open:

Here are the main shapes that we can use. Choose any and look at the options panel:

For any figure, you can choose:

• drawing mode:
• shape layer. The shape is created on 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 boundaries of the shape. The shape's borders are a path that appears in the Paths tab of the Layers panel.

• contours. This mode allows you to draw outlines of shapes that can be filled or stroked with an arbitrary color. Paths appear on the Paths tab of the Layers panel.

• Pixel fill. When working in this mode, not vector, but raster images are created, which can be processed in the same way as any raster image

• style and color

• set parameters specific to this figure

Draw rectangles

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

Choose whichever 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 with a red line through it.

Now you can set the geometric parameters:

• Arbitrarily- as you draw, so be it.
• Square- when stretching 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 aspect ratio- you can set how many times the width will be less (or more) than the height. When stretching the figure, the proportion will be preserved.
• From the center- draws a rectangle from the center.
• Snap to pixels- rectangle edges snap to pixel borders.

Now select -arbitrarily- and drag your rectangle on the canvas with the mouse. For example, here is what I got when using the Button, Glass Buttons and Web Styles styles.

Quite a useful tool for creating 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. On the panel, select the mode - the layer-shape, the corner radius - for example, 15 and the color (you can style it as you like). The geometric parameters are the same as for the rectangle.

Here's what I got with various combinations of radius and style.

Why not news blocks and menu buttons?

Draw circles

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

Here's what happened to me:

Draw polygons

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

• Radius is the radius of the polygon.
• Smooth outer corners
• Star- with the checkbox unchecked, the polygon is convex, with the checkbox checked, the polygon is concave.
• Beam depth- if the polygon is concave, then its vertices, as it were, form rays. This parameter shows how much of the polygon's radius will be occupied by rays. The higher the %, the longer and sharper the rays.
• Smooth outer corners- with unchecked the corners are sharp; with a tick, the corners are rounded.

For example:

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

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

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

All have a style applied.

Draw lines

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

If all the checkboxes are cleared, it will be just a line, the parameters set 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 in the place where it meets the line (from -50% to +50%).

For example:

The first line is unchecked, width - 500%, length - 1000%, thickness - 2 pixels.

The second line has everything the same, but there is a tick at -beginning- and curvature - 5%.

The third line has everything the same, but the -end- checkbox is ticked and the -beginning- checkbox is unchecked.

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

All have a style applied.

Draw arbitrary shapes

Let's choose a figure - an arbitrary figure. On the panel, select the mode - shape layer, 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), you can select additional shapes in the context menu that opens.

Draw multiple shapes on one layer

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

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

If the ellipse is not stretched as you would like, you can fix it. To do this, take the tool -outline selection- on the toolbar:

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

Save 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 a name to the new shape.

Now our shape has appeared in the drop-down panel for selecting arbitrary shapes.

This lesson is over. Next time we'll focus on paths and bitmaps.

Lesson 2: Layers and Text

Lesson 3. Filters

Lesson 6. Transformation

Lesson 7. Drawing - brush and pencil

Lesson 11. Drawing - pen tool

In the vast majority of cases, you will draw vector shapes. Unlike pixel shapes, vector shapes are flexible, scalable and do not depend on image resolution, which means that we can set them to any desired size, edit and scale them as much as we need without losing quality and even print them in any size without losing quality!

Whether they are figures shown on screen or in print, the edges vector shapes always remain clear and sharp.

To make sure you're drawing vector shapes and not paths or pixels, select the Shape option from the Tool Mode Views in the Options Bar:

Selecting the Shape option in the Options Bar

Filling a shape with color

The next thing we usually do after selecting the "Shape" option is to select the color that fills the shape, in Photoshop CS6 and above, this is done by clicking on the "Fill" field in the Options Bar:

Click the button in the options bar to open the Shape Fill Properties dialog box.

This action opens a window that allows us to select one of four various ways form completions, each represented by one of four icons along the top of the window. Assignment of icons, starting from the left edge:

• no color(No Color) - white rectangle with a red diagonal line, no fill
• pure color(Solid Color) - solid color fill
• Gradient(Gradient) - gradient fill
• Pattern(Pattern) - fill with a Photoshop pattern (pattern)

Various methods of filling a form

No color (No Color)

As the name suggests, selecting this option will leave the shape with no fill, with empty pixels inside. What is it for? Well, in some cases, only the contour itself may be needed. Also, often only a stroke with transparent pixels inside is needed.

Below is a simple example of what a form looks like without a color fill. All that we see is the main contour of the form, which is called "Contour" (Path). The outline only appears in the Photoshop document, so if you save your work as a JPEG or PNG, or print it, the outline won't be visible. To make it visible, we need to add a stroke to it, which we'll see how to add next:

Rectangle shape with no fill or stroke.

Solid Color

To fill your form with a solid color, select the "Solid Color" option, second icon from the left:

Option "Pure color" (Solid Color) to fill the shape with a solid solid color

With the option active, select a color for the shape by clicking on one of the color swatches. The colors you've recently used while working in Photoshop will appear above the main swatches:

Color selection by clicking on the sample.

If the color you want is not among the swatches, click on the "Color Picker" icon located on the right upper corner window:

Click on the Color Picker icon to select your own color.

The Color Picker dialog box will open, select a color in it and click OK to close the Color Picker after selecting the desired color.

As you can see in the figure below, after these actions we have the same form, only now the form has a color:

A figure filled with color.

Gradient fill

To fill your shape with a gradient, select the "Gradient" option. Then click on one of the thumbnails to select a preset gradient, or use the gradient strip thumbnail below to create your own gradient variation.

Choose a pre-made one or create your own gradient to fill the shape.

Here's the same shape, only now it's filled with a gradient:

A shape filled with one of Photoshop's preset gradients.

Pattern fill (Patterns)

Finally, the pattern fill option allows us to fill the shape with one of Photoshop's preset patterns.
Click on one of the thumbnails to select a pattern. Not many pattern options are preinstalled in Photoshop, choosing, loading and installing a fill pattern is described in detail.

Below is the same shape, this time filled with a pattern:

The same shape, only this time filled with the standard Photoshop pattern.

If you're not sure yet what color, gradient, or pattern your shape needs, don't worry. As we'll see later, you can always come back to edit the shape later and change the fill.

Adding a Stroke to a Vector Shape

This option has been in Photoshop since version CS6. By default, Photoshop won't add a stroke to the edges of a shape, but adding one is as easy as adding a color fill.

To add a stroke, click on the appropriate option in the Options Bar:

Option to add a stroke.

This opens a window with options where we can choose the color of the stroke, as well as set many other options.

At the top of the window we have the same four icons for selecting the fill type of the stroke line, these are No Color, Solid Color, Gradient and Pattern. By default, "No Color" is selected. I'll choose the "Solid Color" type. Select and assign a stroke color in exactly the same way as the fill color, as described above.

Changing the Stroke Weight

To change the stroke weight, use the appropriate input box located immediately to the right of the color swatch rectangle in the options bar. By default, the weight is set to 3 pt (points). But you can set other units of measurement, if you click on this input field with the right mouse button, a drop-down list of units of measurement will open. I almost always choose pixels:

Change the width and units of the stroke.

Align Edges option

To the right of all others, in the options bar is the option "Align edges". When this feature is turned on (it's on by default), Photoshop will align the edges of the stroke with the pixel grid, making the image sharper.
The option will be active only if the stroke unit is pixel.

More Stroke Options

By default, Photoshop draws the stroke as solid line, but we can change that by clicking the Stroke Options button in the Options Bar:

Button of the window for selecting additional properties - selection of a stroke stroke - solid, dashed, dotted, etc.

This opens the Stroke Options window. In this window, we can change the line type from solid to dashed or dotted. In addition, there are three additional stroke options:

Stroke Options Dialog Box

Option "Align"(Align) allows us to choose whether the stroke is located inside the path, outside or in the middle.
Next option "Ends"(Caps) only works if we have selected a dashed stroke. We can change the appearance of the ends of the segments.

1. the stroke ends at the border of its specified length and the end has a rectangular shape
2. the end has a semicircular shape and protrudes half the width beyond the border of a given stroke length on each side
3. the end has a rectangular shape and protrudes half the width beyond the border of the specified stroke length on each side

"Angles"(Corners) allow you to change the appearance of the corner at the junction of stroke lines. The coals can be sharp (default), rounded, or beveled. This option works if the stroke is outside or in the middle of the path. If the stroke is inside the path, the corners always remain sharp.

Clicking on the button at the bottom of the window "Other options ..." (More Options...) opens another window where we can set the length of strokes and gaps between strokes. Here is an example of a rectangular shape with a fill and dashed stroke, with different stroke lengths:

A stroke within a shape that uses two types of strokes - a line and a dot.

Photoshop is a very powerful program. With its help, you can not only edit photos, but also engage in graphics, create and draw various shapes.

You will need

• photoshop

Instruction

First, select which object you want to create a shape from. Turn the image into a black and white drawing. Further work will take place with the black and white version.

Open an image. Go to the menu "Filter -> Blur -> Smart Blur" (Filter -> Blur -> Smart Blur). Select Edges Only mode. Next, invert the colors. “Editing -> Correction -> Invert colors” (Edit -> correction -> inventirovat color). Or press Ctrl + I.

Create new document: "File -> Create" (file -> new). Move the drawing there. Select the layer containing the drawing. To do this, go to the layers palette. Turn off the visibility of the background layer, that is, click on the eye opposite.

Right-click on the selected layer and select Blending Options. In the main panel, in the Blend If option, drag the white slider so that all of the White color. Click OK.

Create a new layer so that it is on top of the others. Go to "Layers -> new layer" (layer -> new layer). Press the keys Ctrl + E. Or in the menu, select “Layers -> Link layers” (layer -> link layer). This action will finally displace the white color. Next, you need to select a shape. Press Ctrl and at the same time click on the first layer window.

Select the Rectangular Selection tool. Right-click on the document window and select Make Work Path from the menu. Go to the Paths tab. Your drawing should be displayed there. Now you need to save this outline as a shape, “Editing -> Define Shape” (Edit -> Define Custom Shape).

To use the new shape, open a new document. Select your shape from the list and draw.

Photoshop is a raster image editor, but its functionality also includes the ability to create vector shapes. Vector shapes consist of primitives (points and lines) and fills. In fact, this is a vector path filled with some color.

Saving such images is possible only in raster formats, but if required, the working document can be exported to a vector editor, such as Illustrator.

The tools for creating vector shapes are located in the same place as all the other devices - on the toolbar. If there is a desire to become a real professional, then the hot key for calling any of these tools is U.

This includes Rectangle, Rounded Rectangle, Ellipse, Polygon, Custom Shape, and Line. All these tools perform the same function: they create a work path consisting of anchor points and fill it with the main color.

As you can see, there are quite a few tools. Let's talk about all of them briefly.

1. Rectangle.
   With this tool we can draw a rectangle or a square (with the SHIFT).

   

2. Rectangle with rounded corners.
   This tool, as the name suggests, helps to draw the same figure, but with rounded corners.

   

   The rounding radius is preconfigured on the Options Bar.

   

3. Ellipse.
   With a tool "Ellipse" circles and ovals are created.

   

4. Polygon.
   Tool "Polygon" allows us to draw polygons with a given number of corners.

   

   The number of corners is also configurable in the options bar. Please note that the setting contains the parameter "Parties". Don't let this fact fool you.

   

5. Line.
   With this tool, we can draw a straight line in any direction. Key SHIFT in this case allows you to draw lines at 90 or 45 degrees relative to the canvas.

   

   The thickness of the line is configured all in the same place - on the options panel.

   

6. Arbitrary figure.
   Tool "Arbitrary figure" gives us the ability to create free-form shapes contained in a shape set.

   

   Photoshop's standard set containing arbitrary shapes can also be found on the top tool options bar.

   

   You can add figures downloaded from the Internet to this set.

General tool settings

As we already know, most of the shape settings are in the top options bar. The settings below apply equally to all instruments in the group.

The following settings allow you to perform various, rather complex, manipulations with shapes, so let's talk about them in more detail.

Shape manipulation

These manipulations are possible only if at least one figure is already present on the canvas (layer). Below it will become clear why this happens.

This item allows, after performing one or more previous operations, to combine all the contours into one solid figure.

Practice

The practical part of today's lesson will be a set of chaotic actions aimed only at seeing how tool settings work in action. This will already be enough to understand the principles of working with shapes.

So, practice.

1. First, let's create a regular square. To do this, choose the tool "Rectangle", press the key SHIFT and drag from the center of the canvas. You can use guides for ease of use.

2. Then choose a tool "Ellipse" and settings item "Subtract front figure". We will now cut out a circle in our square.

3. Click once on any place on the canvas and, in the dialog box that opens, write down the dimensions of the future "hole", and also put a checkmark in front of the item "From the center". The circle will be created exactly in the center of the canvas.

4. Click OK and see the following:

The hole is ready.

5. Next, we need to combine all the components, creating a solid figure. To do this, select the appropriate item in the settings. In this case, it is not necessary to do this, but if the circle went beyond the boundaries of the square, our figure consisted of two working contours.

6. Change the color of the shape. From the lesson, we know which setting is responsible for the fill. There is another, faster and more practical way to change colors. You must double-click on the thumbnail of the layer with the shape and, in the color settings window, select the desired shade. In this way, you can fill the shape with any solid color.

Accordingly, if a gradient fill or pattern is required, then we use the Options Bar.

7. Let's set the stroke. To do this, take a look at the block "Hatch" on the options panel. Here we choose the type of stroke "Dotted line" and use the slider to resize it.

8. Set the color of the dotted line by clicking on the adjacent color box.

9. Now, if you completely turn off the fill of the shape,

You can see the following picture:

Thus, we went over almost all the settings of the instruments from the group "Figure". Be sure to practice simulating various situations to understand what laws raster objects obey in Photoshop.

The figures are notable for the fact that, unlike their raster counterparts, they do not lose quality and do not acquire torn edges when scaled. However, they have the same properties and are subject to processing. You can apply styles to shapes, fill them in any way, create new shapes by combining and subtracting.

Shape skills are indispensable when creating logos, various elements for websites and printing. Using these tools, you can convert raster elements into vector elements with subsequent export to the appropriate editor.

Figures can be downloaded from the Internet, as well as create your own. With the help of figures, you can draw huge posters and signs. In general, the usefulness of these tools is very difficult to overestimate, so take Special attention learning this functionality of Photoshop, and the lessons on our website will help you with this.