The Pen Tool makes appearances across almost the entire Adobe product range. Its function and behavior varies depending on the application, but by mastering it youll find you work quicker, smoother and with better results. This guide will give you a comprehensive basis for working with the Pen Tool in Photoshop.
Free PSD Exercise File
Before we get started, lets take a look at free PSD download. Download the Pen Tool Exercise file and follow the guides to create precise paths, using the hints and shortcuts covered in this article. Most of our PSD files and downloadable copies of every tutorial are available through PLUS, but this one is available here free. Join PSDTUTS PLUS for just $9/month for more great material
Functions
Pen tool : Click on the canvas to create paths with straight segments, click and drag to create paths with Bezier curves.
Freehand Pen tool : Click on the canvas and drag to draw paths freely, as though using a brush.
Add Anchor Point tool : Click on a path segment to add anchor point.
Delete Anchor Point tool : Click on anchor point to remove from path.
Convert Point tool : Click on an anchor point and drag to create bezier handles where there were none, click on an anchor point with handles to a remove them.
Keyboard Shortcuts
- P : Select Pen tool or Freeform Pen tool, depending on which was selected most recently
The Cursors
The Pen tool takes on different forms depending on what you're doing when youre using it. Each one intuitively makes you aware of the action you are about to perform.
(Caps Lock to toggle between pointer and cross hair in some cases)
Prepared to begin path
while midway through creating or editing a path
When mouse is pressed
Add an anchor point to path
Remove anchor point from path
When hovered over begin point of path; to close path
When hovered over endpoint of existing path; to continue path, or (if path is active) to edit that point
Prepared to convert existing anchor point
Freehand Pen Tool
Magnetic Freehand Pen Tool
Direct Selection Tool; Pen Tool with Command pressed
Path Selection Tool; Pen Tool with Command + Alt pressed
When hovered over canvas with Ctrl pressed; prepared for options menu
Secondary Mouse Controls (with path selected and Auto Add/Delete checked)
- Pen tool hover over anchor point : changes to Delete anchor point tool
- Pen tool hover over path segment : changes to Add anchor point tool
Keyboard Controls
- Hold Ctrl and click on canvas. Opens up an options menu.
- Hold Shift to constrain movements to 45°, 90°, 135° or 180° while creating or editing anchor points and handles.
- Select anchor point with Direct selection tool and click Delete. Anchor and adjoining path segments are deleted leaving two paths.
- Pen tool + Option (Alt): changes to Convert anchor point tool.
- Pen tool + Option (Alt) while editing bezier curve: splits curve (unhinges handles).
- Pen tool + Command whilst creating path: changes to Direct Selection tool allowing repositioning of previously drawn anchor points.
Options
The Options Bar (Window > Options), usually located at the top of your screen, provides the most important options for whichever tool is selected. This is also true of the Pen Tools and their options are outlined below:
Presets: Allows presets to be saved for whichever tool is selected. Define the options as discussed below and save as a Preset to quickly come back to those settings later.
Shape Layers: while this is selected, paths created will contribute to a shape, visible within the Paths palette and within the Layers palette as a vector mask.
Paths: while this is selected, paths created will contribute to a path, visible within the Paths palette.
Fill Pixels: The third path type option, available while one of the shape tools is selected. While this is selected, paths created will become filled areas.
Pen Tool: Selects the Pen Tool.
Freehand Pen Tool: Selects the Freehand Pen Tool.
Rubber Band: Available from within the Pen Options dropdown while the Pen Tool is selected. Rubber Band gives a visual of the path youre about to create, without you having the cursor pressed on the canvas.
Curve fit: Available from within the Freehand Pen Options dropdown while the Freehand Pen Tool is selected. Value entered determines the accuracy to which bezier handles will be added to your freely drawn path. The higher the value, the more accurate your result will be. A value of between 0.5 and 10 pixels is required.
Magnetic: Available from the Options bar and within the Freehand Pen Options dropdown while the Freehand Pen Tool is selected. When selected, paths drawn will magnetize to pixels. The Magnetic settings as shown below, determine the width of the area the path is prepared to jump across, the contrast of the pixels necessary to attract the path and the frequency of anchor points added to the path.
Pen Pressure: Available from within the Freehand Pen Options dropdown while the Freehand Pen Tool is selected. When selected, the pressure applied to a graphics tablet (if youre using one) influences the pen width.
Auto Add/Delete: Available when the Pen Tool is selected; allows adding and removing of anchor points with the normal Pen Tool (see Secondary Mouse Controls).
Pathfinder Tools: These allow addition, subtraction, intersection and exclusion of the paths you create..
Layer Style: Available when Shape Layer is selected; this applies layer styles to shapes on a new layer (if chain link is unselected) or to shapes on the current layer (if chain link is selected)..
Other Shortcuts and Tips
- (With path selected) Spacebar to give you access to the Hand tool. Move your screen without deselecting the path or changing tools.
Go to View > Snap To > Grid to allow precise creation of curves with the Pen Tool.
Best Practice Suggestions
- Drag handles from the first anchor point when beginning a curved path.
Drag your handles around just one third of the curve youre creating for a smooth path.
Position anchor points on a curve where the paths begin to change direction, not in the middle of its curve.
- Be sparing with your use of anchor points, fewer points = neater path.
The Exercise
This is all well and good in theory, but while these tips are fresh in your mind why not put them into practice? Download the Pen Tool Exercise file and follow the guides to create precise paths, using the hints and shortcuts covered in this article.
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User Comments
( ADD YOURS )MacMechanic December 17th
Great job. This tool has always challenged me, so any pointers are appreciated. I understand the basics, it’s mastering them that simply takes time and commitment.
Thanks for the great tutorial.
( )eyetuts December 17th
Great one man……………….PSDTUTS……………rockkkkkkks
( )hey guys chek my blog toooo
ive posted some tuts on my blog http://eyetuts.wordpress.com
axinar December 17th
useful tips. thanks IAN;).
( )^ so fruity December 17th
very helpful, ty
( )Start Your Own Website December 17th
Wow excellent tutorial. Thanks for sharing!
( )mcneebs December 17th
good tut! i’ve had pen-phobia for years!
( )BroOf December 17th
Yea, really nice!
( )MK Owens December 17th
Excellent. This is a perfect example of why all budding Photoshop Geeks should follow PSDTuts.
( )Tom December 17th
Thanks a lot for this tut ! This tool is one of the most important and unfortunately it’s also one of the hardest to master !
( )Gary Smith December 17th
Excellent job. Thanks very much.
( )Bruno December 17th
Awesome!!!
( )matt December 17th
I’ve been waiting for something like this since Photoshop 4. Thank you for taking the time to put it together!
( )RUGRLN December 17th
Great tut you got there..nice job…although please please please change that logo. Looks really bad…you can make it very easily in Photoshop!
Please use this!:
( )http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd115/RUGRLN/psdtutspen.jpg
Frederik December 17th
Probably THE best pen tool guide around, good one.
( )Carlos December 17th
nice and extremely tutorial,
( )thx!!!!
Simon Vallee December 17th
Great article. Knowing how to use the pen tool properly is a big step towards total design freedom in Photoshop.
( )aReader December 17th
GANG BÄM!
Thats HOOOOOOT!
( )Just broke my fingers while Alt-Shift-Spacing around drwaing the path LOL
Ariful Alam Khan December 17th
That’s what I call SPOON-FED tutorial. Thanks..
( )OpenSourceHunter December 17th
Nice..thanks for this
greetz
( )http://www.opensourcehunter.com
Daniel Tavares December 17th
Excelent work on the guide and the excercise, very nice!
( )xcarpatti December 17th
muchisimas gracias por el tutorial, espero que poder lograrlo y espero que me entiendas lo que estoy escribiendo :d
( )Nokadota December 17th
This is excellent. Probably the best tutorial out there for learning the Pen tool.
( )John Mansky December 17th
I cannot tell you how much I appreciate this! PSDTUTS remains king of ps tutorials!
( )Germansn December 17th
jje si yo te entendi xcarpatti
si la verdad muy buen tutorial… me hacia falta dominar un toq mas el pen tool…..
saludos gente…..
( )Max December 17th
Great resource, thanks
( )hvdesigns December 17th
Great Tutorial
Added to
( )http://www.hv-designs.co.uk
Sathish December 17th
First, I was like wtf ! a tutorial for pen tool….??
But now its like awesome, I just tried whats in it, I know most of these techniques before reading this, but, the exercise is awesome. Never before clean and smooth result thanks…….
( )Thad December 17th
This would have came in handy for me back when PS6 was out, when I started working in Photoshop. Great tutorial for beginners, I’ll refer some people to it.
( )Showpage December 17th
Where you were till now? Thank you very much!
( )Gustavo Macedo December 17th
GREAT POST!!! \o/
( )Moksha December 17th
pen tutorial are really nice, but i still cant get it,
but thanks for it, i hope this time around i can get it ;o)
( )Ry December 17th
Thanks, could never get the pen to work how I wanted!
( )Miki December 17th
Hi Thanks for very good article.
There’s no nice tut here in Japan…
( )I love PSDTUTS.
Eli Gundry December 17th
It’s a shame that I spent a week last year teaching myself the pen tool. Oh well, I found your little pen tool connect the dots game somewhat fun.
( )aicha bouhya December 17th
thank youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu! it’s so useful !
( )aleso December 17th
excelent article, very helpful, thanks
http://www.3dand2dmag.wordpress.com
( )Rudy December 17th
I’m so happy that I found you guys!!!
Excellent stuff!!! Appreciate the info very much!!!
Happy Holidays to the PSDTUTS family!
( )Sean Hodge December 17th
@RUGRLN – Great add to the post. I downloaded your design and added it as the preview image for the post. Great job! Thx.
( )insic December 17th
excellent tutorial you have here. it thought me a lot. thanks
( )Sean Hodge December 17th
Yah, Ian is one of our regular writers over on VECTORTUTS. He originally wrote a Pen Tool Guide for Illustrator (Check it out on VECTORTUTS if you also use Illustrator) and it turned out so awesome we asked him to apply it to Photoshop. Thanks for putting this together for PSDTUTS Ian.
( )Just another designer December 17th
Really nice.
The Pen is a very useful tool, though very annoying to learn, without proper training. This tutorial will make things much easier for many people!
( )Harrison McLeod December 17th
*smacks head* You must have heard my frustration this weekend when I was searching for a GOOD tutorial on PS pen tool! I finally found a crappy video, which helped me at least figure out what it was I needed to do at the moment, but this post is pure gold. Thanks!
( )geir b nystad December 17th
you know how useful this is? real great stuff, i wished also it covered the pen tool stroke. i always have problems making the pen line into a stroke for some reason. it bothers me like hell.
but this is a really great beginning!
( )macias December 17th
nice…a work fast with Bezier Curves but in Corel… now its time to increase speed in Adobe …thx
( )Markus December 17th
great tutorial. thanks mate
( )Mr Kuzio December 17th
Good tutorial!!
( )jebus December 17th
It would be great if you will do tuts for all tools in PS
( )Matt Fairbrass December 17th
Great guide, very informative. I thought I knew how to use the Pen tool quite well…but actually learnt something new from this article. Excellent resource for both beginners and intermediate users.
( )reezluv December 17th
great post!but I’m not interested using pen tool in PS..Ai is much better for me..:D
( )Paris Vega December 18th
Aw… I liked the pixelated pen icon.
( )RUGRLN December 18th
@SeanH
( )Wow thanks…it’s really nice to see you accepted my proposal! Glad I could be of help!
Ruben December 18th
I’ll try to face my Pen tool fears with this one. Thanks a bunch!
( )Toby Shorin December 18th
This is great… the type of tutorial I love to see here. I too was afraid of the pen tool before reading a tutorial something like this. Now, someone should write a tutorial about how to incorporate complex use of the pen tool into a cool design.
( )Eb December 18th
I jumped off a seven story building after trying to use the Pen tool once
needless to say I have never jumped since.
but maybe just maybe there is now hope.
( )iiii December 18th
I am Iranian & u are the best of the best of the best in all ADOBE software
( )thx for your tut
if i ……………..
ok love all of u :-*
hey i am male & calligraphists
67ideas December 18th
Great tutorial, Ian. The Pen is definitely one of the most useful tools Photoshop has to offer, so kudos for offering such a complete overview!
( )Samir Tuladhar December 18th
Outrageous. Truly outstanding.
I had problem with pen tool before but now after this practice I can do a lot.
Thanks
( )Devdatt Gurjar December 18th
great Tutorials
Thanks
( )curvacious December 18th
great tut… how do you draw perfect sine curves in ps? is there no way to easily draw basic math curves and functions in ps (circles and ellipses only is a bit limiting no)? a plugin maybe?
( )Ralph December 18th
Really awesome!!! Thanks i’ll practice it!!!
( )himangshu December 18th
wish u had posted it in earlier days when i used to struggle with pen tool
But thanks anyway
( )E-maniacs December 18th
Nice tutorial.
Anyone needs something beyond the knowlege.
Thanks
( )Anthony M. December 18th
Very nice Tutorial. Thank your for this one…! Very helpfull
But I still don`t get it. Even if the “Filled Pixels” (Point 4) aren`t selected, PS still makes a closed area within 3 Points… Maybe very easy to solve but i had a long Night
( )Yuuzaa December 18th
Again, your tutorial is very helpful for me, thanks.
( )J Bassett December 19th
You guys friggin rock. I hate the dread pen tool. We never got along well. I have used the template and already feel at ease using it.
Mucho Thanks
( )nicolas December 19th
very usefull
( )This tool made me crazy when I was a newbie
Sant December 19th
Another great post, this especially usefull and necesary.
( )Thanks a lot!!!
nick December 19th
thanks a lot! very helpful. the pen tool was always confusing to me. thank you very much
( )Brambori December 19th
Really nice! This will definitely come in handy, as I am not such a specialist with the pen tool. Finally I have found the article I needed to practice!
( )Thank you!
minisite design December 19th
I am always pen tool in Photoshop, it’s very critical and usefull tutorial. nice work
( )Yohn Dooh December 20th
The adobe-crew should implement a tool like that in Flash into Photoshop, it’s so much easier to work with than the pen tool.
Anyway, nice tut and hopefully it will help me too
( )Jacob December 21st
Something I definitely could use!! The pen is a helpful tool, but hard to understand.
( )Chris B. December 24th
#71 seems to have a misprint as holding down ALT only produces one handle and you need two there.
( )naby December 24th
Good !!!!
Vraiment fantastique !!!
( )…et très intéressant
Grand Merci pour ce tuto
MNNSA December 25th
Wonderful
( )cutt December 25th
this is great!!!!
( )Thanks
trish December 25th
useless for a beginner. Need a video.
( )Richard Soderberg December 26th
To complete the U, I ignored 71’s instruction to hold “Alt” and completed the upper 74 before the lower, duplicate 74.
I encountered one mistake frequently – holding down Shift before clicking, instead of clicking and then holding down Shift. Once I figured that out it was possible to complete the S.
( )Shane December 27th
Thankyou, I have struggled with the pen tool but this helped me grasp the concept better.
( )whoo? December 29th
awesooooome 10x
( )Hpx December 30th
10x a lot PSDTUTs
( )zhangyan January 1st
good
( )myfr3ak January 1st
Really2 help me alot! Thank you sooo much!!
( )kevin January 3rd
i have been waiting for this kinda tut for a long time
( )thank you !~
.+CH January 3rd
GR8 work man..thank you
( )Raul January 6th
great tutorial!
( )Viggy January 7th
brilliant pen tool exercise!
( )tim January 12th
Thanks a lot!
( )binu charutha January 13th
exlnt…work…..
( )TomahowK January 23rd
Oh this is awsome, i just went from gimp to photoshop, but i was not able to get that pentool working again. Thanks for this amazing guide, it contains almost everything i was looking for to know about the pen tool. Thank alot PSDtuts.com =D
( )Ozzy January 23rd
Awesome tutorial! I’ve always been afraid of the pen tool but now I can’t stop having with it. Thank you guys!
( )Arch January 29th
great stuffs, thanks
( )No.71 should hold the Shift not the Alt key.
Daniel Linthwaite February 8th
This helped me a hell of a lot, Really learnt stuff i didnt know,
( )Daniel Linthwaite.
H. Pola February 9th
Its a great tutorial. I explained every possible aspect of that difficult tool. This tut can be more useful if a VIDEO of these exercise added with this.
BRAVO!
( )Omar the Radwan February 11th
This is the most in-depth pen tool tut I have seen, a great write-up!
( )waqas February 20th
this tutorial will help me in future
( )mnnsa March 1st
Thanks for great tutorial
( )marwan March 1st
Thanks a lot!
( )sivas March 1st
very good, thanks
( )moih60 March 4th
good work..really amazing
( )lawrence77 March 4th
thanks!
this tool is the toughest tool in ps!
( )In Lak'ech March 8th
GREAT!
Pen-tool’s great – but it makes me crazy. Maybe this will help me out!
Thanks!
( )Matt March 17th
Every time I forget how exactly to use the pen tool I google and come back to this page. Now I’ve bookmarked it, it’s very helpful.
( )Jake March 27th
great tutorial, very useful – helped me with my journey to becoming a graphic artist
( )Mr. Sifuentes March 30th
The pen tool is my Achilles heel. Need to master it to move to the next level.
( )Omasa Gonzoles April 6th
apsolutoly amazing. i started crying when i read this cause i had to make a letter to my son about how i hate him and this is a wonderful tutoriol. THANK YU!
( )Hasan Tayyar BEŞİK April 8th
good method for teaching pen
thanks
( )Sashikanta April 12th
One can be fundamentally clear. Thank for a very clear approach on this tutorial. Hope You will helps other like more fundamentally and Usability based tutorials on your Blog.
You’re BEST !!!
( )crazyhty April 14th
this is the most in-depth tut I’ve ever seen. thank you so much
( )sheen wells April 25th
love the way you explain and made a some what inexplicable tool easy use for keep make tuts
( )jeffprince May 7th
great very useful tutorial
( )Mghmg May 13th
Thank a lot for this tutorial
( )Kirsten May 22nd
I have desperately been trying to find an interactive pen tool tutorial that would explain it in depth. Thank you so much!!
( )Jonathan Allen May 28th
Great way to help everyone get more familiar with a the pen tool, experienced and inexperience. PSDtuts always has great content.
( )thanks
PJ June 17th
Great post!
Adobe needs to rename the freehand pen tool though. It should be called the “Just kidding! We only wanted you to THINK you could really use your tablet to draw a path. Then were gonna completely screw with it and make it all wonky and blocky right after your done drawing it perfectly!”
That would be a more honest portrayal of what that tool does. :^P
( )apekshit sharma July 4th
you rock man.
( )it was always a trouble for me using pen tool.But after reading your tut, its like,pen tool and you rock man.
anas3laa July 10th
Thanks alot
( )it’s Powerfull
Landscape Photography July 13th
Sweet tutorial, finally the pen tool is understandable!!
Great in depth tut. Thanks
( )Patricia July 17th
This is just wonderful…I have tried to teach myself how to use the pen tool many times and though I had somewhat satisfactory results I didn’t feel they were dependable. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
( )olajide joseph olawuyi July 28th
Thanks for the tutorial. i have never used pen tool before, a phobia if u like, but now i can flow a little bit with it, especially the magnetic aspect. thanks, cheers
( )Website Design August 25th
Wow that’s a really nice tool, i have never seen yet such a kind of pen tool.
( )Thanks!
Mahantesh Nagashetty October 27th
Excellent !!!!
( )dindigul October 30th
great work !
( )zhell November 12th
nice article!
lot of useful information which all about photoshop…
thank you for the knowledge you have shared
it will help me to know more about photoshop and its tools..
keep on posting….!
( )evilkitty75 November 16th
i cant see the Pen tool excersise the writings too small
( )evilkitty75 November 16th
Ok got it thxxx lol
( )