author: Xtro

introduction:

A BEGINNERS GUIDE TO THE PEN TOOL - If you have just started with this Photoshop lark, or you've been at it for a couple of months, you will no doubt have come across the pen tool. For some it is an excellent way of making a selection, for others it's a great method of drawing Japanese cartoon girls with very large eyes, but for the beginner, it is (and let's be honest here) a pain in the ass. But instead of me just explaining what each tool does, you're going to get your hands dirty. The only good way of learning to use the pen tool is by using it, and let me tell you, by the end of this tutorial you'll have used it so much you're going to be dreaming about it. Remember those 'painting by numbers' pictures your Aunt used to get you for Christmas? You know, black and white line drawings with lots of numbers in them you had to paint? Well that's exactly what we're going to recreate here. Lots of lines. Lots of pen tool practice.

requirements:

Adobe Photoshop 6 or higher

target result:

step 1 This is what we're going to use. I've chosen a cartoon because it's easier to recreate. Later on when you're more comfortable with the pen tool (or when you have loads more time on your hands) try recreating the same effect on a photo. Imagine your kids sitting there for hours on end painting their own faces, while you sit in peace watching the game? Isn't that alone worth the sacrifice? step 2 This is the end result. I told you, loads of practice with the pen tool! step 3 Absolutely DO NOT use the pen tools on the menu! You'll end up with a broken wrist or arthritis or something. We're going to be changing tools quite often so use the keyboard shortcuts! Let's get started. The first job is setting up our workspace so we're nice and comfortable and we don't have to move our little arms very much. You think giving birth lying down is better for the woman? No, but it's a hell of a lot more comfortable for the doctor! Same rules, man, same rules. Sorry, I'm blabbing again. Next to your layers panel you'll find the paths panel. Now I don't want to be constantly switching between the two so click and drag the paths panel so it's on its own. You don't realize how much time this will save you unless you have already done it the hard way. Now we need to set up our paint brush. I know, this is a pen tool tutorial, but once we have our paths down, we will be 'stroking' them using the paint brush. Stroking means allowing the paint brush to follow the path just as if we had painted it ourselves. It has absolutely nothing to do with a hand/cat interface. Next job is to set up the paint brush we will be using. Click the brushes panel at the top of the screen (or F5 if you're that way inclined) and make the brush size 5 with 100% hardness and 0% spacing. If your image is bigger than mine you'll have to play around with the size of your brush. Stop thinking about sex and concentrate! step 4 That done click down the list to where it says 'Shape Dynamics'. Sounds cool, doesn't it? These are more controls to fine tune our paint brush. All I have done here is make the size jitter 0% and the Minimum Diameter 100%. This makes for an even line. Incidentally, I will be using a Pen Tablet to draw my lines. A mouse works just as well it's just that you'll probably get really sharp pains in your fingers, hand and wrist if you use it too long. So it's either take regular breaks or go buy a pen tablet on Ebay. step 5 Right here goes. Hit 'P' on the keyboard. Before we start (and I know you're dying to) click that little triangle at the top of the pen options toolbar. This is the rubber band, and I can't think for the life of me why it isn't automatically switched on. This shows us not only where we have clicked with the pen tool, but also where we will click. Sounds weird, doesn't it? Just try it with and without, you'll soon see what I mean. step 6 At last! In the image below you can see how I clicked and dragged with the pen tool. It takes some getting used to but you can always delete it and start again. On the 5th click I didn't drag it. This is because I wanted a straight angle without a curve. When you do the 6th click and are happy with it, CRTL+click to finish the path. step 7 Once the path is done, we need to stroke it. But before we do that, we need to make a new layer by clicking the new layer icon (A). If we don't, our stroke will be added to the original layer, which is a big no-no. Hit 'D' on the keyboard to make sure the Foreground color is black, then click the stroke icon (B). Oh dear, the brush stroke is too big. CRTL+Z to undo the stroke. Hit 'B' to select the brush and make the size a little smaller and hit the stroke icon again. step 8 Zoom out completely. Hide the background layer by clicking the little eye next to it. While we're at it we can create a new layer, hit SHIFT+F5 to open the Fill screen, and fill it with white. To hide the path, press SHIDT+CRTL+H. To get it back again, do the same. Not bad. Let's do some more lines now. step 9 Right, notice here how I have started a new path. We don't need to join the paths really, because the stroke will cover any holes for us. You will also notice that I haven't created a new layer for this new path. If I want to change something later on I can just use the eraser tool and edit the path again. Let's look at editing the path once you have drawn it. step 10 Editing paths is easy. Hit 'A' on the keyboard to activate the 'Direct selection tool'. That's the white arrow thingy. This tool moves the little points on the path. The black arrow, called the 'Path selection tool', moves the erm, paths. You can press SHIFT+A to change between them. Remember that! With the white arrow move the little points around for practice. When you click on a point, the handlebars become visible. You can also move these to change the direction and degree of curves. Let's hope in the next version of Photoshop those wonderful boys and girls at Adobe WILL MAKE THESE HANDLEBARS A BIT BLOODY BIGGER! This is the annoying part, if you didn't already know. Now if you press and hold the pen tool icon, a menu will drop down (why you can't just cycle through them all with SHIFT+P I don't know!) Press the 'add anchor point' tool to insert points wherever you click on the your path, and similarly 'subtract anchor point' deletes whichever point you click on. The 'convert' tool is pretty cool. If you have a point that you didn't drag, you can use this to change into a curve. I always try to get my paths the way I want them the first time so I don't have to use these tools, but they are quite helpful.

practice this tutorial: paint by numbers practice contest!

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