Stroking a Path in Photoshop

You can use the Stroke path command to paint a stroke along the path. You can choose which painting or editing tool to use to stroke the path. Follow these steps:

1. Select the path in the Paths palette. Then choose Stroke Path from the Paths palette pop-up menu.
Or press the Alt key (Option on the Mac) and click the Stroke Path with the brush icon (an outlined circle) at the bottom of the palette. You can also click the Stroke Path icon without the Alt (Option on the Mac) key. Note that this option bypasses the dialog box in Step 2 and just strokes your path with whatever setting was used previously.

2. In the dialog box that opens, choose one of the 15 painting or editing tools you want to use to apply color to the stroke. Click OK.

Make sure that you verify your chosen tool’s settings in the Options bar because Photoshop uses those settings to stroke your path. Photoshop will also apply your current foreground color to the stroke.

If you’re using a pressure-sensitive drawing tablet, you can select the Simulate Pressure check box to create strokes with varying widths. If everything has gone well, you should end up with a stroked path.

If you select one or more paths with the Direct Selection tool, the Stroke Path command changes to Stroke Subpath(s), enabling you to stroke only the selected paths.