Adobe Photoshop CS6 Top 100 Simplified Tips and Tricks by Lynette Kent

Create photographic designs with VECTOR LAYERS
When you use a shape tool or the Pen tool in
Photoshop, you create a vector layer. Vectors are
resolution independent — you can scale them at any
time and they maintain their sharp edges like the
drawings in Illustrator. You can select any of
Photoshop predesigned custom shapes for vectors or
create your own shape with the Pen tools. You can
also load custom shapes you purchase from thirdparty
vendors. You can add shapes alone or in
combination with other shapes to create novel
designs or logos. When you draw a shape and create
a vector layer, you can add to that shape on the same
layer or you can create new vector layers with each
shape you draw to create new designs. You can fill
and stroke the vector shapes independently and still
maintain the crisp Illustrator-type edges. You can add
vector layers to any image as a design element or use
the shape as a mask by clipping the image to the
vector layer.
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Note: Photograph copyright
© Photospin.com.
Note: This task starts with a new
white document set to US letter
size.
1 Control+click (right-click) the
Rectangle Shape tool.
2 Click the Custom Shape tool.
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3 Click the Shape drop-down menu
in the Options bar to view the
shapes.
4 Click the gear menu button ( )
and click a set of shapes from the
menu such as Grime Vector Pack.
5 Click Append in the dialog box
that appears.
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The selected shapes are added to
the menu.
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6 Double-click a shape in the
menu.
7 Click and drag on the document.
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A black shape appears on the
white document.
8 Click the Path Operations button
in the Options bar.
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9 Click Combine Shapes.
0 Click and drag on the document
again.
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