Transforming Shapes


You're not limited to just creating shapes in Photoshop Elements. You can also scale (resize), rotate, and distort them to your liking. Shapes can be altered either numerically, by entering specific values on the options bar, or manually, by dragging their control handles in the image window. Constrain options, such as proportional scaling, are available for most transformations, and a set of keyboard shortcuts helps to simplify the process of adding distortion and perspective.

To scale a shape

1.

Select the Shape Selection tool by doing any of the following:

  • Choose the Shape Selection tool from beneath the current shape tool in the toolbox (Figure 8.99).

    Figure 8.99. The Shape Selection tool.


  • Press U to select any shape tool and then press U again until you toggle to the Shape Selection tool.

  • Select any shape tool in the toolbox, then choose the Shape Selection tool from the options bar (it looks like an arrow).

2.

In the image window, select the shape with the Shape Selection tool.

3.

From the Image menu, choose Transform Shape > Free Transform Shape, or press Ctrl+T.

The options bar changes to show the scale and rotation text boxes, and the reference point locator (Figure 8.100).

Figure 8.100. Precise scale and rotation values can be entered for any shape.


4.

On the options bar, click to set a reference point location.

The reference point determines what point your shape will be scaled to: toward the center, toward a corner, and so on (Figure 8.101).

Figure 8.101. These rectangles are both being reduced in size by about half. The one on the left is scaled toward its upper-left corner, and the one on the right is scaled toward its center.


5.

If you want to scale your shape proportionately, click the lock icon between the width and height text boxes.

6.

Enter a value in either the height or width text box.

The shape is scaled accordingly.

7.

On the options bar, click the Commit Transform button (Figure 8.102), or press Enter.

Figure 8.102. The Commit Transform button scales the shape to the size you define.


8.

Click the Commit Transform button a second time (or press Enter) to deselect the shape and hide the path outline.

Tips

  • You can scale a shape manually by selecting it with the Shape Selection tool and then dragging any one of the eight handles on the selection border. Constrain the scaling by holding down the Shift key while dragging one of the four corner handles.

  • If you want to simply reposition a shape in the image window, click anywhere inside the shape with the Shape Selection tool and then drag the shape to its new position.


To rotate a shape

1.

Select the Shape Selection tool from the toolbox or options bar.

2.

In the image window, select the shape with the Shape Selection tool.

3.

From the Image menu, choose Rotate > Free Rotate Layer (Figure 8.103).

Figure 8.103. You can apply any of the layer rotation menu commands to your shapes.


The options bar changes to show the scale and rotation text boxes, and the reference point locator.

4.

On the options bar, click to set a reference point location.

The reference point determines the point that your shape will be rotated around (Figure 8.104).

Figure 8.104. These rectangles are both being rotated about 20 degrees. The one on the left is rotated around its upper-left corner, and the one on the right is rotated around its center.


5.

Enter a value in the rotate text box.

The shape will rotate accordingly.

6.

On the options bar, click the Commit Transform button, or press Enter/Return.

7.

Click the Commit Transform button a second time (or press Enter/Return) to deselect the shape and hide the path outline.

Tips

  • To rotate your shape in 90- or 180-degree increments or to flip it horizontally or vertically, choose Image > Rotate; then choose from the list of five menu commands below the Free Rotate Layer command.

  • You can rotate a shape manually by selecting it with the Shape Selection tool and then moving the pointer outside of the selection border until it becomes a rotation cursor (Figure 8.105). Drag around the outside of the selection border to rotate the shape. In addition, you can constrain the rotation to 15-degree increments by holding down the Shift key while dragging the rotation cursor.

    Figure 8.105. Rotate any shape manually by dragging it around its reference point with the rotation pointer.



To distort a shape

1.

Select the Shape Selection from the toolbox or options bar.

2.

In the image window, select the shape with the Shape Selection tool.

3.

From the Image menu, choose Transform Shape; then choose Skew, Distort, or Perspective (Figure 8.106).

Figure 8.106. Choose one of the three specific transformation commands.


4.

On the options bar, check that the reference point location is set to the center.

The reference point can, of course, be set to any location, but the center seems to work best when applying any of the three distortions.

5.

Drag any of the shape's control handles to distort the shape.

Dragging the control handles will yield different results depending on the distort option you choose (Figure 8.107).

Figure 8.107. The same square shape transformed using Skew (left), Distort (center), and Perspective (right).


6.

On the options bar, click the Commit Transform button, or press Enter/Return.

7.

Click the Commit Transform button a second time (or press Enter/Return) to deselect the shape and hide the path outline.

Distortion Shortcuts

With a few keyboard shortcuts, you can avoid having to return to the Image menu each time you want to apply a different distortion.

From the Image menu, choose Transform Shape > Free Transform Shape; then use the following shortcuts while dragging the shape handles in the image window:

To Distort: Ctrl

To Skew: Ctrl+Alt

To create Perspective: Ctrl+Alt+Shift




Photoshop Elements 4 for Windows. Visual QuickStart Guide
Photoshop Elements 4 for Windows (Visual Quickstart Guide)
ISBN: 0321423356
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 178

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