Drawing Curves in Photoshop

You’re probably never going to create a simple work path that doesn’t have curves as well as straight lines. I mean, not much in life is perfectly linear. Most things have undulations here and there. Picking up from the preceding section, here’s how to create curved paths:

1. If you are adding onto a previously created open path, make sure that you position your cursor on the last anchor point you created on that open path to continue.
You see a slash mark or small square appear next to your cursor. If you are starting a new path, position the cursor where you want the curve to begin.

In both cases, drag toward the direction that you want the bump of the curve to go. Release the mouse button when you’re done. If you are creating a new path, an anchor point along with two direction lines, which have direction points at their ends, appears. If you are adding a curve to your straight segment, an anchor point along with one direction line and one direction point appear. The direction lines and direction points control the angle and pitch of the curve.

How do you know how far you should you drag? You can do what I do and use the rule of thirds. Imagine that your curve is a piece of string that you have stretched and laid out in a straight line. Divide that line into thirds. The distance you drag your mouse button is one-third the length of that line.

How do you establish the angle? Drag straight from the anchor point for a steeper curve and at an angle from the anchor point for a flatter curve. The element in my example is a flatter curve; therefore I dragged up and to the right at an angle of about 4.5 degrees.

2. Move the cursor to the end of the curve and drag in the opposite direction, away from the bump.
You now see another anchor point and a set of two direction lines and points. Photoshop creates the curve segment between the anchor points.

If you drag both direction lines in the same direction, you create a curve shaped like an S.

In the Options bar, click the down-pointing arrow at the end of the row of tools and choose the Rubber Band option. With this option selected, Photoshop draws a segment between the last anchor point you create and wherever your cursor is located, giving you a kind of animated preview of how the path will appear. I personally find the option distracting, but some users love it.

3. To draw more alternating curves, just repeat these steps, dragging in an opposite direction each time.