Change the size of path thumbnails, Change a path’s stacking order, Create a new path in the paths panel – Adobe Photoshop CS4 User Manual
Page 383: Create a new work path, Manage paths
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USING PHOTOSHOP CS4
Drawing
Last updated 1/10/2010
Change the size of path thumbnails
Choose Panel Options from the Paths panel menu, and select a size, or select None to turn off the display of
thumbnails.
Change a path’s stacking order
❖
Select the path in the Paths panel, and drag the path up or down. When the heavy black line appears in the desired
location, release the mouse button.
Note: You cannot change the order of vector masks or working paths in the Paths panel.
Create a new path in the Paths panel
•
To create a path without naming it, click the Create New Path button
at the bottom of the Paths panel.
•
To create and name a path, make sure no work path is selected. Choose New Path from the Paths panel menu, or
Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac
OS) the New Path button at the bottom of the panel. Enter a name for
the path in the New Path dialog box, and click
OK.
Create a new work path
1
Select a shape tool or a pen tool, and click the Paths button
in the options bar.
2
Set tool-specific options, and draw the path. For more information, see “
3
Draw additional path components if desired. You can easily switch between drawing tools by clicking a tool button
in the options bar. Choose a path area option to determine how overlapping path components intersect:
Add To Path Area
Adds the new area to overlapping path areas.
Subtract From Path Area
Removes the new area from the overlapping path area.
Intersect Path Areas
Restricts the path to the intersection of the new area and the existing area.
Exclude Overlapping Path Areas
Excludes the overlap area in the consolidated path.
While drawing with a shape tool, hold down Shift to temporarily select the Add To Path Area option; hold down Alt
(Windows) or Option (Mac OS) to temporarily select the Subtract From Path Area option.
Manage paths
When you use a pen or shape tool to create a work path, the new path appears as the work path in the Paths panel. The
work path is temporary; you must save it to avoid losing its contents. If you deselect the work path without saving it
and start drawing again, a new path will replace the existing one.
When you use a pen or shape tool to create a new shape layer, the new path appears as a vector mask in the Paths panel.
Vector masks are linked to their parent layer; you must select the parent layer in the Layers panel in order to list the
Vector mask in the Paths panel. You can remove a Vector mask from a layer and convert a Vector mask to a rasterized
mask. For more information, see “
Paths saved with an image appear when you open it again. In Windows, JPEG, JPEG 2000, DCS, EPS, PDF, and TIFF
formats support paths in Photoshop. In Mac
OS, all available file formats support paths.
Note: Paths in formats other than those listed here generally don’t survive a transition from Mac OS to Windows and
back to Mac OS.