Minimum amount of segments with pen tool

I have a really basic question using the pen tool in Flash. Is there a minimum amount of segments (or something that I'm not doing) that need to be drawn in order to close a polygon shape created with the pen tool. I've found in many instances I seem to be closing the polygon and yet when I go to fill the object it won't fill. I then discover that the beginning and end points are not "joined" together (as in Illustrator). The icon turns to a hollow circle when I get to the original point (as in Illustrator) but it doesn't close the segments.
Thanks

Check if you have your fill color set to non-blank. In Properties Panel, under Fill and Stroke.
After drawing your polygon, select a Paint Bucket Tool (K), select fill color and click inside the polygon.
If the shape is (from any reason) really not closed, select Selection Tool (V) and check the main menu -> view -> snapping -> snap to objects: true.
Hover over the unconnected anchor point until you get a corner icon next to the cursor. Then click & drag the point to the other point you want to connect it with. Snapping will ensure the polygon will close now.
Now you can use the Paint Bucket Tool.

Similar Messages

Problem with Pen Tool CS5

Hi,
I just got Photoshop CS5 and I'm having a bit of trouble with the pen tool - namely, I can't see the path I'm creating. In CS3 I could clearly see the line between two points but in the new program the line is nearly invisible making it very difficult to create the path. Is this a setting I can fix?
thanks

I was having 32 bit while I upgraded from CS3 to CS4. The only problem with CS4 that time was with pen tool.Though I cannot precisely recall , I can say it t was very lazy and very frustrating and this was resolved totally after shifting to 64 bit.--If urs existing system is 32 bit try with 64 bit

Slow down when processing image clipping in photo shop with pen tool

Adobe cs5 slow down when processing image clipping use with pen tool. The path is applying after few seconds when we draw on the image. My system supporting 4 GB memory with 64 bit.

The main thing i use paths for in photoshop is extracting objects from photos.
Other uses include stroking paths with the paint tools. For example, if you had
a powerline to remove, one could trace the line with the pen tool and then stroke
the path with spot healing brush set to content aware fill.
more info on photoshop paths:
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/photoshop/cs/using/WSfd1234e1c4b69f30ea53e41001031ab64-73ada.h tml
MTSTUNER

The feature that i need most...do not activate paths with pen tool

If you have to add one thing in illustrator...
Make optional NOT to add new paths to an unselected anchor point with the pen tool.
I never want to activate paths with the pen tool
Arrow tool=select
Pen tool= add new points
If i want to add new segments to a path, i'd select it first a selection tool.
To my knowledge, Illustrator is the only vector application that doesn't follow this convention
In theory,activating the paths with the pen tool should speed the drawing: However when working with illustrations that combine open and closed paths, or if we want to start a new line from an anchor point, we have to lock, unlock or put in layers in order to avoid to activate unselected paths:
That's very slow and frustrating, specially when in other apps, you can create complex illustrations in just one layer and with no lock/unlock due a more precise control over the paths.
I have mentioned this feature before, but every time i face a project with a mix of open and closed paths, is a major problem
Please change this behaviour or at least, make it optional.

Yes, it has to be removed in two places and someone who has the authority might take action upon my mentioning it again.
Here is a link on syncing - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1386nHave a read. Someone who uses the Books tab often might give you a step by step guide. Meanwhile, you can email yourself a PDF to keep you going. If it is a one page PDF it will be shown as opened in the email on your iPad. Press on the centre of it to save it to ibooks.If it is more than one page it will be shown as an icon; press on it for the prompt where to open it and choose iBooks, or whatever. I use Goodreader as it has a superior file management system. It costs very little.
Here is the link fo the iPad User Guide should you not already have it. You can download it to iBooks - http://support.apple.com/manuals/#ipad
Finaly, get more help by clicking on iPad Support at the top of the index page on this forum.

Lost bezier handle on closing path with pen tool

Can any of you please instruct me how to avoid losing the first point’s backwards bezier handle when closing a path with the Pen Tool?
This is a longtime annoyance for me, but I cannot rule out that I simply have failed to find the proper way of turning off this behaviour.

I just did!
See my last post with the picture. I rotated not just the anchor point but the straight line that it was coupled to.
Steve.
Steve, you can rotate anchorPoints and adjacent straight segments all day long, and you will still not be replicating the behavior and intent of FreeHand's Connector Points.
We're not talking about rotating straight segments here. (I would hope that everyone knows you can do that.)
Forget rotating things. Draw a path with a curved segment and an adjacent diagonal straight segment. The straight segment has no extended handles; only the curved segment does. Now adjust the length of the handle of the anchorPoint that joins to the straight segment in such a way that you cannot break tangency of the curve with the straight segment. In other words, the handle is always constrained to the angle of the adjacent straight segment.
Don't bother coming back with the workaround of scaling the handle. That still does not ensure tangency.
Example: This is Fontographer (FreeHand's progenitor). The highlighted point at the bottom of the motorycycle's skid plate is a Corner Point. The segment to the left of it needs to be curved, while maintaining perfect tangency with the straight segment to the right of it. In the inset, the Corner Point has been converted to a Tangent Point, and its handle is being dragged out (all with one selection tool, I might add.) The handle cannot be dragged out at any angle other than that which is tangent to the right segment.
That's just an example of converting a pre-existing Corner Point to a Connector Point. But now consider ensuring tangency fluidly as you draw with the Pen. In Illustrator, click to place a CornerPoint. Click or clickDrag to place a second anchorPoint oriented at any angle from the first point such that you are guaranteed that the first segment is straight, and that the next segment will be curved and tangent to the first segment. Can you do that in Illustrator?
While we're at it, note that in FOG, as in FH, you always know what kind of point you are dealing with. Corner Points are displayed as squares, Curve Points as circles, and Connector Points (Tangent Points in FOG) as triangles (regardless of whether their handles are extended or retracted).
JET

Small imperfections in curves drawn with pen tool.

I have noticed that when drawing with the pen tool that whereever two paths segments connect in a curve, there sometimes is a small bump. I am wondering how to avoid this problem when initially drawing and/or how to fix them afterwards. Currently my solution is to add either a single anchor point or one on both sides of the offending point then removing the problem anchor point. This seems to work in most cases.

In the screenshot, that should be a smoothPoint, not a cornerPoint. In Illustrator, only smoothPoints ensure tangency between the two associated segments. You have buttons in the Control Panel by which to convert a cornerPoint to smooth (and vice-versa). Doing so auto-extends the handles if they are retracted.
If that already is a curvePoint, then you need to lengthen its handles. If you have other anchors too close to it, that will be problematic. If the visible portion of the black path with the circled anchor were the entire shape, that shape should be drawn with no more than 5 anchors.
Be aware is sometimes possible that the antialiasing of the screen preview pixels can cause the the preview to look like there are subtle kinks at the horizontal/vertical extrema of curves, but since you say you have an anchor there, the anchor is probably the cause.
When showing screenshots about path shape, it's usually better to select the path so others can actually see the anchors and handles needed to advise.
JET

Making a split line with pen tool

I am making a map and have stumbled upon a new desire. Is it possible to make multiple paths from one anchor point using the pen tool? The most simple example I can give would be a "Y" - that is with the first point at the bottom, the second in the middle, then adding two separate lines from that middle anchor point in hopes that all three line segments would be a part of the same vector line.
The photo shows what I am working on. The grumbled grey area below the current railroad track is an old rail yard. The anchor point to the right of "Hill St." is where I would like to split/make multiple new lines from. Ideally, there would be a line that traces the northern edge of the rail yard (as is shown), in addition to one that traces the the southern edge that is technically the same vector line as both the northern line and the individual one to the east.
Any help or ideas on this would be greatly appreciated.
Doug

Take a look at this:
This was all done by Add New Stroke in the Appearance palette.
To get a clean Y you must make a compound of the 2 paths. You can see this clearly on the upper "road".
This works well for roads in general although multi-level intersections always require some special tratment.
A railway track is only slightly more tricky because of the sleepers.
Depending on how close together you want the sleepers to be, the join will always be more or less problematic unless you are very careful with the positioning of the anchor point on the branch line. Even then you will always get some overlapping.
But like Monika says, you should draw points/a switch (UK/US) there anyway.

Draw a strokeless shape with pen tool?

Is it possible to draw a strokeless shape with the pen tool (as in Illustrator)?
It is quite tedious to have to go back and remove strokes from my shapes.... especially since I can't see how to do it without clicking on each segment and hitting "delete"!
Thanks!

Select the entire shape with the strokes and go to the Properties Inspector or Tools Panel and select no stroke.
Hope this helps!
Quynh
Flash Pro QA

Problem creating vector mask with Pen Tool

Using Photoshop CS5, Mac OS 10.6.8
I'm trying to create a simple vector mask using the pen tool to create a curved line at the top and bottom of a photo. Here's what I'm doing:
1. Create a new layer and select it.
2. Select Pen tool.
3. Choose "work path" by selecting button at top menu.
4. I draw my shape with the pen tool.
5. Now comes the problem... I can not select this shape, or assign it a color. When I create a clipping mask, it does not recognize my path. When I throw away the layer, the shape is still there in outline only. What am I missing here? I'm familiar with doing this in Illustrator, but I don't understand how it works in PSD.
I need some help, please.
Thanks.

The main thing i use paths for in photoshop is extracting objects from photos.
Other uses include stroking paths with the paint tools. For example, if you had
a powerline to remove, one could trace the line with the pen tool and then stroke
the path with spot healing brush set to content aware fill.
more info on photoshop paths:
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/photoshop/cs/using/WSfd1234e1c4b69f30ea53e41001031ab64-73ada.h tml
MTSTUNER

How to Extrude a path created with Pen Tool

Hi All
I have created a path with the pen tool (the brown part), and now I want to extrude it, but it extrudes the whole containing block (See image below)
Now I have tried everything, from grouping to compound paths etc, but nothing works.
How do I extrude my path?
Thank you

...and Texturized it AFTER the extrusion....
Applied a Grain Texture after the extrusion.
For clarity:
Always pay attention to the Appearance palette. The order of the items in the Appearance stack reflects the order in which they are applied.
A so-called "live effect" (of which both 3D Effect and Grain Texturizer are examples) is an operation which is automatically re-applied after you make an edit to the object to which it is applied. The effects are applied in the order in which they appear in the Appearance stack, from top to bottom.
1. Ellipse Tool: Draw an ellipse. Leave it selected.
2. Apply 3D Effect.
3. Apply Texturize Effect.
Look at the Appearance palette. 3D Effect is listed above Texturizer, and the whole 3D rendering is texturized.
4. Appearance palette: Drag 3D Effect to below Texurizer. The unwanted extrusion of the entire texture image appears.
JET

Newbie problem with pen tool: shape not evident on any layer

I am trying to learn the pen tool. I made a line with the pen tool but now I can't find out which layer it is on, and I can't stroke it as I wanted. All of my layers are turned off and the shape still appears. However on searching through the layers there is no vector layer which contains my line. Also, I can't stroke the line as the stroke and fill options are greyed out on my paths panel. I have attached a screen dump to hopefully explain what I mean. I am using CS2 on Windows 7.

Okay thanks and as you can see from the screen dump, I have got the paths window up. So I can see the workpath. But I can't stroke it, the stroke option is greyed out. Also how can I get the path onto a shapes layer? Basically I want to stroke the path so I can show the shape of a roadway on a map. Maybe I am using the wrong method, maybe there is a better way to do this?

Problem with Pen Tool contrast...

I noticed this the other day. When I'm using the pen tool in Photoshop CS4, it sometimes takes the color of what I'm using the pen tool on, ie; if I'm working with a picture with a bright green or pink, the path is bright green or pink (see link below) The picture isn't the worst that it does, but if I took a screenshot when it's at it's worst, you wouldn't see anything. I went through all the preferences and saw nothing. I do have the OpenGL acceleration turned on. Thanks for any input!!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32892564@N06/3120591723/

Thanks. That fixed it. I was able to select no fill in the pen tool bar (when pen tool is active), but could not select no fill when I clicked on the fill box in the regular tool bar (unless there is a trick) - all that comes up are color gradients to select.

Problem with pen tool, lines and blend tool

I draw line 1.
Then I break (click the arrow key and then click the pen tool again) and draw line 2
When I finish there is a puzzling gap on line 1 after where line 2 intersects:
Then when I use the blend too the resulting abstract looks like - non-continguous with broken lines:
instead of something of a continuous wave and unbroken lines like:
To me, the problem is clearly the gap show up but I don't understand why it is appearing, when as picture 2 shows, I clearly I'm drawing complete lines.

Thanks. That fixed it. I was able to select no fill in the pen tool bar (when pen tool is active), but could not select no fill when I clicked on the fill box in the regular tool bar (unless there is a trick) - all that comes up are color gradients to select.

Anchor points with pen tool askew

Hey everyone, I have been using illustrator for about 5 years now and this has never happened to me before. I use CS4 and i opened it today to trace a logo and out of nowhere, whenever i go to connect a point with the pen tool, it makes a point about a quarter of an inch in the opposite direction of where i clicked down. Usually I can make a point, then try to connect it with another and it goes exactly where i clicked down for point #2...now it's impossible to correctly trace anything since I have little control over the pen tool anymore.
I read in another forum when researching this problem that in in View > snap to point may cause this but even after unselecting it, i still have the same problem. I also tried resetting Illustrator like I read may help and nothing. I can't find the presets folder on my computer I did the key combination while opening the program.
Thank you for your time!
-Melissa

Melissa,
It could be a preference corruption or a disturbance from other applications or something similar.
To reset the former the former, you may try to Move the folder with Illy closed, or just press Ctrl+Alt+Shift/Cmd+Option+Shift during startup (the latter is easier but changes your preference settings to defaults (spoiling any customized settings, and it may be necessary to perform the more thorough Move).
To solve things in case of the latter, you may have a look at the relavnt items, including 7, in Other options.
Or it could be something else.

Ctrl not working with Pen Tool - Can't move shapes or paths

I have Windows 8 and Photoshop CS3. It works fine, but I accidentally must have messed something up earlier tonight, because holding down Ctrl (when using the pen tool) suddenly won't let me move shapes or paths. I work a lot with vector graphics and design so I've ALWAYS held down Ctrl after closing a path and then moved it around on the canvas. The cursor turns black when I do this. Now, it's white and tries to select nothing? If I click directly on the path, it just alters the handlebars. And the Move Tool tells me I can't select anything.
This is what it looks like when I hold down Ctrl when using the pen tool and try to move my path. I cannot select it.
Please help me, I have a project due and the only way I can move my paths or shapes now is by clicking ctrl+t and it's very annoying.
Thanks in advance.

What you describe is how it works with one of the Shape Tools selected in the toolbox.
With the Pen Tool selected, one presses the Ctrl key, drags around the path to select all the points and then click and drag on one of the sides (not one of the points) to move the whole path.

Minimum amount of segments with pen tool

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for