The Paths Palette


The Paths palette is the central control for all path operations. Like a layer or a channel, a path can be stored into a palette so it can later be edited or converted into a selection. You can access the Paths palette by choosing Window Paths (see Figure 9.16). If you still have the Paths palette in the default cluster ”grouped with the Layers palette ”pressing the F7 function key will also bring it up.

click to expand
Figure 9.16: The Paths palette and its menu

Work Paths

When you begin drawing a path with the Pen tool, it appears in the Paths palette as a thumbnail named Work Path. The work path is a temporary element that records changes as you draw new sections of the path. If you complete a path on an image, click the Pen tool, and draw another path, it will appear on the same Work Path thumbnail as the first path. To create separate additional paths, you must save the work path to the Paths palette.

You can increase or decrease the size of the Paths palette thumbnails, or turn them off, by choosing Palette Options from the palette pull-down menu and clicking the radio button next to the desired thumbnail size.

Saving Paths

Saving a path to the Paths palette has a distinct advantage over saving selections as alpha channels (which are described in Chapter 12, Using Channels and Quick Mask ): the file size of a document does not substantially increase with each saved path.

After your path has been drawn and appears as a Work Path thumbnail, you can save it by choosing Save Path from the palette menu. A dialog box appears where you can name the path; if no name is entered, the path name defaults to Path 1. You can also save a path by dragging the Work Path thumbnail to the New Path icon at the bottom of the palette.

The Paths palette lists saved paths from top to bottom in the order in which they were created. The paths can be reorganized within the list by clicking the path s name or thumbnail and dragging it to the desired location.

Displaying Paths

To display a path, click the path s name or thumbnail image in the Paths palette. Photoshop allows only one path to be displayed at a time. When displayed, it will appear on the image. You can edit it, move it, add other paths to it, or delete portions of the path. To conceal a work path or saved path from view in the image window, click the empty portion of the Paths palette.

Deleting Paths from the Image Window

To delete a path from the image, do one of the following:

  • Select an entire path with the Path Selection tool. Press the Delete/ Backspace key. If it s a work path, the path and its icon are deleted. If it s a saved path, the path is deleted from the image window, but its empty thumbnail remains in the Paths palette.

  • Select a part of the path with the Direct Selection tool. Press the Delete or Backspace key once to delete the selected part of the path or twice to delete the entire path.

Deleting Paths from the Palette

You might want to discard a path from the Paths palette after you are sure you will have no further use for it. To do so, target the path s name in the palette and perform one of the following operations:

  • Drag the path thumbnail to the trash icon at the bottom of the palette.

  • Choose Delete Path from the Paths Palette menu.

  • Click the trash icon in the Paths palette. In the dialog box that appears, click Yes.

  • Target the path in the Paths palette. Press the Delete or Backspace key.




Photoshop CS Savvy
Photoshop CS Savvy
ISBN: 078214280X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 355

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