Free Photoshop Tutorials

In this free photoshop tutorial article, we are going to discuss the different uses of path in the photoshop imaging software. Paths are useful Photoshop tool for working with and saving selections.

At its simplest a Photoshop path is a line with anchor points at either end. It can be a straight line or it can be curved, depending on how you create it. More-complex paths are made up of multiple segments, each with an anchor point at either end. You can have an open path or you can close the path so the anchor point at the end is created over the top of the first anchor point, thus closing the shape (see Figure 1).

View your paths in Photoshop in the Paths palette, which can be displayed by choosing Window > Paths.
Figure 1 is a path that is a straight line, in the middle is a curved line path, and on the right is a complex closed path made from multiple line segments.

Although you typically use the Pen tool to create a path, it’s not the only tool you can use—the Shape tool, for example, can create paths, too. Whichever method you use, the Pen tool remains important to understand because it is the tool you use to edit a path, however it was created.

You can convert a path into a selection and vice versa. Like selections you can both stroke and fill a path. Paths are stored in the image when you save it, so you can create a path around an area and save it in the image to use again later on.

To see how to create a path from a selection, open an image and make a rectangular selection using the Rectangular marquee tool. View the Paths palette and click the Make Work Path From Selection icon at the foot of the palette. This creates a work path from your selection (see Figure 2). To save this path, drag and drop the work path onto the New Path button and it will be given a new name. Do this for any path you want to keep because the work path is only a temporary path.

In Figure 2 You can turn any selection into a path by choosing the Make Work Path From Selection button at the foot of the Paths palette.

To see the process in reverse, click the work path in the Paths palette and click the Load Path As A Selection icon at the foot of the Paths palette.

You can convert text to a path by right-clicking the text layer and choose Create Work Path. The text on the path is not editable, but the text on the layer remains editable.

A path on one image can be dragged and dropped onto another image and used there. When you do this, it appears in the Paths palette of that second image. When you have a path selected, you can stroke the path with a brush by selecting the Brush tool, selecting the brush type and settings. Then from the Paths palette select the path to stroke and click the Stroke Path With Brush icon. To fill a path with the Foreground color, click the Fill Path With Foreground Color button at the foot of the Paths palette.

If you’ve ever tried to use the Pen tool, you may have found it difficult to use—most people do! It’s not exactly the friendliest of tools. It is, however, very powerful, so it’s worth persevering and trying to understand a little more about how it works. Here’s how to use it to make a selection:

1. Select the Pen tool in the Tools palette. On the tool options bar, make sure that the Paths option is selected (see Figure 3).

Figure 3 Setting up the Pen tool correctly is important; select the Pen tool and the Paths option from the tool options bar.

2. Click at various points around the shape to add anchor points. If you click, a straight line is created. If you click and drag at the same time, you create a curved line between the last anchor point and the new one. Don’t worry if it isn’t perfect at this stage.

3. When the shape is complete, hold your mouse over the first anchor point—the pointer shows a small circle in its lower right side. This indicates that you are over the anchor point, so click once to close the path. The path shows as the work path in the Paths palette (see Figure 4).

Figure 4 Click around the shape using the Pen tool to make an approximate selection. Combine straight and curved lines as needed and click over the first anchor point to close the path.

4. To move a segment or an anchor point, click the Direct Selection tool, click on the point or line segment, and drag to move it. To change the direction lines on an anchor point independently of each other, display the direction lines by clicking on the anchor point with the Direct Selection tool; then select the Convert Point tool and drag on the direction line to alter (see Figure 5).

Figure 5 To move direction lines independently of each other, display the direction lines using the Direct Selection tool; then drag using the Convert Point tool.

5. To resize a path, select the Path Selection tool and click on the path. A set of sizing handles appears—if not, click to enable the Show Bounding Box checkbox on the tool options palette—and you can drag on the handles to resize the path or rotate it. Press Enter or the Commit Transform icon on the toolbar to confirm the change. Click this only once because, when you click it, the icon changes its purpose.

6. To add anchor points to a path, select the Pen tool, hold your mouse over the point on the path where the anchor point is to appear, and click once to add a new point. If you click and drag you can create a curve at the point. The same Pen tool clicked on top of an existing point removes it.

The Custom Shapes tool in Photoshop can be applied as a path if you select the Path Option on the toolbar before you draw a shape. When a shape is created as a path, you can edit it as you would any path using the Pen tool, Path Selection tool, and Direct Selection tool (see Figure 6).

Figure 6 The Shapes tool has a paths option you can use to create a shape as an editable path

To type text along a path, follow these steps:

1. Draw the path for your text to appear on.

2. Click the Type tool and select the font, size, and color. Hold the mouse over the path until it turns into an I-beam cursor. Click and type the text; it appears along the path (see Figure 7).

Figure 7 Draw a path using the pen or any tool capable of drawing paths; a shape is shown. And then type your text along that path.

3. To move the text along the path, click the Path Selection tool and drag on the beginning of the text to move it up the path. You can also reposition the text underneath the path by dragging it below the path.
The text and the path remain editable, so if you change the shape of the path, the text will change, too. You can also place text inside a closed path by creating the closed path using the Pen tool; then click the Text tool and type inside the area enclosed by the path. If you change the shape of the path, the text inside readjusts to fill the shape.

While working with paths brings you into contact with the sometimes complex Pen tool, its power to make and edit paths makes these two tools combined important additions to your Photoshop skills list. Helen Bradley

For more free photoshop tutorials like this , check out the older post link, the Photoshop Addict Utilities and Free Photoshop Tutorial Resources.
Photohop Tutorial using Path