Pen tool - accidental inverse selection.

Sometimes when my students use the pen tool to create a path, and want to fill it, the inverse area is filled instead. This never happens to me - so I am unsure what they are doing wrong. Can anyone help?

That particular aspect should work the same as previous versions. When you make the first path, click outside that path in the Paths panel, and then click back on it. You only need to do this if you have left the previous path open (not closed it by joining the two ends.
Continue using the pen tool and the new path segments will be there in the same path.
You need to be aware of the Pen tool options, like Combine, Subtract, Intersect.
If you use that path for making a selection for instance, and then use the Pen tool again, you will lose the first path. A quick and easy way to save paths is to drag them to the New Path icon at the bottom of the Paths panel.
This graphic might be of help.

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Photoshop CS3, using pen tool to make selection or path without any color

OK, here is my problem. I'm using CS3 photoshop right now. Last time I was using it regularly was in 2001, so it was version 5 or 6. At that time you could use the pen tool to make a selection or a path without ANY color. I'm trying to cut out something that needs precision (therefore the pen tool) but I need to be able to see what I'm doing. Therefore, would prefer no color option. This used to be easy, with paths, it was the default.
Can't figure it out now, HELP is no help. And, the User Guide is no longer available on Adobe.com. Looked for the one for the CS4 suite, not much much luck there either. I can call them tomorrow about that. *Right now, all I'm trying to do is put together a little pasted together thing for my niece. Two stuffed animals with antlers and santa hats on a Xmas background. Everything is done but cutting out around the stuffed animals. They need their little tufts of stuffing, so I need a tool that can create a smooth path without blocking what I'm doing with color.* Any help will me appreciated. I've tried for days to figure this out on my own, since last time I posted, I figured it out before someone responded. And, the response was quick, so I didn't want to waste anyone's time.
The pdf user guide for this is unavailable, I just ordered a book to help me with the stuff I can't figure out by myself. Thanks for everyone's quick help. –Suze

{quote:title=Suze159 wrote:}
I'm trying to cut out something that needs precision (therefore the pen tool) but I need to be able to see what I'm doing. *Right now, all I'm trying to do is put together a little pasted together thing for my niece. Two stuffed animals with antlers and santa hats on a Xmas background. Everything is done but cutting out around the stuffed animals. They need their little tufts of stuffing, so I need a tool that can create a smooth path without blocking what I'm doing with color.*{quote}
Suze,
I too use CS3 and I may be confused about your post. If so, I apologize for wasting any reader's time.
When I need a precision tool for rotoscoping a subject, I usually choose the Polygonal Lasso tool. Of all the Lasso tools, using the polygonal is the most labor intensive, but gives you the highest degree of control. With a little practice you can get quite good at it. If necessary, blow up the image to help you see what you are doing.
-- Duplicate the background layer
-- Rotoscope the subject
-- Click Refine Edge and adjust Radius, Contrast, Contract/Expand, Smooth and Feather to taste
-- Choose New>Layer via Copy or Cut
-- Hide background layer(s) and Save As or Move this layer onto your original graphic.
There may be other ways of doing it but this is what works for me. I hope that helps.
Eddie

Pen Tool Multiple Path Selection

Just upgraded to CC 2014. I frequently remove photo backgrounds by creating paths with the pen tool. I have always been able to create multiple paths for areas that I want to delete using the pen tool, then upon completion, right click, choose "Make Selection" and then delete all the areas at once. Since upgrading, only the last path region is selected using this method and the other areas disappear. Any help would be greatly appreciated, have been going crazy trying to figure this out.

That particular aspect should work the same as previous versions. When you make the first path, click outside that path in the Paths panel, and then click back on it. You only need to do this if you have left the previous path open (not closed it by joining the two ends.
Continue using the pen tool and the new path segments will be there in the same path.
You need to be aware of the Pen tool options, like Combine, Subtract, Intersect.
If you use that path for making a selection for instance, and then use the Pen tool again, you will lose the first path. A quick and easy way to save paths is to drag them to the New Path icon at the bottom of the Paths panel.
This graphic might be of help.

Selection Tools (Polygonal Lasso, Pen Tool) adding extra selections

Ok, so I'm having a weird problem in Photoshop CS4 for Mac OS X on 10.6.3. When I try to make a selection and complete the selection Photoshop is just randomly adding extra selections. Here is an example:
Above, I made a pretty straight-forward selection with the Pen Tool, nothing fancy or anything.
And then, when I right-click and Make Selection I get this crazy selection above that is no where near what I had originally selected.
It does this with the Polygonal Lasso Tool as well. I've tried reseting the tools, restarting Photoshop, and restarting the whole Mac and the problem won't go away and now it's starting to drive me crazy.
Anyone have any idea on what is causing this and how to fix it? Please and thanks!

I wasn't sure how to search for the problem, and anything I did find didn't offer a solution. If you could point me to some of these posts that would be awesome. Thanks.

Creating action for pen tool "add to selection" problem.

I am trying to quicken my workflow and want to create an action for this instead of right click>make selection>add to selection. I do this a lot for my job and it gets tedious. I got an action to work except on little quirky issue. When I did this without using an action, when I clicked "OK" on the dialog box for the "add to selection" area, then I got the resulting marching ants with my intended selection and that pen path would automatically disappear. And on to the next pen path to start it over...All is good so far(except the tediousness Im trying to stop).
So the action for this results in the same thing except that instead of getting just the marching ants(as I want), I get the marching ants with the last pen path still showing under that area of marching ants I just had "added to." I know I can just then hit "delete" to get rid of that pen path and get just my selection, but that defeats my intent on streamlining the process.
Any ideas on why this happens or a completely different way to do this with as quick of a result as the hotkey I set for this action?
Thanks.

It looks like what is needed is some way to deselect all the points on a selected object, while keeping the object itself selected.
Using the built-in InDesign tools, the way to do that would seem to be: switch to the direct selection white arrow tool (by pressing CMD) as you have been doing. Click anywhere on the path of the object. This clears all selected points while keeping the object selected. Now release CMD to get back to the Pen tool, and add your point.
If this is too fiddly (it can be tricky to click on the path itself, although the white arrow changes subtely to show you that you're over the path), you can alternatively use the following one line script:
try {app.selection[0].select()}catch(_){};
This does the same thing: It deselects all selected points on the current page item.
To use, copy this line to a text editor. Save with the extension .jsx and place in your InDesign scripts folder. You can then assign a keyboard shortcut to the script, so that it should be very easy to deselect all the points.

Keeping brush selected with pen tool cs4

I like to use the pen tool with a selected brush, in previous versions was able to select a brush and
it would remain selected, but I can't find the a preference for that in cs4. any suggestions ?
thanks.

In the Appearance Panel Menu, uncheck "New Art Has Basic Appearance."

Pen tool: Resize image inside a layer/ stop pen outline / white space after crop

I have 3 noob questions all related to the pen tool.
1. Whenever I use the pen to outline something and drag the image to another psd file I see a grey pen outline around the image.
ex. http://screencast.com/t/GmKWAr5UH
2. Whenever I outline with the pen and then select inverse and then delete the background, the background becomes white. I want to drag my outline into my new file but without a white background. it should be transparent so it appears like a collage.
ex. http://screencast.com/t/Rh4Uvq4xBM
3. how do I select an image inside a layer to resize it. Nothing I do creates handles around the image isnide the layer.

Theres some basic stuff you are not understanding…
1. In Photoshop there is the pen tool for creating abstract vector edges, and selection tools (lasso, magic wand etc). You need to turn the results of the pen tool into a selection. Best way is using the the Command/return shortcut, or command clicking on the path in the paths panel.
2 layers need to be , not - If you want to delete areas (make them transparent). To do this either go to Layer/New/Layer from background - or hold Option and double click the Background layer.
3 See answer 2, and use Free Transform (command T)

Photoshop CS5 Smart objects, Pen tool, Layers.

Hi Ive got few questions about Photoshop CS5.
Every time I open new image in my project photoshop opens as Smart Object and I always have to Rasterize its really annoying. How to change it?
When im using Pen tool and making selection its selects now the part which I selecte but background so I always have to inverse selection to select the part I want to its never happens in Photoshop CS3
When im working on two different projects and I want to copy layer from one project to another how you do it?
Thanks for your help.

1. If your dragging or placing into the image, you can go to Edit>Preferences>General and uncheck Place or Drag Raster Images as Smart Objects.
2. When using the Pen Tool enable Add to Path Area before drawing the path. You can change it after drawing the path by using the Path selection Tool.
3. If your using tabs you can select the Move Tool and drag from the document area on the screen to the other tab and the other document should reveal itself.
Another way is to right click on the layer in the layers panel, choose Duplicate Layer and then in the dialog that follows choose the document under destination.

Photoshop 7 Pen tool help

I would like to know how to select a portion of a photo with the pen tool, save the selection and use the selections as .jpg to create a montage of pictures for a newsletter. I have done this in the past and forgotten how.
Thanks for your help.
Sylvia

google "pen tool selection photoshop tutorial" for a myriad of answers.

Layers feature and a layer mask pen tool

Could we see a simple Layers feature and a layer mask pen tool - so that we don't have to go to photoshop for simple cutout etc.

Theres some basic stuff you are not understanding…
1. In Photoshop there is the pen tool for creating abstract vector edges, and selection tools (lasso, magic wand etc). You need to turn the results of the pen tool into a selection. Best way is using the the Command/return shortcut, or command clicking on the path in the paths panel.
2 layers need to be , not - If you want to delete areas (make them transparent). To do this either go to Layer/New/Layer from background - or hold Option and double click the Background layer.
3 See answer 2, and use Free Transform (command T)

Cut and pasting object with pen tool

I have a photo in which I outlined something with the pen tool and have selected it, but when I paste it to a new background, it is still surrounded by a white square, how can I paste just the shape? Sorry kind of new :/

Could you post a screenshot of the Layers Panel of the receiving document after pasting (with the camera-icon)?
Because I’m not sure about your »new background«.
By the way Command-clicking would save you one menu-selection.

Fixing paths after drawing with pen tool?

Afer you draw a shape with the pen tool and you are not happy with the way you drag the curves and drew the path, do you do anything more with the pen tool at that point or do you later fix it with the Direct Selection tool to manipulate the anchor points to fix it?
Thanks.

Access to the direct selection tool works only when you clicked on it before choosing the pen tool
If you select the direct select tool before you choose the pen tool it will be accessible by holding the command/control key but if you have the selection tool selected first and then of course it shows up you can in CS 4 and 5 also then hold the command/option Tab key to toggle the direct select and selection tools while still in the pen tool.

Make Selection Pen Tool Issue

Thanks for reading first of all.
I know and love the pen tool and have used it for a long time now but suddenly today something is awry. When I outline the part of the image I want and choose make selection it selects everything BUT what I have a path around. This is driving me batty. I tried changing various options in paths and the pen tool but I just can't seem to find out what is suddenly making it do this.
I'm using CS4.
Thanks for any and all responses for you will be helping me not pull my hair out any further.

That worked, thank you.
Now my only question is why it is suddenly inversing my selections to begin with? Is there an option I accidentally turned on with a hot key? This is a brand new thing happening here when I choose make selection. I mean, it wasn't doing it yesterday.
Anyways, thanks for the quick reply, my hair is now safe again for the time being.

[bug report] Making selection with pen tool causes 'jittery' edge

When I use the pen tool to create a path, and then make a selection from it and select inverse and delete the background, the result is a very un-even edge not the clean resullt you would expect, however if I make a mask from the same selection it looks fine.
Steps to recreate
1. Draw a simple path with the pen tool
2. Make a selection from the path, with 0 feather and anti alias turned on
3. Inverse selection (optional, same thing happens if you don't inverse)
4. Delete the rest of the image
5. The edge of the image now has an uneven, jittery edge
compared to mask
5. Undo the delete
6. Go to Channel Pallette, and make a mask from the selection
7. Edge of the mask should be clean like you would expect
You can exaggerate the jittery effect by adding feather the the path selection

Ok please Delete this I've sorted it. The blending mode had jumped to disolve.... but I 100% didn't change it to this myself, I wasn't even in the layer pallette at the time

How to select a shape from pen tool for paint bucket

I was under the notion that I could make a shape with the pen tool and if I closed the the shape it would then be selected in a way that would allow me to color the interior with paint bucket.
However, when I splash the paintbucket inside my shape, it paints the whole layer, not just the part inside my shape.
Obviously I don't understand how it is supposed to work.
Apparently I've gone at this the wrong way.. I want to create a freeform shape, that once created will be a selected region in the same way a rectangle or elips would.
What is the best way to do that? I'm shooting for thought bubble sort of shape, something along the line of the outline of an egg, but with a tail at one end.

Added tips from Tip Merchant ($200 consulation fee)
- on mac - command/ numeric keypad Enter turns the path into a selection. Option delete then fills.
- an action can be setup to bring up Fill Path from the Path panel menu. Just pressing enter fills with FG color
These are ways to avoid he paths panel altogether. Best way may be to use the TINY fill path icon in that panel as was pointed out by John

Pen tool - accidental inverse selection.

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