Photoshop - CS2 - CS3

Lesson 60: Vector-based shapes (4)

60/85 Lessons 

Drawing Lines

We will draw our line in the layer where we have drawn a polygon in the previous lesson.
First, I enter the name of the layer to change as Arrow.
Then I change the background color of this layer to red. Bacause I want a red arrow.
We select the line tool in the Toolbox or in the Options bar at the top.
What we need to do is to press the “Add to Shape Area” button in the Options bar.
We wish, after all, to add the shape, in this case a line, to an already existing layer.
In the “Weight” box, we give a value for the thickness of the line.
Because I want to draw an arrow, I click the downward pointing arrow to set the above options. All of these options relate to the display of the arrow.
In this example I also changed the “Fill” and “opacity” to 100%
les60_image01_en

Whatever the changes you are applying to a layer, make sure you have selected the correct layer.

Gradient Layer Mask (Mask with gradient)

Because we already have a vector mask in the layer with arrow, we can not add more. We can only have one vector mask per layer. But we can still add a pixel-based mask.
Click on the “Add layer mask” button at the bottom of the “Layers” palette.
Select the “Gradient Tool” in the Toolbox. Choose from black to white.
Why black and white? Because we are working in a mask, a mask consists of only black, white and grays. But we have already discussed that in previous lessons.
Everything that must be selected is now selected, so click and drag with the mouse from top to bottom.
les60_image02_en

Of course the color is little evident in the picture above.
This looks more like bubbles in a champagne glass.
This is because Photoshop applied the “Stroke” effect on this layer mask. If we do not want this, we go into the “Blending Options” (Blend Options) to change this layer mask.

Click on the downward pointing arrow in the upper right corner of the “Layer” palette and choose “Blending Options” … in the pop-up menu.
In the “Layer Style” dialog box, check the “Layer Mask Hides Effects” option.
les60_image03_en

Click OK when this is done.
Now I have what I want:
les60_image04_en

From the next lesson, the lady will be given more exposure, who may take offense to that should skip these lessons.

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