Connect two open paths, Adjust path components – Adobe Photoshop CS4 User Manual
Page 388
381
USING PHOTOSHOP CS4
Drawing
Last updated 1/10/2010
3
Do one of the following:
•
To create a corner point, position the Pen tool where you want to end the new segment, and click. If you are
extending a path that ends at a smooth point, the new segment will be curved by the existing direction line.
Note: In Illustrator, if you extend a path that ends in a smooth point, the new segment will be straight.
•
To create a smooth point, position the Pen tool where you want to end the new curved segment, and drag.
Connect two open paths
1
Using the Pen tool, position the pointer over the endpoint of the open path that you want to connect to another
path. The pointer changes when it’s precisely positioned over the endpoint.
2
Click the endpoint.
3
Do one of the following:
•
To connect the path to another open path, click an endpoint on the other path. When you precisely position the
Pen tool over the other path’s endpoint, a small merge symbol
appears next to the pointer.
•
To connect a new path to an existing path, draw the new path near the existing path, and then move the Pen tool
to the existing path’s (unselected) endpoint. Click that endpoint when you see the small merge symbol that appears
next to the pointer.
In InDesign, you can also use the Pathfinder panel to join paths. To close the path of an open path, select the path
and click Close Path in the Pathfinder panel. To close the end points between two paths, select the paths and click Join
Path. You may want to click Join Path a second time to join the second endpoint.
Move or nudge anchor points or segments using the keyboard
1
Select the anchor point or path segment.
Note: In Photoshop, you can move only anchor points in this manner.
2
Click or hold down any of the arrow keys on the keyboard to move 1 pixel at a time in the direction of the arrow.
Hold down the Shift key in addition to the arrow key to move 10 pixels at a time.
Note: In Illustrator and InDesign, you can change the distance of a nudge by changing the Keyboard Increment
preference. When you change the default increment, holding down Shift nudges 10 times the specified distance.
Adjust path components
You can reposition a path component (including a shape in a shape layer) anywhere within an image. You can copy
components within an image or between two Photoshop images. Using the Path Selection tool, you can merge
overlapping components into a single component. All vector objects, whether they are described by a saved path, work
path, or vector mask, can be moved, reshaped, copied, or deleted.
You can also use the Copy and Paste commands to duplicate vector objects between a Photoshop image and an image
in another application, such as Adobe Illustrator.
More Help topics
Path segments, components, and points
Change the overlap mode for the selected path component
1
Using the Path Selection tool
, drag a marquee to select existing path areas.