Working with Vectors in Photoshop

Transcription

1 A Quick Guide This Guide contains: Introduction Quick Guide to the Pen Tool Quick Guide to the Selection Tools Combining Shapes Create Crisp Vector shapes Making a Path from a Selection Cos Vectors are sexy!

2 Introduction I have to start by saying that Photoshop is not the best tool to work with vectors. Popular and recommended vector programs are: Illustrator, Freehand, Corel Draw, and Flash (and the free inkscape). However Photoshop is able to make vectors. And in this tutorial i want to show you how to handle vectors in Photoshop. The most important Rule: Vectors contain no rastered elements. This means: no photographs or textures.you are not allowed to use any Filter on your artwork. Why? Vectors are scalable without quality loss. When you work in Illustrator and increase the canvas size, the vector artwork will always look the same and have the same file size. In Photoshop increasing the canvas size will maintain the same quality, too, but the filesize will go up, because it is a pixel-based program. (But that is also why Photoshop is not recommended) So, what elements of Photoshop can you use? Blending Modes. Adjustement Layers, used with vector masks. Some Layer effects, for example: Color Overlay, Gradient Overlay and Stroke. Fill Layers, Solid Color & Gradient Following Tools: Paintbucket for whole canvas layers, Selection Tools, Rectangle, Line, custom Shapes, the Text tool and your best friend for vectors: the Pen tool. The Photoshop Toolbar and what Tools can be used for vectors and which not. And what elements are not allowed? The Fill Layer Pattern. Any Filter. Following Tools: All Marquee Tools, all Lassos, Brushes, Pencil, Clone, Stamp, Eraser, Gradient, Blur, Sharpen, Smudge, Dodge, Burn, Sponge. Feathered Selections

3 Quick Guide to the Pen Tool The most important tool when working with vectors in Photoshop is the Pen Tool. It let s you create your own shapes and you can change shapes with it to your needs. The Pen Tool You create vector layers by clicking and dragging. If you only click, you will get anchor points with sharp corners. If you click and drag you get handles that control the curves of your shape. The Freeform Pen Tool Let s you live draw you vector shapes. Use it like a regular brush to create your vector layer. The Add and Delete Anchor-Point Pen Tool They are pretty much self-explanatory. You can either use these Tools from the Toolbar to use them or take them autmatically when working on your path/shape. Hovering an anchor-point with the Pen Tool will give you the Delete Anchor Point Tool by default. Click the Anchor-Point and it is gone. Hovering the path will give you the Add Anchos-Point Tool. Clicking on the path will then add a new point with handles. The Convert Point Tool This Tool lets you delete the handles from your Anchor-Point. Use it from the toolbar or using the Pen Tool hover over a point holding ALT. Created by clicking. Created by clicking and dragging.

4 Quick Guide to the Selection Tools When you work with vectors in Photoshop you will have to use both the Path Component Selection and Direct Selection Tool. Path Component Selection The Path Component Selection tool lets you select whole vector shapes and, for example move them at once. Being at 100% view you can move the whole shape pixel by pixel with the arrow keys on your keyboard. However if you zoom in, you will be moving the shape by fractions of a pixel and get blurred edges. This is the same for the Direct Selection Tool. Direct Selection Tool The Direct Selection Tool lets you select the single anchor points of a vector shape. In the left image I selected the top anchor point of the circle. In thr right one i moved the anchor point using the arrow keys and then dragged on of the handles to change the points curve.

5 Combining Shapes If you make a vector shape you can always add more shapes to it. Let s say you have a circle and you want to add some bubble or cut some curve out of it, here is how to do it. You do this using the XXX palette. Select one of the circles with the Path Component Select Tool and play around with the XXX palette. Add to Shape Area Bot shapes add up together to make a new one. Subtract from Shape Area The selected path will cut out the parts he shares with the other one. Intersect shape areas Only the part both paths share stays visible. Exclude overlapping Shape Area Here only tha part both paths don t share stays visible. You can easily make one shape out of these 2 paths by clicking the Combine button right to them. On advantage of not combining the shapes is, that you will still be able to transform the shapes seperately. Slecting ong shape with the Path Component Tool and then press Apple/CTRL + T to transform the path. However you can always select single Anchor Points and adjust them to your needs.

6 Create Crisp Vector shapes Since Photoshop is a pixel based program, you can easily get blurry lines working with vector shapes. But there is a really easy trick to keep your shapes crisp in Photoshop. Select the Rectangle Tool (or any other shape tool) and click on the arrow at the right end of the bar. There you have to check Snap to Pixels and your shape will have clean and crisp edges. But why are the shapes not crisp from the beginning? This is because Photoshop is pixel-based, BUT capable of vectors. Vectors work in fractions of a pixel. In this screenshot you can see the paths and the pixels at the same time. The left one is set to Snap to Pixels the right one drawn with that option unchecked. You can correct the blurred adges by using the Path Component Selection or Direct Selection Tool to correct this by moving the path or anchor points when you zoom in.

7 Making a Path from a Selection Let s say you have a great grungy or splatter brush you want to use. Here is a trick to turn it into vector shapes. Make a new layer and paint the brush you want to vector. Make a selection of your layer (hold apple/ctrl and click on the layer symbol in the layer palette). Or go to Select > Color Range and with the Eyedropper tool select your brush. With the selection still active go to the Path palette and click the top right arrow and choose Make Work Path. Select how detailed you want the path to be and you have a path. (0,5 is the lowest you can go.)

8 Making a Path from a Selection Go back to the layers palette and create a new Solid Color layer. And you have a layer in the shape of your brush. To get the best shape you should try to find high resolution brushes and use them on a big canvas. You will get better defined shapes which wil make your artwork look more detailed. Since they are vector layers they are perfectly scalable. This technique is not recommended if your brush has lots of shades and gradients. However you can create multiple shapes, by selecting different color ranges and setting the layers to different opacities, to get that efffect.

9 A Quick Guide Thank you for reading! If you like this tutorial, please fave the deviation :) But don t forget: Illustrator is the better Vector Program! Special thanks to =kubusrubus for providing me with english screenshots and ^brgtt for making the vector on the cover.