10 tips for creating vector graphs with Photoshop

1. Free Pen Tool

The pen tool is a useful tool in PS, but not very well mastered. It's easy to draw a straight line with it, but it's more difficult to draw a curve. If you are proficient in the pen tool, you can use it to make precise selections, draw different shapes, create vector masks, and much more. If you want to make the path work easier, try using the free pen tool. It allows you to use anchor points for free painting without the need to use the pen tool. The Free Pen tool is like a mix of brush tools and pen tools that is not as accurate as a real pen tool, but is useful in many cases.

　　2. Rubber Belt

It is challenging to draw curves by setting the direction and length of a line at a point. By default, PS does not help users view the next path until the next anchor point is determined. However, there is a hidden feature – the Pen tool under the rubber band that can help you in the actual determination of the next anchor point before previewing the next section of the path. This feature is very helpful, especially for beginners who are just starting to use the pen tool.

　　3. Shortcut keys for Pen tool

The pen tool has some very practical shortcuts that can help you better operate.

Command/ctrl: Temporarily move the anchor point or line, switch from the Pen tool to the direct selection tool.

Shift: Draw horizontal, italic, or vertical lines with the pen tool.

Option/alt: Converts an anchor point from a corner point to a curve point and vice versa.

　　4. Convert round shape

If you try to modify the graphics size using the free transform command, the rounded corners will distort. To avoid this, if you are using the Photoshop cc version, you can use the direct selection tool to resize the rounded shape and move the anchor to the shape and size you want.

In the Photoshop cc version, you can easily maintain the fillet radius using the Shape property panel at any time, even if you are using a freeform command to manipulate a rounded-angle vector graph.

　5. Shape Properties

This is one of the most exciting features in the Photoshop cc version, especially for the UI and web designers. Shape properties are in the Properties panel, and when we select a vector graphic, it appears. You can easily implement the following actions:

The position of the graphic in the file

Graphic dimensions

Fill a color for a graphic

Stroke color of a graphic

Stroke width of the graphic

Stroke style of the graphic (including dashed lines)

Other stroke options (such as stroke alignment, line segment endpoints, and merge types)

Fillet radius option (not available for ellipse)

　　6. Merging vector graphics

Another cool feature of PS is the ability to easily combine vector graphics without compromising. Typically, we combine bitmaps with Command/ctrl + E, but in the Photoshop cc version, we can combine vector graphic layers with the same shortcut keys without having to grid. When two or more than two graphics are merged together, you can also use the path selection tool to make a single selection and change the way the graphs overlap each other by path manipulation.

　　7. Path operation

As we mentioned earlier, path manipulation can change the way the superposition of the graphs is calculated. For this feature, you must set multiple paths for the same vector graphic layer or vector mask. Here are a couple of path operations that you can set to create a superposition between graphs:

Merging shapes

Subtract top-level shapes

Cross-shaped area

Exclusion of overlapping areas

The easiest way to figure out their effects is to try. The advantage of path operations is that they are completely lossless, so they can be easily changed at any time.

　8. Path arrangement

Once you are proficient in path operations, you should also learn how to use path alignment to work. Path alignment also affects how graphics are combined. This is similar to the concept of layer structure, where you can move paths up or down in a hierarchy. The path above is superior to the following path. This feature is only displayed in the Options bar when you select a vector mask or vector graphic layer.

　　9. Path Selection Tool – Select all Layers

The path selection tool has a very handy feature, that is, after you have chosen this tool, you can change the options bar. The path selection tool can be used to select a path only if the layer or all layers are selected. This may be an option that needs to be changed back and forth, depending on what is more useful in a PS project. If you have multiple vector layers in a file, and you want to edit them quickly, you can save a lot of time by using the path selection tool to set all the layers. In this way, you don't have to switch the layers back and forth because of the edit path.

　　10. Isolate layers

Another new feature of the Photoshop cc version is the isolation layer option, which is especially handy when manipulating vector graphics and paths. As mentioned earlier, all layers are selected for the path selection tool, which makes it easier to operate when there are multiple vector graphic layers. On the other hand, sometimes you want to control the path selection tool or directly select the tool to ensure that only one particular path is affected, without affecting other paths. To give a very simple example, there are two vector graphs at the moment, and you just want to select the one behind, in which case you can double-click the graphic with the path selection tool, isolating the selected layer from the other layers in the document, so you can modify the selected image without affecting the other parts. Double-click on the other part of the canvas to exit isolation mode.

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