6.0 Freeform Pen
Used for drawing
vector lines or shapes
Found at # 9 in the Toolbar diagram at left
The freeform pen is hidden under the pen tool in the toolbar. To select
it, click on the pen in the toolbar and choose it from the pop-up menu.
The pen, and its related group of tools are used for creating paths. These are vector outlines which can be used to make selections, or can be stroked and filled with paint. Vector paths are mathematical formulas that do not print, and which contain no pixels. They are like a blueprint; from them you can make a building, but the blueprint itself is not a part of that structure.
I found it very difficult to learn how to draw paths, and I would recommend that beginners leave this tool until they have mastered all the others. If you wrestle with it long enough, you'll get the hang of it, but it takes a while. For instructions on how to use the pen tool, see the Photoshop manual, their online Help section, or any number of available books. The key to learning how to use it is simply practice. The concepts aren't too hard, but getting your hand, and eye to do it is murder.
The freeform pen is supposed to allow you to draw as you would with a pencil, without any of the difficulties inherent in using the other pen tools. It really doesn't work very well, but here it is. To use this pen, select it in the toolbox, set its options [see below], and drag in the image. If you want to continue an existing line, you need to position the pointer over the end point of the previous line, and then drag. To end an open path, release the mouse button. To close a path, drag over the starting point, until a small circle appears next to the cursor. Release. It sounds easy, but it doesn't work that way. Try it.
The magnetic pen, which used to be listed in the toolbar as a separate tool, is now simply an option on the freeform pen's options bar. It is a tracing tool, which snaps to distinct edges, as you drag along the outline of an existing object.
The illustration shown first below, shows the buttons on the tool's options bar that provide two choices or where and how the paths you create will be made.
The button on the left makes a new shape layer which has the options bar, shown second, below. It creates the path on its own layer with the layer style you choose, applied. To choose a style, click on the down arrow next to the Layer Style thumbnail. The pop-up menu shown below, will appear. For more about styles, see the Styles page.
The box titled Mode, and showing Normal is a drop down menu of all the available blend modes. Opacity, shown with its slider activated, determines how transparent the colors in the shape will be. A lower setting is more transparent. To access the slider, click on the little arrow to the right of the percentage box.
If Auto Add/Delete is checked, anchor points will be automatically added or deleted as you draw.
If the Magnetic box is checked, the freeform pen becomes the magnetic pen. This is a tracing tool, which snaps to edges of existing objects as you drag along their outline. Clicking on its icon in the options bar will bring up its options, shown at bottom. Width sets the maximum distance the cursor may be from the desired edge for the magnetic pen to respond to it. You can increase or decrease this distance on the fly, by pressing the bracket keys. Left to decrease, right to increase. Frequency determines how often anchor points are attached, and Contrast decides how distinct, or contrasty the edge you are tracing must be in order to be detected.
If you have doodled with a tool's options and want to get back to the default settings, click that tool's icon at the far left end of its options bar. Choose either Reset Tool to reset only the current tool, or Reset All Tools to restore default settings to every tool.
Please note that all descriptions, and illustrations featured refer to files which are in Photoshop's .psd format, and which are in RGB color mode. Other file formats, and color modes may generate different options. Some Photoshop features are not available for images not in .psd format, or RGB color mode. To find what color mode your image is in, choose Image > Mode.
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