Lesson14

Shapes

InadditiontothePentool,thereisoneothertoolcapable
ofdrawingpaths,andthatistheShapetool(left).JustasthePentoolislikethepath
equivalentoftheLasso,theShapetoolislikethepathequivalentoftheMarquee...butwith
muchmoreflexibility.

Openanewimageandselectthe
Rectangletool.UseittodrawarectangleexactlyasifusingtheRectangularMarqueetool.
Whenyoureleasethemousebutton,thetoolwillautomaticallycreateavectormaskinthe
shapeoftherectangleyoudrew.Thisvectormaskislinkedtoanewfilllayerthatis
automaticallyfilledwiththeforegroundcolor,asyoucanseeifyoulookattheLayers
palette(right).

LikethepathsdrawnwiththePentool,thepathsdrawnwiththe
ShapetoolcanalsobemanipulatedwiththePathtool.Forexample,youcanselectanddrag
theanchorpointswiththeDirectSelectiontooltoaltertheshapeoftherectangle(left).
Changingthepathchangesthevectormask.

ThemenubarfortheShapetoollookssimilartothe
menuforthePentool.Thepulldownoptionmenu,indicatedbythearrow(right),changes
dependingonthevariantofthePenorShapetoolyouareusing,butitslocationonthemenu
baristhesame.

Whenyouareusingoneofthepathdrawingtoolsin
"shapelayer"mode,thestylepulldownmenuwillappear(left).Thisoptionautomatically
setsthelayerstyleforthefilllayersthatarecreated.Thestylemenucontainsthesame
stylesastheStylespalette,soitwillincludeanythatyouhavesaved.

Attheverybottomofthemenuinthispicture,youcanseethe
"potato"stylethumbnailcreatedinLesson8.Applyingthe"potato"styletothecurrent
shapelayergivestheresultshowninthepictureontheright.Thisisonewayyoucanuse
theShapetooltocreateeyecatchinglogoimages.
ThefirstthreeshapesRectangle,RoundedRectangle,andEllipsearefairly
straightforward.TheyactalmostexactlyliketheMarqueetool.Whenyougettothe
Polygontool,however,thereareinterestingdifferences.

ChoosethePolygontoolandsetitforfivesides.Thepicture
(left)showsthedifferentkindsofshapesyoucancreatebychangingtheoptionsinthepull
downmenu.Theseexampleswerealldonewithanindentfactorof50%;changingthat
valuewillaltertheappearanceoftheshapesevenfurther.

Next,selecttheLinetool.Thisallowsyoutodrawstraight,solid
lines.(HoldingdowntheShiftkeywhiledraggingthemousewillkeepthelinesperfectly
straightintheeightmajorcompassdirections.)Thepulldownoptionsletyouadd
arrowheadsofyourspecificationstooneorbothendsoftheline.Thepicture(right)shows
someexamples.Thesearrowsweredonewithvaluesof350%width,500%height,and0%
concavity.

Finally,theCustomShapetoolallowsyoutodrawa
pathwithapredeterminedshape.Theavailableshapesarelistedinapulldownmenu(left).
AswiththeBrushmenu,ifnoneoftheoptionsonthemenusuitsyourpurposes,youcan
drawyourownshapeandaddittothemenu.Inordertodoso,firstyoumustcreatethepath
intheshapethatyouwant.YoucandothisbydrawingtheshapedirectlywiththePentool,
eitherfreehandorbytracingabackgroundimage.

Anotheroptionistomakeapathfromaselection.This
methodisusefulifyouwanttoselectsomeportionofabackgroundimagetoconvertintoa
customshape.ThisalsoallowsyoutodrawthedesiredshapeusingtheBrush.Inthis
instance(right),Idrewapictureofafloppytophatonitsownnewlayerusingacalligraphy
brush.ThenIusedLoadSelectiontoselectthehatandconvertedtheselectionintoapath.
Onceyouhavethepathintheshapeyoudesire,rightclickonitandchoose"DefineCustom
Shape."ThisaddstheshapeyoucreatedtothemenufortheCustomShapetool.

ThefunpartiswhenyoustartcombiningthepropertiesoftheShape
tool.Forexample,youcanmakeacherryblossom.Choosepinkastheforegroundandwhite
asthebackground.SetthePolygontoolforfivesideswithroundedcorners,star,and50%
indent,andmakeoneblossom.Next,changethePolygontothreesides,uncheckstar,and
inputasetradiusof5mm.Selectthesubtractionmodeiconfromthemenubarandplaceone
triangleatthetipofeachpetaltoleavenotchesasshowninthepicture(left).Ifyouthink
youwilleverwanttomakecherryblossomsagain,youcannowrightclickonitandsaveit
totheCustomShapemenu.
Tomakethestamensinthemiddle,chooseadarkerpinkfortheforegroundcolor.Withthe
CustomShapetool,select"floralornament4"fromthepulldownmenuanddrawoneshape
inthecenteroftheblossom.(Ifyou'renotsatisfiedwithitsappearance,youcandrawyour
ownstamenshapeandsaveittothemenuinstead.)

Atthispoint,yourblossomshouldresemblethepictureontheleft.If
youdon'tlikeitbeingsoflat,youcanuseLayerStyletoembossit,strokeit,oradda
shadow.

Inthisexample(right),thestamenlayerhasastyleofDropShadow
(color:red,opacity:100%,distance:2,size:4),OuterGlow,andInnerBevel(smooth).The
petallayerhasastyleofDropShadow,Emboss(chiselhard,shadowopacity:50%),Texture
(watercolor),GradientOverlay(whitetopink,radial),andStroke(size:3,gradient:pinkto
whitetodarkpink,style:diamond,scale:105%).

Anotheroptionistorasterizeeachlayerandapplyfilters.Inthispicture
(left),thepetallayerreceivedthecombinationAddNoise(5%,uniform,monochromatic),
RadialBlur(40,zoom),UnsharpMask(250%,3px),andFacet.Thestamenlayerreceived
Craquelure(15,5,10).Forbothlayers,thefilterswereappliedafterusingLoadSelectionto
makesurethepartsdidnotlosetheirshape.
Youcan,ofcourse,combinestylesandfilters.Oncethelayersarerasterized,youcanalso
drawonthemwiththeBrushorothertoolstomakeadditionalenhancements.It'sentirelyup
towhatimageyouhaveinmind.
AnotherthingyoucandowiththeShapetoolisuseittomake3Dshapes.Thecylinderlike
arrowbuttonsatthebottomofthepageweremadethisway.

Asanexample,youcanmakeacubeoutofthreesquares.Openanew
imageandcreatethreesquareswiththeRectangletool,makingeachsquareaslightly
differentshadeofthesamecolor,asinthepictureontheright.

Next,usetheDirectSelectiontooltogivethecubedepth.Dragtherightside
oftherighthandsquarepathupwardandtotheleft.Itshouldtakeona"squashed"
appearanceasshowninthepictureontheleft.Whenyouaresatisfiedwiththedepthofthe
cube,usetheDirectSelectiontoolagainonthetopsquaresothatitsrightsideconnectswith
therighthandsquare.

Itmaytakeabitofpractice,butyoushouldwindupwithacubeliketheone
inthepictureontheright.Bystartingwithrectanglesratherthansquares,youcanmake3D
blocksintheshapesofbuildingsorotherobjectsinthesamefashion.
Ifyou'refamiliarwiththeprinciplesofperspective,youcanusepathsasguidelinesfor
adjustingthesidesofyourshapessothattheyangletowardthevanishingpoint(s).Thenice
thingaboutpathsisthat,evenifyoudragthembeyondtheedgeofyourcanvasontothe
blankworkarea,youcanstillseethem.Thismeansthatyourcanvasdoesn'thavetobe
huge,asitwouldbeifyouusedregularlinespaintedonadisposablelayer.Thegeneral
processisshownbelow.

Step 1:
Draw perspective guides

Step 2:
Draw sides

Step 3:
Select and

of shape

fill each
side

Youcanusethesameprinciplewithonepoint
perspective,asinthepictureontheright.Thesquarepathsforthewallsweredrawnwith
theRectangletool.Onceyouhavetheoutlineoftheobject,suchasthisroom,youcanpaste
texturelayersovertheperspectivelines,thenuseEditTransform ScaleandEdit
TransformSkewtomaketheedgesofthepastedlayersmatchupwiththepaths.

Withcurvedshapes,suchasspheresandcylinders,youwill
needtoaddextralayersforhighlightsandshadows.Youcandrawthehighlightsand
shadowswiththeBrushorwiththeGradienttool.Changingtheblendingmodeandopacity
ofeachhighlight/shadowlayerallowsyoutofinetunetheshape'sappearance.
AsyoucanseefromtheLayerspaletteforthearrowbuttonimage(left),effectiveuseof
highlight/shadowlayerscanmakeyourshapesjumpout."Layer1"isthecylinderitself,
composedofasquareandtwoellipsesmergedandthenrasterized.(Ifthiswereatrue
cylinder,theellipseononesidewouldbeleftseparateandgivenitsowndifferentshade,

likethetopofthecubeintheexampleabove,butthatmadethebuttonlookmuchmoreasif
itwerepointingoutwardfromthescreen,soIeliminatedthataspect.)Changingthefill
colorofthislayeriswhatchangesthearrowbuttonsfromredtogreentoblue.
TheyellowarrowwasasimpletriangledrawnwiththePolygontool.Itwasthenalteredby
addingasmoothanchorpointtoonesidewiththeDirectSelectiontoolanddraggingthat
pointtomakethesidecurve.
"Layer3"and"Layer3copy"arethehighlights."Layer3"hasablendingmodeofOverlay
andopacityof60%,while"Layer3copy"waschangedtomaketheblendingmodeLighten.
ThehighlightitselfwasoriginallydrawnwiththeGradienttool.
"Layer4"istheshadow.ItwasalsodrawnwiththeGradienttool.Ithasablendingmodeof
Darkenandopacityof50%.
LayerStylewasthenusedontheshapelayerstomakethemstandoutevenfurther.
Homework

DesignyourownshapeandsaveittotheCustomShapemenu.ThenusetheRectangletool
tocreatea3Dboxanduseyournewcustomshapetodecoratethefront(andifyou're
adventurous,thetopandsideaswell)ofthebox.Usestylesand/orfilterstomakeyour
decorationstandout.
Ifyouwantachallenge,dooneorbothofthefollowing:
1. Drawyourown3Dcylinderorsphereusingseparatelayersforhighlightsandshadows.
2. Insteadofacube,makeasetofseveral3Drectanglesofdifferentheightslinedupina
rowsothattheylooklikeabargraph.