Photoshop 6 for Windows Bible- P24 pptx

Figure 14-4: A shape layer is actually a clipping path that masks a color or other contents directly inside Photoshop.. If you prefer to create a new shape layer with a different fill,

8 Draw the shape If you set the tool to draw a shape layer in Step 3, then

Photoshop automatically creates a new layer As shown in Figure 14-4, the

Layers palette shows a colored fill (labeled “Layer contents” in the figure)

with a clipping path to the right of it, masking the fill If you assigned a layer

style, a list of one or more effects appears under the layer name

Figure 14-4: A shape layer is actually a clipping path that

masks a color or other contents directly inside Photoshop

9 Switch tools and draw more shapes Photoshop adds each new shape that

you draw to the existing shape layer This means that they all get filled with

the same contents If you prefer to create a new shape layer with a different

fill, click the clipping path thumbnail in the Layers palette to turn off the

clip-ping path Or click the check mark in the Options bar Either way, you’ll notice

the clipping path turn off when the double outline around the thumbnail is

replaced by a single outline Then draw a new shape

You can dismiss the clipping path from the keyboard by pressing Escape or

Enter To activate the clipping path, click its thumbnail or press Enter

That’s it You now have a shape layer that you can use as you please From this

point on, it’s a matter of editing the shape, as explained in the following sections

Tip

Layer contents Clipping path

Shape layerLayer style indicatorLayer effects

Combining and editing shapes

A few years back, there was an image editor called Live Picture Its creators alded it as the first image editor to provide “infinite incremental undos.” In fact, theprogram had a run-of-the-mill single-level Undo/Redo command The infinite incre-mental undos were actually a result of an object metaphor that pervaded the pro-gram After drawing an element, you had the option of changing it It wasn’t anautomated undo, but rather a manual adjustment

her-By this twisted marketing logic, Photoshop 6’s shape layers permit infinite mental undos Although I’m being deliberately ironic, there is much to be said for

incre-a mincre-ask thincre-at is perpetuincre-ally editincre-able Don’t like incre-a segment? Chincre-ange it Don’t like incre-apoint? Move it Hate the entire shape? Delete it Here’s how:

✦ Compound path options: As explained in Step 9 in the previous section, you

can draw multiple shapes on a single layer Because they all share a single fill,Photoshop thinks of the shapes as being bits and pieces of a single, complex

path In drawing parlance, such a path is called a compound path This leads

Photoshop to wonder, what do I do when the bits and pieces overlap? Becausethey share a fill, they could just merge together Or perhaps you’d rather useone shape to cut a hole in the other Or maybe you’d like the intersection to

be transparent

You specify your preference by selecting one of the four compound path tons, shown in Figure 14-5 The buttons affect a single shape at a time You caneither apply the button to a shape before drawing it or after Click the firstbutton or press the plus key (+) to add the new shape to the others Click thesecond button or press the minus key (–) to subtract the new shape from theothers The third button retains the intersection, the fourth makes the inter-section transparent Feel free to experiment

but-Figure 14-5: These four compound path

buttons appear when editing or adding to

an existing shape layer

Intersect shape areas

Exclude overlapping shape areas

Subtract from shape areaAdd to shape area

6

Photoshop 6

✦ Selecting shapes: You also see the buttons when selecting shapes with the

arrow tool Press A to get the black arrow tool — if you get the white arrowinstead, press Shift+A — and then click a shape to select it Or Ctrl-click ashape when using a shape tool

✦ Move and transform: Drag a selected shape to move it Select the Show

Bounding Box check box in the Options bar to access the transformation controls Or press Ctrl+T to enter the free transform mode Then drag a han-dle to scale, drag outside the bounding box to rotate, and Ctrl+drag a handle

to skew or distort If you need a transformation refresher, check out the tion “Applying Transformations” in Chapter 12

sec-✦ Arranging and combining shapes: After selecting a shape with the arrow

tool, you can apply any of the four compound path buttons As you do, bear

in mind that the topmost shape takes precedence So if Shape A is set to Add,Shape B is set to Intersect, and Shape B is in front, then Photoshop fills onlythe intersection Meanwhile, the stacking order is entirely dependent on theorder in which you draw the shapes, with more recent shapes in front (TheLayer ➪ Arrange commands affect whole layers; they can’t be used to reordershapes.) Once you get the effect you’re looking for, you can fix the relation-ship by selecting two or more paths and clicking the Combine button in theOptions bar Photoshop fuses the selected paths into one

Technically, you can combine multiple shapes that don’t overlap But I adviseagainst it At first, the shapes behave as if they’re grouped together But try tocombine other paths with them, and you may uncover some pretty strangerelationships Something about these paths reminds me of Jeff Goldblum in the

last hour of The Fly Some things on this planet just shouldn’t be combined.

✦ Selecting points and segments: Press Shift+A to get the white arrow tool,

which selects individual points and segments Move individually selectedpoints by dragging them; transform such points by pressing Ctrl+T To select

an entire shape, Alt-click on it

✦ Adding and deleting points: The best tool for reshaping a shape is the pen

tool First select part of the shape with one of the arrow tools Then click asegment to insert a point; drag on a segment to add a smooth point; click

a point to remove it You can likewise use the convert point tool, as well asany other technique that’s applicable to paths

✦ Disabling a clipping path: Shift-click the clipping path thumbnail in the

Layers palette to turn it off and make visible the entire contents of the layer

Shift-click the thumbnail again to turn the clipping path on

✦ Duplicating a clipping path: So far as Photoshop is concerned, shapes are

just another kind of path So it’s not surprising that you can access the paths

in an active shape layer from the Paths palette Drag the Clipping Path item

onto the tiny page icon at the bottom of the Paths palette to duplicate theshapes so you can use them elsewhere as standard paths (as discussed inChapter 8)

Caution

✦ Deleting a clipping path: Click the clipping path thumbnail and then click the

trash can icon at the bottom of the Layers palette to delete the shapes fromthe layer To add a new shape to the layer, first choose Layer ➪ Add LayerClipping Path ➪ Hide All Then draw shapes in the layer to expose portions

of the layer’s contents

✦ Defining your own custom shape: If you create a shape that you think you

might want to repeat in the future, select the shape with either arrow tool and choose Edit ➪ Define Custom Shape Then name the shape and hit Enter.Photoshop adds the shape to the presets so you can draw it with the customshape tool

The moral of the story is, shapes work a lot like paths If you find yourself strangelydrawn to the Dark Art of Shape Editing and you’re afraid I’ve forgotten to mentionsome amazing technique once known to the Oblique Brotherhood of Vector Druids —

as I undoubtedly have — consult the “Reshaping paths” and “Transforming paths”scrolls, which I’ve sequestered inside the caliginous catacombs of Chapter 8

Editing the stuff inside the shape

Here are a few ways to modify the color and general appearance of shape layers inPhotoshop 6:

✦ Changing the color: To change the color of a shape layer, double-click the

layer contents thumbnail in the Layers palette Then select a new color fromthe Color Picker dialog box Or better yet, change the foreground color andthen press Alt+Backspace

✦ Changing the blending options: You can change the blend mode and Opacity

value for a shape layer using the standard controls in the Layers palette Ordouble-click anywhere on the layer except the layer contents thumbnail todisplay the Blending Options section of the Layer Style dialog box As dis-cussed in Chapter 13, these options work the same for shape layers as they

do for normal layers You can also apply or modify layer effects, as I explainlater in this chapter

✦ Changing the layer style: Another way to apply or switch out layer effects is

to apply a predefined style from the Styles palette Just click on a preset in theStyles palette and Photoshop automatically applies it to the active layer Afterthat, you can edit an effect by double-clicking its name in the Layers palette

✦ Renaming the shape layer: Press Alt and double-click a shape layer to

rename it

✦ Fill with a gradient or repeating pattern: Don’t want to fill your shape

with a solid color? Don’t have to To fill the active shape layer with a gradient, choose Layer ➪ Change Layer Content ➪ Gradient Or chooseLayer ➪ Change Layer Content ➪ Pattern to apply a repeating pattern

Figure 14-6 shows the dialog box for each Most of the options are familiar

from the gradient tool (Chapter 6) and pattern stamp tool (Chapter 7)

discus-sions The only new options are in the Pattern Fill dialog box Scale lets you

resize the pattern inside the shape; Link With Layer makes sure the shape and

pattern move together; and Snap To Origin snaps the pattern into alignment

with the origin

You can reposition a gradient or pattern inside its shape just by dragging

inside the image window while the dialog box is up on screen

After applying a gradient or pattern, you can edit it just by double-clicking the

layer contents thumbnail in the Layers palette Photoshop calls these kinds of

editable contents dynamic fills.

Figure 14-6: Gradients and patterns inside a shape

layer are considered dynamic fills, which means you

can edit them simply by double-clicking the layer

contents thumbnail and editing the options above

✦ Making a color adjustment shape: Where layer content is concerned, shape

layers have unlimited potential You can even fill a shape with a color

adjust-ment Just choose Levels, Curves, Hue/Saturation, or any of the other color

correction classics from the Layer ➪ Change Layer Content submenu Read

the “Adjustment Layers” section of Chapter 17 for complete information

Tip

✦ Painting inside a shape layer: Wish you could paint or edit the contents of

a shape layer? Well now, thanks to subtle genetic alterations to Photoshop’score subroutines, you can Assuming the shape is filled with a solid color, gradient, or pattern (this technique is not applicable to adjustment layers),choose Layer ➪ Rasterize ➪ Fill Content From this point on, the fill is nolonger dynamic This means you can’t double-click its thumbnail to edit it.However, you can edit it like any other layer full of pixels Paint inside it, clone from another layer with the stamp tool, apply a filter, go nuts

✦ Filling a clipping path with an image: Applying a clipping path to an image

is a more delicate operation Fortunately, there are several ways to do it, soyou can select your favorite Method number one: Draw a shape not as a newshape layer, but rather as a working path (see Step 3 of “The shape drawingprocess”) Then select the layer that you want to mask (it must be a floatinglayer, not the background) and choose Layer ➪ Add Layer Clipping Path ➪Current Path

Want to avoid that command? After establishing a work path, Ctrl-click theAdd Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers palette to make the path clip the active image layer

✦ From clipping group to clipping path: Okay, so that’s one way But what if

you’ve already gone and made a shape layer, and you want to fill that shapewith an image? Again, there are a few approaches, but the easiest is to pastethe image onto a layer in front of the shape layer Then press Ctrl+G to group

it with the shape layer

✦ Fusing image and shape layer: That’s enough to create the same visual effect

as a shape masking an image, but it involves two layers instead of one If youwant for any reason to fuse the two layers together, you have to once againtake a special approach First, select the shape layer and choose Layer ➪Rasterize ➪ Fill Content to convert the dynamic fill to pixels Then select the image layer and press Ctrl+E to merge it with the shape layer below

If all this isn’t enough, there is one more way to push the boundaries of shape ers and wring the last vestiges of cogent reasoning out of your by-now fragile mind.How? By adding a layer mask to a shape layer That’s right, Photoshop lets youcombine pixel masking and vector masking on one layer, as shown in Figure 14-7.Why do it? Well, of course, there’s always the chance it appeals to a latent strain ofmasochism on your part But also, a layer mask permits you to soften some edges

lay-of a clipping path and leave others razor sharp For example, in the figure, I added ablack circle to the layer mask and blurred it to make the clover fade in a circularpattern toward its interior Or you might want to feather an edge Or add a motionblur Or, again, just make yourself nuts In any case, start with a shape layer Thenclick the Add Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers palette and start painting away

Tip

Tip

Figure 14-7: Add a layer mask to a shape layer to add pixel-based softening to

the razor-sharp vector mask

The Bold New Layer Styles

Photoshop 5 introduced a series of layer effects that automate the application of

shad-ows, glshad-ows, and beveled edges Now, Version 6 takes the metaphor several steps

fur-ther In addition to dramatically improving the quality of the existing effects — now

you won’t find yourself cursing at them half the time — the new Photoshop adds

effects that overlay colors, stroke outlines, and create textures and contours Plus,

you can define exactly how effects are blended with background layers And you can

save them as preset layer styles for later use Photoshop 6 elevates layer effects from

nifty tools to some of the most powerful functions inside the program

To apply a layer effect, start with an image on an independent layer In Figure 14-8,

I selected the dolphin’s head and pressed Ctrl+J to copy it to an independent layer

But you can use any kind of layer, including text (Chapter 15) or a shape layer Then

click the Add Layer Style icon at the bottom of the Layers palette — the one that

looks like a florin (cursive f ) — and choose any of the commands following Blending

Options Or double-click the layer name to display the Layer Style dialog box, and

then select an effect from the left-hand list Use the check box to turn the effect on

and off; highlight the effect name to edit its settings You can select from one of the

following 10 effects:

✦ Drop Shadow: The Drop Shadow command applies a common, everyday drop

shadow You specify the color, opacity, blend mode, position, size, and tour of the shadow; Photoshop does the rest

con-6

Photoshop 6

Add maskLayer mask thumbnail

Figure 14-8: Starting with an independent layer, click the Add Layer Style icon at

the bottom of the Layers palette and choose an effect (top) Then adjust the settingsinside the sprawling Layer Style dialog box (bottom)

✦ Inner Shadow: This command applies a drop shadow inside the layer,

as demonstrated by the second example in Figure 14-9 The command simulates the kind of shadow you’d get if the layer were punched out of the background — that is, the background looks like it’s in front, casting ashadow onto the layer Inner Shadow is especially effective with type, as Iexplain in the next chapter

Figure 14-9: The first four examples above illustrate the effects of the first

four commands under the Layer ➪ Layer Style submenu You can also combine

multiple effects on a single layer, as demonstrated by the two images at bottom

✦ Outer Glow: The Outer Glow command creates a traditional halo, like the

one I applied to our aquatic friend back in the “Halos” section of Chapter 12.However, you have lots of additional controls in case you want to get fancy

✦ Inner Glow: This command applies the effect inside the layer rather than

out-side, as demonstrated in the second row of Figure 14-9

To create a neon strip around the perimeter of a layer, apply both the OuterGlow and Inner glow commands For an example of a neon edge, see the bottom-right example in Figure 14-9

✦ Bevel and Emboss: The Bevel and Emboss option produces one of five

dis-tinct edge effects, as defined using the Style pop-up menu The first fourappear in Figure 14-10; the fifth one is exclusively applicable to stroked layers and requires the Stroke effect to be turned on You can add a three-dimensional beveled edge around the outside of the layer, as in the first example in the figure The Inner Bevel effect produces a beveled edge inside the layer The Emboss effect combines inner and outer bevels And the Pillow Emboss reverses the inner bevel so the image appears to sink

in and then rise back up along the edge of the layer

✦ Contour and Texture: The Contour and Texture options aren’t actual effects,

but rather modify the Bevel and Emboss effect The Contour settings createwaves in the surface of the layer that result in rippling lighting effects Texturestamps a pattern into the surface of the layer, which creates a texture effect

✦ Satin: This option creates regular waves of color, as in the first example of

Figure 14-11 You define the behavior of the waves using the Contour options.One of the stranger effects, Satin can be difficult to predict But so long as youkeep the Preview check box turned on, you can experiment with a fair amount

of success

✦ Color, Gradient, and Pattern Overlay: These three options fill the layer with

a coating of solid color, gradient, or repeating pattern, respectively They workalmost identically to the three dynamic fills available to shape layers, as dis-cussed in the section “Editing the stuff inside the shape” earlier in this chap-ter All three can be quite useful when defining your own style presets

✦ Stroke: Use this option to trace a colored outline around a layer The Stroke

effect is often preferable to Edit ➪ Stroke because you can edit it long aftercreating it By comparison, Edit ➪ Stroke is a permanent effect

The Layer Style dialog box is a vast labyrinth of options So it’s handy to know

a few additional ways to get around To switch between effects without turningthem on or off, press Ctrl plus a number key Ctrl+1 highlights Drop Shadow, Ctrl+2highlights Inner Shadow, Ctrl+3 highlights Outer Glow, and so on, all the way toCtrl+0 for Stroke You cannot get to Blending Options, Contour, or Texture from the keyboard

Tip

Tip

Figure 14-10: Layer ➪ Layer Style ➪ Bevel and Emboss permits you to apply

one of four effects, demonstrated in the first four examples above The last row

of images shows what happens when you combine beveled edges with glows

Figure 14-11: The five effects new to Photoshop 6 are Satin, the three

overlays, and Stroke Version 6 also adds an embossing option that works only with the Stroke effect

Satin Color overlay

Gradient overlay Pattern overlay

Stroke Stroke emboss

The advantages of layer effects

Layer effects are a godsend to beginners and intermediate folks, but experienced

users might be tempted to turn their noses up at them After all, you can create

many of these effects manually using layers, selection outlines, and blend modes

But there is much to like about automated layer effects:

✦ First, they stick to the layer Move or transform the layer and the effect tags

along with it

✦ Second, the effect is temporary So long as you save the image in one of the

three layered formats — native Photoshop (PSD), TIFF, or PDF — you can edit

the shadows, glows, bevels, overlays, and strokes long into the future

✦ Third, layer effects are equally applicable to standard layers, shape layers,

and editable text This is unusual because both shape layers and editable text

prohibit many kinds of changes

✦ Fourth, thanks to the introduction of the Contour presets in Photoshop 6,

layer effects now enable you to create effects that would prove otherwise

exceedingly difficult or even impossible

✦ Fifth, you can combine multiple effects on a single layer

✦ Sixth, you can copy an effect from one layer and paste it onto another

✦ Seventh, you can save groups of effects for later use in the Styles palette

✦ Eighth, the effects show up as items in the Layers palette You can expand and

collapse a list of effects, as well as temporarily disable and enable effects by

clicking on familiar eyeball icons

✦ Ninth — why the heck do you need a ninth advantage? Didn’t television teach

us that Eight Is Enough? But what the heck Ninth, strokes print as vector

out-put, so they’re guaranteed to be smooth There, satisfied?

Now that you’re champing at the bit — or as the dolphins say, “bonkin’ at the beach

ball” — to get your flippers on these effects, the following sections tell you how,

why, and what for

Inside the Layer Style dialog box

The Layer Style dialog box offers 13 panels containing more than 100 options I

dis-cussed the first panel, Blending Options, in Chapter 13 The remaining 12 panels are

devoted to layer effects Select the desired effect from the list on the left; use the

check box to turn the effect on and off

Although there are gobs of options, many of them are self-explanatory You select

a blend mode from the Blend Mode pop-up menu (For explanations of these, look

to “The blend modes” section of Chapter 13.) You make the effect translucent byentering a value in the Opacity option box

Other options appear multiple times throughout the course of the dialog box Allthe options that appear in the Drop Shadow panel also appear in the Inner Shadowpanel; the options from the Outer Glow panel appear in the Inner Glow panel; and

so on The modified dialog box in Figure 14-12 shows four representative effectspanels — Inner Shadow, Inner Glow, Bevel and Emboss, and Texture — whichtogether contain most of the options you’ll encounter

The following items explain the options in the order that they appear throughoutthe panels I explain each option only once, so if an option appears multiple times(as so many do), look for its first appearance in a panel to locate the correspondingdiscussion in the following list:

✦ Blend Mode: This pop-up menu controls the blend mode So much for the

obvious But did you know that you can use the Blend Mode menu to turn aneffect upside-down? Select a light color and apply the Screen mode to change

a drop shadow into a directional halo Or use a dark color with Multiply tochange an outer glow into a shadow that evenly traces the edge of the layer.Don’t be constrained by pedestrian notions of shadows and glows Layereffects can be anything

✦ Color Swatch: To change the color of the shadow, glow, or beveled edge, click

the color swatch When the Color Picker is open, click in the image window toeyedrop a color from the layered composition When editing a glow, you canapply a gradient in place of a solid color Click the gradient preview to create acustom gradation, or select a preset from the pop-up palette

✦ Opacity: Use this option to make the effect translucent Remember, a little bit

of effect goes a long way When in doubt, reduce the Opacity value

✦ Angle: Associated with shadows, bevels, the Satin effect, and gradients, this

value controls the direction of the effect In the case of shadows and bevels,the option controls the angle of the light source With Satin, it controls theangle at which contour patterns overlap And with a gradient, the Angle valuerepresents the direction of the gradient

You can avoid the numerical Angle option and simply drag an effect inside theimage window When the Drop Shadow or Inner Shadow panel is visible, draginside the image window to move the shadow with respect to the layer Youcan also drag the contour effect when working in the Satin panel Other drag-gable effects include Gradient Overlay and Pattern Overlay, although draggingaffects positioning, not angle

Tip

Figure 14-12: A modified picture of the Layer Style dialog box,

featuring the Inner Shadow, Inner Glow, Bevel and Emboss, and

Texture panels