September 2, 2009

Creating Paths and Pasting in Photoshop

Here's a quick way to combine images in Photoshop.
However, i want to touch on an important part of this process which was skimmed over in this tutorial; how to create a selection.

The magic wand tool is an easy way to select a flat area of color with just one click.
However, it creates very jagged and uneven edges.

The lasso tool is another option, giving you the power to outline and trace around shapes.

My favorite is the pen tool.





When using this tool to outline a selection, make sure to select the "Paths" tool and the "Pen tool". Both are respectively highlighted in the above image.
The Paths tool allows you to create a path, and not a shape. The path will appear on the paths, pallet. The shape will appear on your layers palette.
By selecting the Pen tool you are able to draw vector shapes, similarly to those done in Illustrator. The free pen tool creates lines that are less controlled. This is a personal preference, but I would recommend the pen, not the free pen.