Find more Photoshop & PageMaker Notes & Tutorial

Monday, 21 March 2011

Getting Started With a PhotoShop - Drawing curves with the pen tool



Drawing curves with the pen tool

You create curves by dragging the pen tool in the direction you want the curve to go. Keep these guidelines in mind when drawing curves:
  • Always drag the first direction point in the direction of the bump of the curve, and drag the second direction point in the opposite direction to create a single curve. Dragging both direction points in the same direction creates an "S" curve. 






Drag in the opposite direction to create a smooth curve. Drag in the same direction to create an "S" curve.
    • When drawing a series of smooth curves, draw one curve at a time, placing anchor points at the beginning and end of each curve, not at the tip of the curve. Use as few anchor points as possible, placing them as far apart as possible. This decreases the file size and reduces the potential for printing errors.
To draw a curve:
  1. Position the pointer where you want the curve to begin, and hold down the mouse button. The first anchor point appears, and the pointer changes to an arrowhead.
  1. Drag in the direction you want the curve segment to be drawn. As you drag, the pointer leads one of two direction points. Hold down the Shift key to constrain the tool to multiples of 45°, and release the mouse button once you have positioned the first direction point.




Drag in the direction of the curve to set the first anchor point. Drag in the opposite direction to complete the curve segment.
  1. Position the pointer where you want the curve segment to end, and drag in the opposite direction to complete the segment.
  1. Do one of the following:






Drag away from the curve to create the next segment.
    • To change the direction of the curve sharply, release the mouse button, then Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Mac OS) the direction point in the direction of the curve. Release Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) and the mouse button, reposition the pointer where you want the segment to end, and drag in the opposite direction to complete the curve segment.




Alt-drag or Option-drag the direction point toward the curve. Release the key, and drag in the opposite direction.


No comments:

Post a Comment

Labels

Add and Subtract blending modes (1) Adobe Bridge (1) Applying transformations (1) Artistic (1) Blur (1) Brush Stroke (1) Choosing preset page views (1) Creating New Images (1) Creating temporary masks in Quick Mask mode (1) Digimarkmarc filters (1) Duplicating layers (1) Editing Menus (1) Filters - Choosing effect (1) Filters - Defining undistorted areas (1) Freezing and thawing areas (1) Guidelines for using the History Palette (1) Improving performance (1) Loading a selection into an image (1) Loading images and textures (1) Making Color adjustment (1) Making Sticky Note (1) Noise (3) Pagemaker Tutorial - Basic (1) Pixelate (1) Reconstructing distortions (1) Render (1) Replace Color Command (1) Save Changes in the Current File (1) Saving Image Files (1) Saving a mask selection (1) Seeing the color values of pixels (1) Sharpen (1) Sketch (1) Stylize (1) Texture (1) Tips for creating special effects (1) To apply multiple types of transformations (1) To change the Quick Mask options (1) To load a saved selection using shortcuts (1) To repeat a transformation (1) To use the eyedropper tool and Color palette (1) Transforming and manipulating objects (1) Using History Palette (1) Using texture and glass surface controls (1) Using the Calculations command (1) Using the Liquify command (1) Using the Liquify dialog box (1) Viewing Pages (1) Working with Palettes (1) blending effects (1) change the color of frozen areas (1) delete (1) delete a wire frame (1) distort (2) flip or rotate (1) manipulate the object in three dimension (1) masks (1) or apply perspective (1) or hide a color sample (1) reconstruct areas to match distortions (1) rotate (2) scale (1) show or hide frozen areas (1) the eyedropper or color sampler tool (1) use the Info palette (1) using the Apply Image command (1)