Photoshop 6 First Impressions
New Feature Highlights, Page 4

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New: Photoshop 7.0 is now available!

Vector Shapes and Editing Tools
Now you can draw all kinds of preset and custom vector shapes in Photoshop. You have complete control over editing the shapes and any new shapes you create can be saved as a custom shape. Each tool has its own unique set of options (shown below) and there are also Boolean operations that allow you to add, subtract, intersect, and exclude shapes drawn on the same shape layer.

The Shape Tool Options Bar - The first three options are for choosing a shape layer, work path, or filled shape. Next are the various shape tools: rectangle, rounded rectangle, ellipse, polygon, line, and custom. The Shape drop-down displays all your custom shapes when the custom shape tools is active. Before drawing a shape you can also select a layer style, blend mode and opacity level.

Boolean Operations allow you to add, subtract, intersect, and exclude shapes drawn on the same shape layer.

Each shape tool has it's own set of options, accessible from a drop down menu on the options bar. You can draw unconstrained shapes, or specify specific sizes. If you prefer to draw you shape from the center, there's an option for that, too.

The line tool, which used to have its own toolbar icon, has now been moved to the vector shape tools. All the familiar options are still available for arrowheads and line weight, but they can also be used to draw triangle. Lines are also editable just like all the other vector shapes.

With the addition of vector shapes there are also two new tools; the path component selection tool and direct selection tool. These tools are used for aligning, distributing, and editing vector shapes. The shape below has been reshaped using the direct selection tool.

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Shapes can also be used to draw vector clipping masks. Clipping masks are editable shapes for masking out portions of a layer with crisp, sharp edges.

Continue on to see the new layer menu with content layers and the various types of fill layers.

Content Layers -->

1. Intro & Tool Options Bar
2. Enhanced Text Features
3. Layer Styles & Presets
4. Vector Shapes & Editing Tools
5. Content Layers
6. Web Photo Gallery, Action Droplets, Conclusion

Sue Chastain
Your Guide to Graphics Software
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