Adobe’s powerful image editor, Photoshop, presents us with a huge number of functions and tools that are very helpful in these tasks. Next, we want to focus on one of the most used due to the versatility it presents us, we refer to the Pen tool.
We can find it in the toolbox that by default is located on the left side of the program’s work desk. How could it be otherwise, it has the shape of a pen tip, to write, so to start using it we just have to click on that button. Another more than effective way to access this function that we discussed, is by using the P key.
Photoshop pen tool working modes
We must take into account that when we click on the tool that we mentioned, a drop-down list with its different modes will appear on the screen.
To give us an idea of what we find here, we will say that this functionality allows us to work with anchor points in different ways. These operating modes that we comment on in most cases are used to carry out selections of elements within the loaded image. All this will allow us, later on, to work or make the pertinent changes on that selection independently in the Adobe program. Thus, depending on the shape of the environment that surrounds that selection that we want to make, we can opt for one Pen mode or another. Also, the anchor points that we use will not always be treated in the same way.
Unlike the Photoshop Lasso tool, here we can make both curved and rectilinear paths. In the function that we have focused on now, perhaps the most important element is the anchor point that we are going to use to make that path that interests us.
What are anchor points and how to use them
When talking about the aforementioned anchor points of this tool, it is not difficult to imagine that they are the points or markings that we are making when drawing the selection. One of the main advantages that the Pen offers us here is that we have the possibility to delete or move those anchor points in the image whenever we need to. Hence precisely when clicking on the Pen button we will find two types of selection, Freeform or curvature.
Obviously, depending on the shape of the path that we want or need to make, we opt for one type of anchor point or another. Once this is chosen, we only have to click on the path that we want in the image.
But as we mentioned before, one of the main advantages that this Pen offers us is that we can interact with these anchor points. Specifically, we refer to the possibility of adding, converting, moving or deleting these elements when making the selection. We find these options directly by clicking on the button of the tool that we mentioned earlier. Simply choose the action you want to carry out and click on the anchor point created in the image. At the same time, if we want to move it, we only have to click on it and move it along the Photoshop work desk.
