| Most everyone is familar with using the marquees, lassos, and
other selection tools, yet for some odd reason, the pen tool
(which is used to create paths) is ignored. If you fit this group,
prepare for your underprivledged mind to enter the exciting world
of paths. Basically, paths are special types of selections that
are made up of a group of movable points that allow us to create
any kind of shape we want. |
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Start by firing up Photoshop and creating a new image. For this example, I
chose dimensions of 200x200 pixels. Find the regular pen tool 
and select it.
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Create some vertices for you path by clicking in your image.
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Select the convert point tool 
and click on some of your vertices and drag your mouse to add some smooth
curves to your path. If you hold down the control key you'll be able to
move some of your points around. Also, if you feel the need to add or
remove any points, use the add archor point 
or delete anchor point 
tools.
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Once your path looks the way you want it to, go to the paths pallete.
There should be one path already selected called Work Path. Hold
down Ctrl and click the path to the load it as a selection.
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That's it. Now that you have a selection, you can fill it in and do
whatever you would like with it. I used some of the techniques found in
the Lighting
Effects tutorial in my example.
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If you also have Adobe Illustrator, you may want to
try exporting your new path into it, so you can apply some cool
effects. Simply go to File>Export>Paths to Illustrator. |
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