The question was raised in class,  ”how do you draw with the pen and shape tools?”

I must admit that this part of Photoshop I have not paid much attention to in the past except to use the preset Shape tools. Just playing around with the pen tool reveals a whole other side to Photoshop.

There are no vector drawing tools in Photoshop Elements, but there are shape drawing tools and a “cookie cutter”

Here’s an example doodle…

More about the features later…

Let’s start at the beginning. (Photoshop Only)

Objective: Draw a simple shape using the pen tool

1. Make a new blank layer

2. Select the pen tool by pressing the letter P

3. Make a rectangle by clicking on the canvas in 4 different spots.

4. Close the rectangle (path) by clicking on the first point you added to the screen.

5. Press the keys Control Enter (PC) Command Return (Mac) to select the rectangle.

6. Choose a foreground color like green

7. To color the selection with the foreground color  press Alt + Delete (PC) Option + Delete (Mac)

8. You can add special effects  fx to the rectangle using the fx button at the bottom of the Layers palette.

But wait… there is much more to come!