One of the Photoshop features introduced
with version 6 is vector shapes. In addition to such
standard shapes as rectangles and circles, Photoshop 6
allows you to use and create custom shapes. While not
actually objects, such as those in Adobe Illustrator, these
new shapes can be output as vector art.
For some background on the difference between vector and
raster art, and a discussion of Photoshop's Shape tools in
general, see these previous Planet Photoshop columns:
The Custom Shape tool is nested in the
Toolbox with the other shapes.
The icon will be the most-recently-selected
custom shape. That icon will also appear in the Options Bar.
Also note in the Options Bar that the Custom Shape tool can,
like the other shape tools, produce a shape layer, a path,
or a filled region. The choice is governed by the three
buttons to the left of the Options Bar.
As you can also see, you can use the Options
Bar to switch among the Shape tools (including the Custom
Shape tool) whenever any of them is selected. To the right
of the image above is the access to the Custom Shape
palette. Click once on the small arrow to the right of the
icon to open the palette.
All of the available shapes will be
displayed. The palette's menu allows you to control the
appearance of the palette, as well as manage the palette's
content.
RESET SHAPES... This command restores the
default shapes to the palette. You'll be asked if you want
to replace the existing collect of shapes or to add the
default shapes to the palette's current content (Append).
LOAD SHAPES... This command allows you to
navigate to any available location to load a set of shapes.
SAVE SHAPES... You can save the current
content of the palette as a set of shapes, which can later
be loaded into the palette with the Load command. If you
find that you use only two or three custom shapes regularly,
removing the others from the palette and saving those you
use as a separate set can save time and confusion. If your
set is to be used on a Windows computer, make sure to retain
the .csh file extension.
REPLACE SHAPES... Using this command removes
the current shapes from the palette and adds the selected
set.
You can also rename a selected shape or
delete it from the palette. Using the menu command Delete
Shape removes the selected shape from the palette, but not
from the set. To remove a shape from its set, load the set,
delete the shape, then use the command Save Shapes and
over-write the original set by using the same file name.
The next set of commands determines how the
palette will look. The option shown above is Small
Thumbnail. Large Thumbnail has icons four times as big. Text
Only, Small List, and Large List are shown here:
At the bottom of the menu you'll find a list
of all available sets of custom shapes. In this case, the
menu shows Photoshop's default Custom Shapes.csh and a set
from the third-party software company Sapphire Innovations
(www.sapphire-innovations.com). (Members of NAPP can
download a free set of Sapphire's custom shapes. See the
NAPP Web site for details.)
To load a set of shapes from the list,
simply drag the cursor to the name and release the mouse
button. You'll have the option of replacing the shapes
currently in the palette or adding the new set to the
palette. Once added, the shapes appear in the palette.
CREATING YOUR OWN CUSTOM SHAPES
Any path can be turned into a custom shape by using the menu
command Edit> Define Custom Shape. In this example, a pair
of compound paths are being combined into a single custom
shape. Note that the paths have all been drawn together as a
single Work Path.
When you've selected the menu command Define
Custom Shape, a dialog box will appear, allowing you to name
the shape. Keep in mind that the Custom Shapes palette
allows you to show shapes not only by icon, but also with
the name and icon, or as text only.
In this case, the name "Shape 1" is far from
descriptive. Changing the name to "PB" would certainly be
worth the effort. The new shape is added to the bottom of
the palette (whether in text, thumbnail, or icon view).
Once a custom shape is added to the palette,
it will remain there even after you quit Photoshop. However,
if you replace the shapes in the palette, it will not
automatically be saved with the current set. You must use
the Custom Shapes palette's menu command Save Shapes.
Some things to keep in mind when creating
custom shapes:
– Only one path can be active at a time in the Paths
palette, so only one path can be used to create a custom
shape.
– Compound paths can be used to create custom shapes.
– You can turn any selection into a path by using the Make
Work Path button or command from the Paths palette.
– You need not fill a path when creating custom shapes.
– You cannot add color when creating a shape, the color is
determined when the Custom Shape tool is used.
– Stroke has no effect on the creation of a custom shape.
– To convert type to a custom shape, place the text, use the
menu command Layer> Type> Convert to Shape, then the menu
command Edit> Define Custom Shape.
A couple of tips for creating your own sets of custom
shapes:
– You don't necessarily want to include the default shapes
with every set that you create. And customs shapes must be
deleted from the palette one at a time. To avoid having to
delete all of the custom shapes every time you want to
create a new set, delete all but one shape and then use the
palette's menu command Save Shapes. Call this set "Set of
One" or something similar. The next time you need to clear
the palette to save a set of your own shapes, use the
palette menu command Replace Shapes and load the set of one.
It's then easy to delete that single shape and have a clean
palette with which to work.
– Don't forget the file extension .csh. If you share your
custom shapes with Photoshop users on the Windows side,
they'll need the extension.
– If you want your custom shapes set to appear in the list
at the bottom of the palette's menu, save it in the Custom
Shapes folder.
– Don't panic when the set you saved doesn't
appear in the palette menu immediately. Photoshop looks at
the Custom Shapes folder only when starting up. The next
time you open Photoshop, the new set will be added to the
list at the bottom of the menu.
You can create sets of custom shapes for any
path that you use regularly. Web interface components,
templates, "glints," even text can be stored as custom
shapes, ready for your at the drag of a mouse.
In Part II of this series, we'll look more closely at
creating custom shapes from type and creating custom shapes
in Adobe Illustrator.