Creating and Working with Paths in Photoshop

Although the Marquee, Lasso, and Magic Wand tools are fun, friendly, and pretty easy to wield, sometimes they don’t quite have the horsepower to make that really precise selection. So either you spend a lot of time cleaning up what you’ve selected or you live with a ho-hum selection. That’s where the Pen tool and its related cronies come to the rescue. The Pen tool creates paths, which you can then convert into selections.

Because the Pen tool (along with its related path-editing tools) offers control and precision, it is very capable when it comes to nailing that accurate selection. The only problem is that the Pen tool is a far cry from fun, friendly, and easy. Getting the hang of it can be tricky. Many new users try the Pen a few times, but end up muttering in disgust and returning gratefully to the Lasso tool. However, I guarantee that if you dedicate a good chunk of time to mastering the Pen tool, you’ll soon turn your elite little nose up at the simple Lasso tool.

Another added benefit of knowing how to use the Pen tool is that it’s also the main drawing tool of Adobe Illustrator. And similar tools exist in layout programs such as Adobe InDesign and QuarkXPress.