The Pen Tool is one of the best creative tools in Photoshop’s arsenal. But many designers avoid using it as they simply do not understand the concept of what it can do. I use the Pen Tool for many different applications, and in this tutorial I will be showing you a few ways to use it to your advantage.

Basics
The basic mechanics of the Pen Tool is simply that you create two points (called anchor points), and Photoshop will draw a Path between them. The Path can then be used for drawing, or, if the Path is a loop (a series of anchors that start at end at the same point) it can be used to create entire shapes.

In the picture above you will see 3 labels. What is each of these?

Anchor Point: The anchor points are what decides where each Path begins and ends. Think of them of a dot-to-dot picture you used to do when you were a child. To create a Path you must lay down anchor points at various positions, connecting them together in turn.

Path: The Path is the line between the two anchor points that draws out the shape or line you are trying to create. The Paths shape depends on the position of its two anchor points and the position of its handle.

Handle: The handle is used to bend Paths. Photoshop will always draw a perfectly straight Path between two anchor points, so if you wish to bend the Path you must move its handle accordingly. Think of it like a lever. The further away and more of an angle you put on the handle the more it effects the bend of the Path.

If you hold down the mouse on the Pen Tool we have a variety of Sub Tools.

The Pen Tool is the really the only selection I ever make off this selection. If you are careful when drawing your Paths and take your time you probably wont need the other ones.

The Freeform Pen Tool simply acts like the Lasso Tool and creates a Path wherever the Mouse Pointer goes.

As you can see this creates messy inaccurate Paths, and for as long as I have been using Photoshop I have never used this Tool.

The Add Anchor Point Tool does exactly what it says on the tin. You can use it to add extra Anchor Points along any Path you have drawn.

The Subtract Anchor Point Tool simply deletes any Anchor Point you click on.

The Convert Point Tool simply adds handles to existing Anchor Points by clicking and dragging.

Using Paths To Create Lines

Draw a simple Path, such as a letter S. You would simple make an anchor point to start with. Then place a second anchor point, but on doing so hold the mouse button down and drag the bend into it. Then, place the third anchor point and drag in the opposite direction.

This is simply a Path. It is not something that will be visual on our final image. To make it into something solid we must Stroke the Path. To do this we must first choose something to stroke it with. Choose the Brush Tool (B) and set your brush to a 5px Hard Brush and set the color to Red.

Next, choose the Pen Tool again, Ctrl-Click/Right-Click the image and choose Stroke Path.

In the Stroke Path Window you will see two options. A drop down box for the tool you wish to use on the selected Path (1), and the Simulate Pressure Check Box (2). The Simulate Pressure option will add tapers to the beginning and end of your Path. By choosing Brush from the drop down menu you are telling Photoshop to fill in the Path with the 5px Hard Brush we just set. Obviously if you are using another tool other than the brush, you would simply set the options for that particular tool prior to running the Stroke Path function.

Below is an example of work applying this particular exercise.

Creating Shapes Using The Pen Tool

To create a shape we must draw out some Anchor Points like we did before, only this time we must finish on the same point we started with.

Now we have our shape we must make it a Selection, for if we were to try and fill this now we would simply fill the entire background. Choose Window > Paths and choose the Load Path As A Selection button.

This will convert the Path into a Selection. You will see this by the visibility of the so called “walking ants”.

Now this is a selection you can fill it with a color or gradient and can then start to apply Layer Styles as it is now a solid object in our document and no longer merely a Path or selection.

Drawing Complex Shapes

In order to draw complex shapes it is important to learn how to edit the handles of your Paths. If we draw a curve Photoshop automatically adds a handle to the second Anchor Point so that the curve can be continued smoothly into the third point. However sometimes we do not want to continue the curve. To edit the handles we hold down the Alt Key and either reposition the handle, or click the Anchor Point to remove it completely.

1. This shows the route the Path will take between the three points if we simply do nothing to the handle.
2. This shows the route when we hold down Alt and move the handle.
3. This shows the route when we hold down Alt and click the middle Anchor Point to remove the handle.
This allows us to draw much more complex shapes.

Using The Pen Tool To Add / To Subtract From A Selection

When doing complex selections we can use the Pen Tool to accurately tweak the edges. Below is the XBox 360 Logo, I have made a select of three of the points and now need to add the fourth.

With the Pen Tool selected draw your Path over the remaining leg. Choose Window > Paths.

Now when we choose the Load Path As A Selection button we hold down the Alt Key first to bring up the Make Selection Options.

Make sure you have the Add to Selection Box selected and click OK. This will convert the Path and add it onto our selection.

To subtract from selection we do everything exactly the same but obviously we check Subtract from Selection instead of Add.

Now you have the knowledge, embrace the Pen Tool. Make cleaner selections, and therefor cleaner work.