Create a custom shape in Photoshop. Shapes in Photoshop: how to draw or paste

Photoshop has an interesting tool - "Arbitrary figure". In practice, this tool is rarely used, but it still has a number of interesting features. In this lesson, you will get acquainted with arbitrary shapes, as well as learn how to independently add your own sets of such shapes to Photoshop.

There is a group of homogeneous tools on the toolbar (shortcut U ). These include: rectangle, rounded rectangle, ellipse, polygon, line, and arbitrary figure.

There is a box on the attributes panel where you can select a shape from among the standard ones. To do this, click on the small arrow to the right of the thumbnail. Look at the screenshots:

What is an arbitrary figure?

It is a vector image, which means it has no size restrictions. Therefore, it can be stretched as much as you like without loss of quality.

The shape does not have its own color (other than the one we choose before creating), volume, shadows, border strokes or anything else. In this, it resembles a brush, where you set the color yourself, everything else will have to be finished on your own.

How to use?

To draw arbitrary figure, select it from the drop-down list, then left-click in your open document and move your mouse to the side. You will see that the outline of the future figure has appeared. By moving the mouse in different angles and directions, you adjust its size and shape, i.e. it can be wide or narrow. Don't forget to choose first desired color and then draw.

Hold down the Shift key to draw the shape perfectly even, without distortion in any direction.

How to set up your shapes in photoshop?

You can independently install a set of figures into your program. The same principles work here as, for example, with or. To install them, firstly, download a set with figures to your computer. These sets have an extension csh.

After that, open the shapes menu. You will see these 4 commands:

Selecting "Download...", a dialog box will open in which you need to specify the path to the file with the extension csh, for example like this:

This set will automatically be added to the end of the list of all shapes. Let's say you had a set with animals in the list, and you loaded arrows. The result is a list consisting of animals and arrows.

Selecting "Replace...", everything will be the same, except that the new figures will not appear at the end of the list, but will completely replace those that already exist. For example, you initially had sets with animals and arrows loaded in the list, and you decided to open with a replacement set of ornaments. As a result, only ornaments will be on the list.

And if you uploaded several sets, deleted any individual shapes using the command "Delete…", in general, you made a set for yourself, then you can save it with the team "Save Arbitrary...". In the future, it will be possible to download it in the same form or transfer it to someone via the Internet.

Last command "Restore Arbitrary..." allows everything to be reset to default.

Please note that in the same menu there is a huge list: Animals, Arrows, Nature, Objects, etc. These are standard sets that Photoshop developers kindly provided to us.

Second installation method with added benefit

Arbitrary shapes can still be installed directly into Photoshop's system files.

It's a little more difficult to do this, but the main advantage of this method is that your set will appear in the list that I described above (Animals, Arrows, Nature, Objects, etc.). If you intend to use this tool often, then this installation method will reduce the time, and you will be able to select the desired set in two clicks.

To do this, you need to copy the file with the extension csh to the system folder of photoshop "Custom Shapes", usually her address is: C:\Program Files\Adobe\ Adobe Photoshop CS5\Presets\Custom Shapes.

Noticed an error in the text - select it and press Ctrl + Enter . Thank you!

Hello dear readers of my blog. The easier the task, the more difficult it is to solve in Photoshop. There are a thousand articles about or creating the effect of black eyes, but how to draw a circle, a square or a rhombus - go figure it out! Today I will address this injustice.

You will find a comprehensive article about geometric figures for Photoshop - how to draw them yourself, what additional tools you can download for a more spectacular result, as well as many other equally interesting and useful information.

We draw ourselves

Adobe Photoshop has several tools that allow you to draw shapes. Here are just some of them hide some secrets. Now I will tell you about them. So, I If you want to learn how to do as in my picture, then I recommend the article, there is nothing easier than doing the same.

So, in the toolbar on the left, you can find a rectangle, an ellipse, a polygon, a line, or an arbitrary shape. Maybe you don't see additional tools, but found one of them, just hold down the left mouse button for a split second or click the right mouse button once. Menu with additional figures will appear immediately.

First, I'll select a rectangle. As soon as I finish drawing, an additional menu will pop up on the left. Here you can choose the size in width and height, if you need to keep the exact dimensions. A little lower is the menu with the fill of the shape itself - you can choose no fill, solid color, gradient or pattern.

A little to the right is the stroke menu - you need to determine its width and whether it will be present at all, if you want it and make it solid, fill it with a gradient or, again, with a pattern.

To turn a rectangle into a square, you need to hold down the Shift key while drawing the shape.

An ellipse held down by the Shift button turns into a circle.

Also in the list there is such a figure as a polygon. You determine the number of sides yourself. You can enter any value - 3 to make a triangle, 7, 10 and so on.

I will not pay much attention to the lines, this thing is not difficult to figure out on your own. The only thing to warn you is that holding down Shift makes the line strictly vertical or horizontal.

Arbitrary figure

We have an arbitrary figure. What it is?

On the very right side of the top menu, you can see the finished shapes. A variety of arrows, squares, lightning and so on.

To use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+T.

How to add new

Adding new figures is not difficult. A lot of free figures can be downloaded from the site photoshop-master.com . There are about 400 sets with figures - people, patterns, spiders, abstraction, cars, chairs, fire, flowers and much more.

I'll show you how to install them using the example of "Media", they will be useful to me in the future. So I'm downloading the file.

Just wait 15 seconds. No pre-registration is required.

Now open the archive and drop the CSH file somewhere where it can be easily found.

Now open the shapes in Photoshop and click on the nut on the right side. In the list that opens, select "Load Shapes".

Now find the file that was unzipped not so long ago. By the way, after you finish, the file can be deleted from the computer. You won't need it anymore. Everything was copied to the right folder.

You can use shapes. Do not forget about the fill, thanks to which you can change the color of the shapes, as well as the stroke.

In addition to shapes, brushes can also come in handy. They can also be downloaded from the website. Photoshop-master .

You can download the required set in the same way as when working with shapes. Open brushes.

Click on the nut and select "Download".

Work with them yourself. There is nothing complicated here. They are slightly different from the figures.

Google to the rescue

Another way to draw a figure is to use other people's work. You will need Google and its Pictures section. Why exactly you will find out very soon. For the figure to have transparent background, and it blends harmoniously into your composition, required. This is how you need to look: png triangle, circle, oval, and so on.

If you are doing work for yourself, then, in principle, you could use Yandex, but if the project is being created for commercial purposes, then Google will be very useful. Open "Tools", then "Use Rights" and select the type you need - use or use and change.

Next, open the picture after you have found something suitable. This is an important condition. The drawing should be located on such a square-checkered background. If it's just white, then it's not a png. You will understand the difference when you download. In principle, there is nothing wrong with learning from your mistakes.

This is what the PNG will look like. The checkerboard was filled with my background.

If you want to learn more about the program, I can recommend a course « Photoshop from scratch in video format » . It is suitable for complete beginners. There is a lot of useful information about the tools and in what cases each of them is suitable.

The Internet is full of lessons that you can learn from, but it’s one thing to blindly repeat after the author and it’s quite another to meaningfully achieve the goal, knowing what you have to use for this. This is a completely different level.

Adobe Photoshop is widely used to work with images, providing a really wide range of possibilities. Most users use Photoshop for photo retouching, but, in addition, the program allows you to create: drawings, paintings, graphics - varying degrees difficulties. Photoshop has several tools for creating drawings. First of all, you need to learn how to draw the simplest elements like triangles, lines, ellipses and other things, since they are used very often when creating different kind drawings. In this article, we will take a closer look at how to draw the simplest shapes in Photoshop. Let's figure it out. Go!

We comprehend the basics of computer graphics

After opening Adobe Photoshop, pay attention to the toolbar. To go to the shapes, click on the rectangle icon. In the pop-up window you will see the following tools:

• "Rectangle";
• "Rectangle with rounded corners";
• "Ellipse";
• "Polygon";
• "Line";
• "Arbitrary figure".

The editor offers several classic and freeform shapes

There are three drawing modes in total:

1. A new shape is created, for which you can make a fill layer or a vector mask.
2. The contour of the figure is created and painted over with some color.
3. Pixel mode. In this case, the images are raster, not vector.

For each selected figure, geometric parameters are set, in other words, proportions. To draw a rectangle, select the appropriate tool, set the desired outline settings and fill color. And now just place the cursor at the point on the sheet from which you want to start drawing. Holding down the left mouse button, stretch the rectangle as needed.

There is nothing easier than drawing a line. For this, a tool of the same name is used.

For a circle, use the Shift key or the advanced settings menu

Let's move on to how to draw a circle in Photoshop. Here everything happens in a similar way. Select the Ellipse tool, decide on the color and thickness of the outline. If you want to get a circle, not an ellipse, hold down the "Shift" key on the keyboard or set the "circle" in the geometric parameters section.

We draw a beautiful composition with standard means

Now let's figure out how to draw a triangle in Photoshop. In this case, everything is not so obvious, but it is not at all more complicated. All you need to do is select "Polygons" and in the small "Sides" box, set the number of corners. Accordingly, to get a triangle, enter the number "3". Then everything is done in exactly the same way as in the previous cases. Using the Polygon tool, you can get a shape with any number of corners. If you need to get right triangle, draw a square, and then cut off half diagonally.

Arrows at the beginning or end can be set in the tool properties

Let's see how to draw an arrow in Photoshop. This can be done in two ways. The first is that you need to select the “Line” tool, then in the options window mark which side of the line the arrow will be on (at the beginning or at the end), then you need to set the thickness of the arrow in pixels. Place the cursor at the desired point and start dragging the line with the mouse. The second way - select "Custom Shape". On the top panel there is a table with templates, among them there is also an arrow.

Templates that are included in the standard configuration of the application

We talked about painting in Photoshop with a pencil and brush. Freehand lines are great, but it often happens that you need to depict an even geometric figure. Rulers and compasses are a thing of the past, and now you can do it with simple tools editor.

To select one of them, on the tool palette, click the Shapes icon.

Regardless of which group tool you select, the following elements, common to all shapes, will appear on the options bar.

• Selection tool mode. Here you can choose one of three.

1. Figure. The value is set by default, and with it a vector geometric figure is created on a separate layer, that is, what you expect from the tool happens.
2. Circuit. The outline of the shape is drawn without a fill.
3. Pixels. It creates not a vector, but a raster figure.

• Fill. Allows you to set the color and type (gradient, shading) of the drawn shape.
• Stroke. Shape outline settings: thickness, type, color.
• Width and height. They allow you to clarify the size of the figure, when it is not permissible to do this “by eye”.

As always, create new document with white background. You can leave the rest of the options as default or choose your own.

Rectangle

Select the Rectangle shape and to draw it, click on the canvas and then move the pointer while holding down the mouse button. The point where you clicked will be the corner of the shape.

On the options bar, click the icon. The geometry settings window will open.

By default, the switch is set to Rectangle. If you set it to Square, then when you draw, you will always get a shape with the same side length. You can achieve the same effect without clicking the checkbox: to get a square while drawing a rectangle, just hold down the Shift key.

If the parameters of your rectangle are known in advance, set the switch to the Specified size position and enter the required values ​​in the fields. The shape will be completely drawn as soon as you click on the canvas with the mouse button.

After setting the switch to the Set proportions position in the input fields that have become available, you can specify the aspect ratio of the created figure.

The From Center check box allows you to draw a rectangle from the center, rather than from an extreme point.

Rectangle with rounded corners

The next item in the list of geometric shapes. It is clear that it differs from the usual rounding at the corners. Accordingly, the settings for this shape and the rectangle are almost identical. The rounding radius can be specified in the corresponding field of the options bar.

Ellipse

The parameters are the same as a rectangle, but instead of a square, you can draw a circle. To do this, in the geometry settings window, check the box in the Circle position, or while drawing, hold down the Shift key.

Polygon

With this tool, you can draw a triangle, a dodecahedron, an icosahedron, a star, or in general any figure that contains from three to a hundred sides. Their number can be set in the Sides input field located on the options panel.

The geometric settings window differs markedly from the previous figures.

• Radius. This field specifies the radius of the future polygon.
• Smooth out outside corners. If the checkbox is checked, then the corners are rounded; if not, the corners are sharp, as in a classic polygon.
• Star. Check the box if you want to get a star at the output.
• Ray depth. This input field specifies how long the rays will be.
• smooth out internal corners. Check this box if you want the inner corners to be rounded, as shown in the image below.

Line

Use this tool to create really straight lines - it's just not practical to draw them by hand. To achieve maximum accuracy, adjust the geometric parameters in the corresponding window.

• Start. If the checkbox is checked, instead of a line, you will get an arrow that will be drawn at the point where you clicked the mouse button.
• End. Check the box to add an arrow to the end of the line.
• Width. Specified as a percentage relative to the thickness (it can be set on the options panel in the field of the same name).
• Length. It is considered in the same way as the width - in relation to the thickness, as a percentage.
• Curvature. The value is specified in the range from -50% to 50% and determines how much the widest part of the arrow will be bent. The figure shows arrows with a curvature of 0%, 30% and 50% (from top to bottom).

Arbitrary figure

In order not to create their own tool for each of the dozens of remaining figures, the developers have combined them here. All elements of the options panel are already familiar to you, except for the most important one - the Shape button, clicking on which opens the shape selection window.

If you click on the gear located on the right side of the window, a menu of additional options will open, containing categories of shapes.

Thanks to the considered tools, you can literally draw in two clicks great amount figures that would take quite a long time to create manually.

Today I will tell you how to make an arbitrary shape in Photoshop. Get ready that there is a lot of useful material in the lesson. Take a couple of free hours to study the information from this lesson.

You have a lot to learn in order to learn how to make an arbitrary figure and what you can do with it in the future. You will literally feel like a genius when you understand the principle of Photoshop and learn how to build various arbitrary shapes yourself.

At first it may seem that making arbitrary shapes is difficult, but in fact, you can create such shapes yourself and for free using the almighty Photoshop.

Making shapes is pretty exciting process. Even more interesting, provided that by creating different figures you can also combine into a separate set. At first, everything may seem complicated, but then you will like it and you will be drawn into this process.

When you learn how to create different arbitrary shapes, you can use them as decoration when decorating pictures and drawings. After this tutorial, it will be easy for you to create your own large collage with arbitrary shapes that you have drawn yourself with the help of your acquired skills.

So, to get started in Photoshop, you need to familiarize yourself with the tools that we need to create a shape. Do not start creating figures if you do not know the basics of the program.

The most important tool with which we will create a figure - Feather (P), for those who already have a good understanding of the program and its essence, you can try using tools such as "Ellipse", "Rectangle".

But these tools will not work if you need to create a certain shape, in this situation, choose Feather (P).

If you have the talent to accurately and evenly draw any shape by freehand, then you are lucky and do not need to outline shapes from photographs. And those who do not know how to draw will have to learn how to trace a figure from photographs.

Let's first try to create a figure of a gingerbread man.

1. First, select the tool you will work with - Pen (P).

It has already been said above that to create an arbitrary figure, you can use Ellipse or Rectangle.

It is logical to note that such tools are not suitable for drawing a gingerbread man. Select from toolbar Feather(P). Also, to speed up the process, you can only press the P key on the keyboard.

2. Parameter "Shape layer".
When you have already chosen the tool you will work with, pay attention to the top panel of the program.

To draw a shape, select the drop-down menu item called Shape. When using a pen, this setting should be used by the program by default, so it is common to change it to initial stage nothing will be necessary.

3. figure drawing
After choosing the right tool and setting the parameters, you can start tracing the future masterpiece. You need to start with the most difficult element - the head of the picture.

Press the left mouse button several times to install reference points around the head. After dragging the lines of the future head with the key held down CTRL to bend them in the right direction.

The Photoshop program itself does not know what you need to get as a result of all your actions, therefore, by default, it paints over the outlines of the figure with the color of the background you choose. This prompts to do the next action - to reduce the opacity of the contours.

4. Reducing the opacity of the path.

Users who know the basics of Photoshop know where the layers panel is, beginners will have to look.

Set the Opacity of the Paths to the Layers panel to decrease for the layer you've created. There are two choices in the layers panel - the bottom layer, where the original photo is located, and on top layer the shape you created is visible.

Reduce the element's opacity to 50% to see the shape you've lined up.

After these manipulations, the head becomes visible and work can be continued in a more convenient way.
It is more convenient to work when the original photo is visible through the fill. Now our future gingerbread man has a head, but is something missing?

You need to add eyes and a mouth. Now you have a difficult task ahead of you. How to add these elements to the drawing? We will look at this in the next step.

5. We need a tool "Ellipse"

Here the best option- start with the easiest, in this case with the eyes. If you can display the mouse clearly and even circle, you can try to work with a pen. But there is an easier way - to use the ellipse tool for work, which draws a circle (with the key pressed SHIFT).

6. Parameter "Subtract front figure"

Subtract from shape area (Subtract the front figure) you can find on the tool settings panel. This setting will help you create effects with shapes. As the name implies, you can subtract an area from a figure, cross the areas of many figures at once.

7. Removing drawings from the finished silhouette.

Remember that you need to add small details to the future masterpiece that will decorate it and make the picture complete and beautiful in decorative terms. In order to start adding details, you first need to select the “Subtract Front Shape” option. Proceed with the actions from the easiest to the most difficult.

The pen is the most versatile tool because you can draw any shape with it, but accuracy and accuracy are needed here, otherwise drawing can only ruin all the efforts. Unlike the Rectangle or Ellipse pen, you can draw a detail of any shape and size.

If the "Subtract front figure" function is disabled for you, check it again, because we are still working with it. Our handsome man still doesn't have a mouth, so draw him a smile to make him happy.

The lesson shows an example of selecting only the head of a man with a pen, but you select the entire figure and cut out buttons, a bow tie and other elements.

More or less like this:

Homework: highlight the decorations on the hands and feet of a little man.
Here we can say that the figure is almost ready. It remains to do only a few final steps and you can admire your achievement.

8. Increasing the shape's opacity to 100%

After all the steps taken, you can see the whole figure, which means that we no longer need the source.

So bring the opacity of the shape back to 100%. The original image no longer bothers you and is not needed, so you can hide it by clicking on the eye icon to the left of the layer. Thus, only the figure that you yourself drew will become visible.

If you think this is the end, you are wrong. In this lesson, we learned not just to draw a figure from the source, but an arbitrary figure, so we need to perform a few more actions so that the resulting little man becomes an arbitrary figure.

Be patient and keep following the directions.

9. We define the shape of a little man in an arbitrary figure

Before starting actions on the picture, select the layer with the shape, and not with the original picture - the template.

When you select the layer you made, a white frame will appear, an outline of the figure will be outlined around the shape.
After selecting the layer you need at this stage, go to the menu and select "Editing - Define Custom Shape".

Then a tab will open where you will be asked to name your little man. Call it any name you understand.

Confirm your actions by clicking OK.

You now have a custom shape that you have created. Photoshop can be closed, the steps to create an arbitrary shape are over. But after that, you should have the question “Where to find the figure itself and how to apply it in practice?”

This will be described in the next steps.

10. "Arbitrary figure"

11. Change settings.

Tool Arbitrary figure will open the settings panel for you, carefully study all the parameters and find a triangle there, in which there is a list of arbitrary shapes. After that, a window will pop up in which arbitrary shapes are available.

The shape you created will be placed last in this list. Select it to use later and see what will not be practiced.

12. Let's create a shape.

Hold down the right mouse button, and then move the mouse to create a shape. To maintain proportions while holding down the key SHIFT. It is also useful to know that if you clamp ALT, the figure will move to the center, which is convenient.

You can change the location of the shape using the spacebar. Move the figure wherever you like and hold the space bar. When you release it, the figure is fixed in the place where you put it. Do not be afraid that in the process of work an arbitrary figure will not be completely visible. Only a thin outline should be visible.

Photoshop by default paints an arbitrary shape with a background color, it all depends on what color you set. There are a couple of steps left, where you will understand how to change the size and color of an arbitrary shape.

13. Gingerbread color change

To change the main color of the shape, double-click on the layer thumbnail. A palette of colors will open, from where you can already choose any color with which the figure will be painted. Since we have a gingerbread man, it is advisable to paint it beige, but here you can show your imagination. Confirm your actions and the figurine will immediately change color. You can change it whenever you want, be creative and show your imagination!

14. Change of location.

Another question that worries many Photoshop users. How to name the size and place where an arbitrary figure is located.

If you want to use freeform shapes to make large collages, it's important that the shapes don't overlap each other, otherwise it won't be visible. small parts, which you worked so hard on earlier. Image quality does not suffer when resizing, so you don't have to worry about it.

In order to change the dimension of an arbitrary shape, go to the layers panel and click CTRL+T. A transformation frame will open, after which by clicking on any corner you can resize the shape as you need. To save the selected proportions, press SHIFT. When the key is pressed ALT the size of the figure will change from the center.

To rotate a shape, drag the shape outside the transformation box and position the cursor in the desired direction. To save the work done, you just need to press ENTER and the shape will remain the size you chose. If you want to move it later or reduce its size, do these steps again.

In Photoshop, you can create multiple copies of an arbitrary shape that you have created as many times as you like. You can constantly adjust the position, size and color and shapes, just remember to save your actions. Each figure always has clear contours and corners, the image does not lose its qualities when changing any parameters.

Thank you for reading the lesson, I hope that here you have learned all the manipulations with arbitrary shapes. Good luck in further development of such an interesting and useful program Photoshop.