In this tutorial, we are going to explore the options of the Shape tools through a few little projects: making some common US road signs.
This is a Photoshop tutorial, but you can do most of this with Elements, too. I include a special note for Elements people.
Along the way, you will learn about and gain practice with these Photoshop tools and techniques:
- Create a regular polygon using a Shape Layer
- Explore the options for the Polygon tool
- Transform a Path
- Stroke a Path
Let’s start with Stop. File > New… and be sure you’re in RGB mode. Make your file 1000px x 1000px. Save this file in PSD mode. That will preserve your layers.
1. Make the red octagon. In order to do this, you have to tell PS exactly what you want: a red, 8-sided polygon which has the path with it. (This is called a Shape Layer.)
- Click and hold the tiny arrow on the lower right of your Shape tool
and then choose the Polygon tool. - In the options bar, there is a Settings gear
. Click that and make sure that there are no boxes checked. Click the arrow again to turn off that box. - Where it says “Sides,” put an 8 in there.
- To the left in the Options bar. there’s a dropdown that may say “Pixels.” Click that and choose Shape.
- Choose red for your foreground color.
- Now put your cursor on the canvas and drag out an octagon. Make it bigger than you think you need. As you drag, notice that you can angle it however you want. (If you hold the Shift key here, what happens to your orientation?) Before you release your mouse, line up the octagon so that the top bar is horizontal.
Ctrl-S to save.
NOTE to Elements Users: You knew that there was a reason that Photoshop is $600 and Elements is $99. Well.. one them is that you don’t have the Paths palette. Therefore, you have to come up with a different way to do this white octagonal outline. Here’s an outline of one way to do it:
- Make a smaller white Octagon and move it to the center of the red one.
- Make a red octagon which is smaller yet and center it inside the white one.
- Once you have your white octagon and the center red one, skip down to step 3.
2. Make the white line. Now we are going to take the path that is around the red octagon and use it to make the white line around the inner rim.
We could make a new path, but by using the old one and transforming it, we will make sure to get the exact angles. First we need to duplicate the Shape Path. Here’s how:
- In the Paths Palette (nested just beneath the Layers Palette), drag your Polygon 1 Shape Path down to the New Path icon. (see above)
- Be sure your Shape tool is still selected in the toolbox. Now Ctrl-T will bring up your Free Transform Path box. Now you are going to drag this path inward till it is where you want your white to be:
- Hold the Alt key while you are dragging (and hold it down till after you release your mouse). (Alt makes the transformation stay centered.) Click Enter to transform your path.
- Click on the Layers tab to bring back the Layers palette. Make a new layer by clicking on the New Layer icon in the Layers Palette.
- Choose white for your foreground color.
- Click your paintbrush and choose the width of hard-edged (dot) brush that you want your white line to be. (In v. 7, click the brushes palette to be sure that you have no brush dynamics set.)
- Now, back to the Paths palette. See that little button at the bottom of the Palette that is colored in.. and then there is one next to it that is NOT colored in. Push the one that is not colored in. That is the “Stroke Path” button. It will go around your path with whatever brush you last picked in whatever color onto whatever layer you had selected in your layers palette!
- Click in your Paths palette below your path in an empty space to make your path disappear.
- Ctrl-S to save.
Note: Photoshop will stroke this Path with whatever brush you last used. If it’s not what you want, Ctrl-Z to undo and then fix your brush and do again.
Another thing: If you forgot to make yourself a new layer or if you don’t have the layer selected in your layers palette, it can’t stroke the path just into the air, so the Stroke button will be grayed out.
3. Make the lettering. Use the Type tool 
to put in your sign’s message.
Choose a better font than I did.
And finally… Ctrl-S to save. (Yes, I know that I’m fanatical about saving. As you get more into this, you will be happy if you are in the habit of saving early and often.)
Next, let’s look at that One Way sign. There are a couple of things to point out about this. First, I did this as two rounded rectangles. I did the black one, then I did the white one, a bit smaller, inside it.
The rounded rectangles can be done as a Shape Layers, just as we did for the stop sign. OR we could just make ONE Shape layer and then reuse the Path for the inner white shape.
Remember to duplicate your Shape Path in the Paths palette. Then transform your Shape as you did for the Stop sign. (Try to remember how, before you look back.)
Then make a new layer.
Use the Fill button at the bottom of the Paths palette to fill your Path with white.
Now for that arrow! The Shape tools again have us covered. Under your Shape tool in the Toolbox, you should find your Line tool. Choose that. Pick your color and thickness for your line.
In the Options bar, there is a Settings gear . Click that and you’ll see arrowheads! You can even decide how you want your arrowhead shaped and which side of your line you want it on.
Next, choose your Type tool, a font, and put in your sign’s message.
I used these methods to do my interface for my main page.
I hope your enjoyed this tutorial!
