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#ADOBE PHOTOSHOP TOUCH PEN TOOL HOW TO#
Ready for some more Pen Tool practice? Check out How to Master the Pen Tool in Photoshop for our comprehensive course on this powerful tool.Adobe is updating its Photoshop Touch app for more tablet users.Īn updated version of the Adobe Photoshop Touch app offers optimization for smaller tablet displays, including the iPad Mini and Google Nexus 7. Now you can take any path, convert it to a selection, and then load the selection as a Layer Mask to get a perfect, non-destructive cutout of any subject or object in a photo!
#ADOBE PHOTOSHOP TOUCH PEN TOOL WINDOWS#
And better yet, any paths you make are saved under the Paths panel (Navigate to the Windows Menu and choose Paths if you don’t see the Paths panel by default.) You can convert any path into a selection by right-clicking with the path active and choosing Make Selection. So what good are paths anyway? Well, like we said, paths are the first step of creating ultra-accurate selections and masks.
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But with enough practice you’ll creating perfect paths and precision cutouts. While the basics of the Pen Tool might seem easy, mastering these shortcuts and making them second nature as you work is the tricky part.
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It also allows you to convert an sharp points or angles into curves when you need to smooth some areas out. The Convert Anchor Point Tool allows you more precisely control the direction of paths you create as you create them. To get even more precision as you’re tracing objects and placing paths, use ALT or OPTN Now, it can be tedious to go through and redo all of your hard work if it wasn’t quite as accurate as you wanted it be. Moving these control points will adjust the shape of the connected paths and curves. Hold CTRL or CMD and click and drag a point on any direction line. The Direct Selection Tool can also help us to further refine any curves that might be a little of target. Note that the cursor will change when the Direct Selection Tool is toggled. By holding CTRL or CMD and clicking on an anchor point, we can move that anchor point to adjust the position of the path.
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That’s where our handy keyboard shortcuts come in!įor example, take this portion of the path where we missed the edge of the dolphin. But as you trace around the dolphin, you’ll likely run into situations where you missed the edge, or a curve isn’t perfectly smooth. Then, create the second point, but instead of just clicking, click and drag to create a curve and then adjust it until it fits the contours of the edge.Īnd that’s it! That’s the basics of the Pen Tool. So how do we get a curve instead of a straight line? Create the first point of the path again. In our example image, there aren’t many straight lines around our subject, so we’ll be relying heavily on creating curves to get an accurate selection. Photoshop will automatically create a straight line connecting those two points. Then click along the edge a little further down to create a second point. Simply click anywhere around the edge of the object you’re tracing to create the first point of the path. The basics of the Pen Tool are pretty easy to grasp. Now let’s look at how you can use these shortcuts to create an accurate path around an object in a photo.
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