Custom shapes and brushes copyright

Hello,
I have dowloaded some shapes and brushes from the extension pages of adobe for designs and graphics for commercial use. I have been looking for terms of use and copyright but most of the time could find any and even very often links to author are broken.
Can anybody tell me if such elements dowloaded from adobe extension page are free for commercial use?
Thank in advance for your help

Thank you Bart, So I understand I may use them in my graphics, designs and prints that I will sell.
It is not my intention to sell it or to lend it.

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Tutorial: Creating, saving and re-using Custom Shapes

I've beeen experimenting with custom shapes for the last couple of days, and thought I'd share some of the tips and techniques I found.
First of all, what are custom shapes?
Well, they're vector objects. That means that they are not built out of millions of individual pixels (like images are), but rather they're a series of mathematical statements that describe how to draw a line from point to point to create the vector shape. This means that custom shapes are "resolution independent", and that they can be grossly shrunk or enlarged and still retain razor sharp edges, curves and corners.
What are custom shapes good for?
Pretty much anything where you want to use a good, sharp object. In particular, using a custom shape as a clipping mask for an image that's been placed as a Smart Object is an outstanding technique, and really shows off the power that PSE is capable of.
PSE comes with a lot of ready-to-use custom shapes for its Custom Shape tool, and there are probably hundreds of thousands available on the Web -- just search for "photoshop shapes". Typically, those shapes will be supplied as Adobe CSH (Custom SHape) files, and simply copying the CSH files into the
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Photoshop Elements 10\Presets\Custom Shapes"
directory will make them available for use with the Custom Shape tool.
Sooner or later, though, you'll get the itch to create your own custom shapes. Out of the box, PSE does not have the capability to let you create custom shapes and add them to the CSH files like the "big" Photoshop does, so we'll need to use a workaround: store your custom shapes as layers in a PSD file, and when you want to use them simply copy them into your image.
N.B.: To create custom shapes you'll have to use the reasonably priced Elements+ add-in:
http://elementsplus.net/
So, the procedure goes like this:
Create a new image, using the PSE defaults, and save it as "CustomShapes01.psd", keeping it open.
Open an image containing an object that you want to use as a custom shape.
Use any of the selection tools to make an accurate selection of the object:
In the Effects panel, use the Elements+...Paths effect and choose the Create New Path...From Current Selection:
Use the Elements+...Paths again, choosing "Convert to Shape", giving it a name and colour of your choosing. This will create a Shape Layer using that name.
Important: If your shape has "holes",
use the Shape Selection tool and click on the shape to select it. Then hit the "Combine" button in the Options Bar. This will combine all the individual shapes used to create the shape and its "holes" into one shape, and prevent beaucoup problems later.
Switch to the Move tool and drag the shape onto the tab of your "CustomShapes01.psd" image, keeping your mouse button pressed. That image will become activated and you can move your cursor onto the image itself and drop your shape onto it. Your PSD file will now have your custom shape as a shape layer:
Save that "CustomShapes01.psd" file.
You can repeat the process for as many custom shapes as you want, and they will each become a layer in the "CustomShapes01.psd" file.
To use your custom shape, open the "CustomShapes01.psd" file and your target image and do the drag and drop with the Move tool to copy the custom shape onto your target image.
I mentioned that using a custom shape as a clipping mask for an image placed as a Smart Object is a very powerful technique. It's powerful because the custom shape can be altered at any time and still keep its sharpness, and because the Smart Object can also be resized without becoming pixellated. Of course, that custom shape layer can have any number of layer styles applied to it and those layer styles will "follow" the shape if the shape is moved, resized or rotated.
Here are three examples of using the custom shapes as clipping masks for Smart Objects:
In this example, each custom shape is used as a clipping mask for an image Smart Object, as usual:
Here, one custom shape was used as a clipping mask for an image Smart Object and they were linked.
Then the shape and image were duplicated and moved, rotated and resized. Because of the linking, the Smart Object automatically kept its orientation and size relative to the custom shape throughout:
If you want to use custom shapes as a "combined" clipping mask, the procedure is a little more complicated because you need to get all your custom shapes on one shape layer.
So, after copying your shapes into the target image (as separate shape layers), use the Shape Selection tool to select one of the shapes. Using Edit...Cut will cut that shape layer to the Clipboard, and you can select one of the other shape layers and use Edit...Paste to paste the custom shape into that shape layer. Repeat as necessary, and you will get all of your custom shapes on one shape layer. Then use that single shape layer as your clipping mask:
The neat thing is that the individual shapes can be selected with the Shape Selection tool and independently moved, resized or rotated as necessary.
Enjoy!
Ken

Thanks, Michel.
I forgot to mention one point about copying shape layers into one shape layer: when you initially use the Shape Selection tool to select a shape for cutting, make sure the option for the Shape Selection tool is set to "Add to Selection".
MichelBParis wrote:
The problem with Elements+ is that it has so many features you soon forget what it can give you !
Truer words were never spoken!
Ken

Question about Custom Shape Files from newbie to PS

My husband bought me PS CS4 Extended. That said, I have never used PS at all. I have always used PSP. Please don't hate me!
I have figured out that one loads actions and presets. OK, got that. The question I have is if I can have my Custom Shapes and Actions on a completely different partition? I ask this because there is not enough room on the partition for me to continue adding shapes and such to PS in the program itself. I am figuring that I can since I have tio load them into the program anyway, but am asking to be sure so that I don't screw anything up.
Another question I have is if I am able to point PS to where all of my plugins are that I already have installed in PSP, which also happen to be on a different partition. In PSP all one has to do is to point the program to where they are and all is good and they can be used within said program. Does PS allow for this also? If not, do I have to re-install all of the plugins into the PS program itself? I just don't have that much room on the partition that my PS resides on because of all of the other pregrams that I have. Also, does everything I load into PS just stay loaded or do I have to reload each time I want to use that particular preset?
I do hope that ya'll can understand my questions and thank you for any help in advance.

the benefit of having the presets in the proper folders is that you can select them from the fly-out menus instead of having to search for them using the Load command so yes, you can have them wherever you want. I doubt though that you don't have enough disk space for them, for instance, all the actions that come with Photoshop take up about 200kb, the custom shapes are about 700kb but that's because they come in duplicates. And yes, all that you load up stays in Photoshop until you remove them, no need to reload them at program start. For plug-ins you have the option to set an additional plug-in folder by going to Edit->Preferences->Plug-ins, don't know about needing to install them though as i don't use any

Export Flexibility of Custom Shapes & Layer Styles?

Over the past few years I've developed a workflow for icon creation that involves purely custom shapes and layer styles. This has been fantastic from a number of points of view
- Vector based workflow for easy scaling, resizing
- Easy maintenance of style coherence with layer style presets
- Custom shape library means rapid prototyping of common elements
While this approach in Photoshop helps me rapidly develop icons, it's now presenting some challenges from an export point of view. Specifically the path to vector based formats like svg and xaml is hindered by the fact that Photoshop and Fireworks/Illustrator don't share a common layer styles approach. (Fireworks having a XAML export plugin and Illustrator having both XAML plugin and SVG export capability)
While the above programs are more geared towards vector work, they don't offer the flexibility of Photoshop when it comes to creating photorealistic icons with texturing.
Is anyone aware of a method for exporting a vector element from photoshop while maintaing the editability of layer styles? (Exporting simple shapes in PDF works but falls down once masks and layer styles come into the equation)
Fireworks CS4 seems to import select PSD's decently but there is not a 1:1 relationship between the layer effects from Photoshop. Illustrator seems to assume that anything coming out of Photoshop will be bitmap based and acts accordingly.
Any feedback or similar experiences would be appreciated.
Cian Walsh
[link deleted]

Hi guys,
From last week am I trying to do what I mentioned in post above, I just find it very difficult to do. Now I beginning to doubt whether it is possible or not, provided the SDK we have for CS4.
What do you think, is it a doable item and I am missing some simple thing ??
Please let me know of your views its really very important.
Thanks,
D

Custom shape tools

Windows Vista Ultimate, PSE 6.0 I am trying to find out where to go to download additonal custom shapes and incoporate into the custom shape tool. Reference ELEMENTS TECHNIQUES magazine Vol. 5, #1,article on page28 uses the custom shape tool but the menue shown contains considerably more preset shapes than the one in my PSE 6.0. If there are more shapes than the 30 shapes shown on my menue somewhere in PSE 6 then I don't know how to access them. When I go to downloads where I would have expected to see "freebies like this" the only thing that turns up is a free trial of PSE6. If there is a source to buy from then that would be helpful. What about other plugins beyond those included in the original PSE6?
I hope this is the right place/forum to post these types of questions

Thank you very much Barbra, they are there just like you stated. The way my screen was tilted I could not see the arrows. I actually find the grey on black format of this program a bit hard to see, I wonder why they did not put items like these little arrows in a more contrasting color like pink or green or red. Another issue.
thank you again and have a good day

How to add the Cloud Filter to Custom Shapes?

Hello: Level: Newbie OS: Windows 7 64bit Ps CS6
I am trying to make a sun. I used the elliptical marquee and was able to add the filter > render > coulds w/no problem
However, when I draw a custom shape and try to use the cloud filter it fills the whole layer not just the shape.
I've tried several things but nothing has worked.
Also, a box pops up that says the layer must be rasterized before using the cloud filter and then it fills the whole canvas/layer.
Any ideas? Thank you for your time

Photoshop filters operate on raster images (i.e. pixels) only. A couple of ways to get the necessary raster from a Shape Layer:
1. Rasterize the SL, permanently converting it to a regular pixels layer (although you could keep a hidden copy of the SL in case you wanted to return to it).
2. Convert the SL to a Smart Object which non-destructively encapsulates the SL and provides a raster representation on which filters can operate. This is advantageous in that you can edit the contained Shape Layer at any time, you can non-destructively transform (e.g. stretch or warp) the SO as many times as you want, and filters can be attached as non-destructive re-editable Smart Filters.
For Clouds to be visible in only the existing pixels and not the empty region of a layer, make a mask for the layer: target the layer, Ctrl-click on its thumbnail to get a marquee of its pixels then click the Add Mask button at bottom of Layers panel. That's what I did below, but the mask could have been used as a Smart Filters mask which you can see as a white thumbnail.

Custom shapes: zooming and picking

I need design advice regarding a screen-full of custom shapes I am making: my app will draw literally thousands of primitive octagons. I have seen this issue in other threads, but answers didn't fully apply to my situation.
Using Graphics2D's scale, I will enable zooming ability. The current problem involves zooming: getting contains() to work in the event I'm zoomed in or out. I've heard of a method that AffineTransform has that returns you a transformed shape?
Assuming that works, then I still have to run contains(), followed by AffineTransform's transformed shape method roughly 4000 times. Any advice on this? If performance isn't instantaneous I'm going to have to choose a clever data structure/alg.
The octagons are more or less in "grid format" and it forms a big rectangular array. Thanks!

Yes, you shouldn't need to transform your shapes either for rendering or hit tests.
Note that if you frequently have to perform that many tests and a significant number of your shapes are non-rectangular, you may (depending on how contains() is implemented for each shape) get a performance benefit by caching the bounding boxes of each shape - rectangles are of course the quickest hit-test available and once you've tested those you can perform a proper contains() on the shapes themselves. You could perhaps optimise the test further by storing lists/arrays of bounding boxes sorted by positions of each edge so that you don't need to test all 4000.
How much benefit you get from these strategies depends on both your use case and your data, which obviously I can only guess at.

Custom drop zone shapes and button shapes

Are there any packages out there of designer created drop zone shapes and botton shapes? I am learning how to create my own, but I'm fairly new to design programs such as Photoshop. Are there designers who have created ones, and are they available to download?

why pay someone for this when its so easy to create your own custom assests?
http://www.kenstone.net/fcphomepage/shapes_droptemplates.html
http://www.kenstone.net/fcphomepage/advanced_dropzones.html

Coverting a custom shape to a brush

How do I convert a Custom Shape into a brush?
Thank You!

You'll need to flatten a Shape Layer first:
1. Draw item using the Shape tool.
2. Go to Layer menu > Flatten Image.
3. Go to Edit menu > Define Brush Preset.
Simo

Brush, Pattern, Font, Custom Shape Tool, gradient, etc organization

On record, I have over 1,000 brushes, over 1,000 fonts, and I'm making other resources on the fly. I have an issue here: I can't find anything!!
(I also have a second issue with resources and crashes, but I'll get to that later.)
Is it that hard to ask Adobe to put in some font organization, tags for brushes and a search engine for them? Sometimes it's a pain trying to find the right font, but say, I think, "Hmm.. I want a font that is remotely Western, probably serif" there is no way in Adobe Photoshop to get through all of those fonts in a timely manner which means I'm spending about 2 hours shuffling through the fonts trying to find the right one. Sure there is a panel where you can select your favorite ones, but that's not by category... there is no sane way to find the font just for you.
Same thing for brushes. Often the problem with brushes is that people lose where they've come from, meaning no credit to the brush maker and when you want, say, fairies because you need some, you can't remember where the hell they are. And if you do, you have tons of brushes to sort through. People have a compulsion to not label their brush sets properly, which drives me nuts because they also expect you to give them credit. How about Adobe gives them a leg up? Give them a space not only to name the brush, but give it tags, a name and a website where it was found at. (Not required, but can be used or even expanded down.) And give it search capability. (So I type in birds, then the brushes menu retrofits to show all brushes with the tag of birds, I delete the search line, all the brushes come back, I type in standard. All of the round brushes come up, etc. I type in spiritsighs and all of her brushes come up... and so on). Gradients, etc should be the same.
Sure you can clear your brushes, but do you know how many brush packs I have to sort through, then load to get the right one? --;; A pain. (Plus brush packs are often lost in computer crashes, harddrive wipes, etc.)
So I'm asking for a way to organize and find these resources more easily, with better searching abilities, because while the guys on Photoshop TV can afford to dump their probably thousands of brushes for a demo, isn't it kind of odd that they often say, "Where is it? "Ah there it is" in their tutorials? They've apologized at least a dozen times for the "ah there it is" and the "I'm sorry Adobe doesn't give a font organizer", but here is a crappier alternative.
I'd like this in other programs in the CS suite too. Especially the Historyless Illustrator (Illustrator needs History) and InDesign. InDesign should have had font management a long time ago--most of it is about type setting anyway.
Second part:
Crashes. You've spent 2 hours making the right brush, stayed past your bedtime, made the brush, and voila, Photoshop crashes. You've just lost 2 hours of work, your files, which in your artistic daze you forgot to save and any chance of getting that brush file back.
So I propose three fixes which are already out there in Computer land that Photoshop hasn't implemented. (And other Adobe products should also implement).
1. The auto save. When the user isn't using the screen, or at x intervals it will ask the user if they want to save, which is settable by the user (prompting and the auto-saving). Microsoft has it, Most Mac programs have it, Adobe Photoshop should also have it.
2. Generated back up files. At some intervals, instead of a full save, in case of a crash, Adobe Photoshop, when prompted will create back up files.
3. A way for Photoshop and Illustrator when creating brushes, etc to auto-save said brush when the brush is created, rather than generating a pack. Like it updates a file in Photoshop when one creates a brush. This means it will hard save to the computer and one doesn't have to make a brush pack or shut down photoshop to get the brush to save. I think this would save a lot of people heartbreak.
Minor peeve, but when I hit undo often it jumps to the previous layer I was at. I'd like an option to turn this "feature" off.

not sure if anybody mentioned this.
tumasoft.com has a product for viewing and organizing your brushes patterns etc. 25 bucks.
This should be native to Photoshop rather than from an external program. It's in many other programs,so I don't understand why Photoshop doesn't have a system native to it.
To be blunt: If that has happened more than once to you and you still don’t save useful, newly created brushes regularly you should, in my opinion, improve your workflow.
Saving a brush into a set should be doable in something like 15 seconds, less if you use Keyboard Shortcuts.
Even less than that if one automates the task with a Script (which could then be invoked either via a Keyboard Shortcut or Configurator Panel).
Let me know if you want to give it a try.
You misunderstand me. I save the brush into the brush panel, and I may have the brush in up and working, but to save the brush permanently, you have one of these options:
1. Quit Photoshop between each brush made. The Save Brush Preset was NOT a permanent solution. It should be automatically saved to a file. Such as "all". Illustrator has a similar feature, though this really needs to be streamlined for Illustrator as well.
2. Save as a brush pack. However, if you have a bunch of brushes planned, this becomes a pain to do. This means out of say the 100 brush packs you have to find it every single time and add it and even if Photoshop crashes, the brushes you saved won't show up in the brush menu, because Photoshop doesn't remember any of the brushes you made until you quit Photoshop. This means then, if you're in the middle of making a brush and Photoshop crashes, you have to bring up said brush pack.
Do you really make brushes? 'cause I do. I make lots of brushes and it annoys me to no end that when I save the brush to the brush panel it's not a permanent save, but temporary. It should be permanent and I shouldn't have to shut down Photoshop to get it to save automatically to the Photoshop Brush palette.
I spend a lot of time refining my brushes by testing them, making them, and then testing them again. When I get the brush perfect, and find that something big has happened, I expect the brushes I saved to the brush palate should have saved permanently. But test it... You can force quit Photoshop, after saving to a brush to the brush palate and find that it's not at the end of the brush palate anymore. This is wacky and should be fixed. I view it as an internal bug rather than a "feature" i.e. something they didn't think about when they gave users the ability to create their own brushes. This is very programable as other programs can do it and as you pointed out it, it is minor. Especially with the advent of workable backup files, it has become ten times easier. Since Photoshop remembers on shut down, it may be even more minor--just shifting some code from the shut down process to the "save to Brush palate" process. I wouldn't mind say 5-10 seconds more of waiting while it saves if the save ends up in a permanent save.
But as for organizing Brush Presets and Brush-name search capabilities Photoshop could indeed do with some improvements. (I still work with CS4, so I don’t know what changes exactly CS5 brought in that respect.)
Fonts on the other hand … I suspect the risks connected with implementing any expanded font-capabilities in Photoshop may be significant.
Font organizers already exist. And programs have implemented them with success without hindering the work flow. I'm proposing this in addition to the "favorites" and the type-in pull down menu, not instead of it. As there are working examples, I doubt it will be that difficult to mock up. This isn't like a new fangled idea--so making it isn't as difficult. It should have been in In Design a long, long time ago... All the Adobe Products need one. I wouldn't even mind if it was an external program that worked with the suite. (Similar to Font Book for Mac with the Coco Products)

Custom shape library

Hi all,
is there a way to have the custom shapes library always open on a panel, like the brush preset panel?
I am using them a lot and I don't understand why I still have to right click to select an other shape, and I cannot have it on a panel like many other tools (brushes, swatches, style, .....).
If there is a trick I missed, thank you to teach me.
thank you in advance,
regards
Thomas

Your diamond looked like it was square to me. So I centered your diamond over your canvas add a vertical guide at 50%. Measured your square to be 190 PX Dragged out a 190 PX square shape no fill 1 px red stroke. Transformed the shape rotating it 45 degrees and moved it up to align with your diamond. Dragged out a horizontal guide to match your diamond cut. Used the Pen tool to add two control points the square shape. and then use the pen tool to delete the top control point then convert control point tool to convert the two added control points.
http://www.mouseprints.net/old/dpr/Diamond.psd

Custom shapes display

I use PSE 8.
Over time, I have added a number of brushes, patterns, and custom shapes to the presets. And am real happy I can do so!
However, for the custom shapes, it lists them in columns from left to right and I am unable to see them all. Yes, I do have a lot!
Other than deleting, is there any other way to see them all?
Thank you!

Thanks MTS - that's a workable solution,
But I think I'm going to set up a folder in my pic files just for shapes. And I'll make a pic file of each shape that I am going to delete and save it in the shapes folder.
There are a number of shapes that I only use one or two of, so shouldn't be too time-consuming right:?!!!!
It's a shame tho that you can't delete some shapes from a file, and also add to others! Life would be so much easier!
Thanks again for your help.

Elements 12 / Custom Shapes

Greetings
I am working with Elements 12.
Among the ‘ Custom Shapes’ in my Tool Panel I am missing the Copyright sign (the encircled c). I had it in Photoshop CS4, and I need it for the pictures on my website. Is there any way to get it?
Thanks for replies

Are you sure? Both the copyright symbol and the trademark symbol should be in the symbols section of the shapes palette, down towards the bottom:

Could not complete the define custom shape command because of program error

I am using the pen tool to draw a shape and then select it to create a custom shape. I use path: edit - define custom shape = "could not complete the define custom shape command because of program error"
The error message appears once I click the define button.

Also, I solved this another way, seems to happen to me often. I click on the path panel, near layers panel and clicked on 'load path as a selection' (3rd icon on bottom from left), then click 'make work path from selection' (4th icon on bottom from left). Then you will see that the whole work area is part of the selection, including your desired shape/path. In order to change this, just select 'path selection' tool and highlight each corner and delete each point from each corner, then you are left with the desired selection to create a shape. I am self taught and this seem unorthodox, but it works.

When I click on Define Custom Shape, I get an error message: "could not complete your request because of a program error."

I'm using Photoshop CC 2014. When I click on Define Custom Shape, there is an error box that says "could not complete your request because of a program error." How can I solve this problem or work around it? I've looked on the internet for answers but could find no solutions to this. The custom shape tool is 99% of what I use!

Consider resetting the Pen tool by right clicking here
and if that doesn't solve the problem a logical next step would be to reset your Preferences.
To reset Preferences:
If Photoshop is already open on your screen, close it (Quit). Then hold down Shift+Ctrl+Alt (Win) / Shift+Command+Option (Mac) on your keyboard and start Photoshop.
A dialog box will pop up asking if you want to delete the existing Preferences file (the "Settings"). Click Yes in the dialog box. The existing Preferences file will be scrapped and a new one will be created.
By the way, if "The custom shape tool is 99% of what I use!" have you considered Illustrator?

Custom shapes and brushes copyright

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