ADOBE PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 9

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 9
Adding text and shapes
256
Creating shapes
About shapes
In Photoshop Elements, shapes are vector graphics, which means they are made up of lines and curves defined by their
geometric characteristics instead of pixels. Vector graphics are resolution-independent—that is, they can be scaled to
any size and printed at any resolution without losing detail or clarity. You can move, resize, or change them without
losing the quality of the graphic. Because computer monitors display images on a pixel grid, vector data is displayed
on-screen as pixels.
Shapes are created in shape layers. A shape layer can contain a single shape or multiple shapes, depending on the shape
area option you select. You can choose to have more than one shape in a layer.
You can change the color of a shape by editing its fill layer and applying layer styles to it. Shape tools provide an easy
way to create buttons, navigation bars, and other items used on web pages.
Vector objects created with the shape tools in Photoshop Elements
More Help topics
“Select or move a shape” on page 259
“Transform a shape” on page 259
“Apply a layer style to a shape” on page 260
Draw a rectangle, square, or rounded rectangle
1 In the Edit workspace, select the Rectangle tool or Rounded Rectangle tool . If necessary, press and hold
another shape tool in the toolbox, and then choose a tool from the list that appears.
2 (Optional) In the options bar, click the Geometry options triangle to access the following options:
Unconstrained Lets you set the width and height of a rectangle by dragging.
Square Constrains a rectangle to a square.
Fixed Size Draws a rectangle at the exact size you specified in the Width and Height text boxes.
Proportional Draws a rectangle based on the numbers you type in the Width and Height text boxes.
From Center Draws a rectangle from the center of where you begin drawing (usually a rectangle is drawn from the
upper-left corner).
Last updated 1/27/2011