Creating shapes as outlines

[Patti Anderson]

Is it possible to create shapes just as outlines? For instance, I want to highlight an area of a picture by drawing a transparent (hollow) red ellipse around it. Is there a way to disable the fill or make it transparent and leave the outline?

I'm wondering if the shapes in PE actually _have_ a separate vector for the outline...or maybe they just have a solid fill.

Patti

[Beth Haney]

Patti, do you want just a standard circle or square, or are you referring to something more sophisticated, like the shape of a rabbit or ??

If you just want to encircle something in red, use the Elliptical Marquee tool to create the circle, and then go to Edit>Stroke and set the width of your outline in pixels and the color. Or you can select the custom shape tool and then select the option of a hollow ellipse under "Shapes" on the Option Bar.

Is this helpful?

[imacgirl]

Patti,

You can create an outline using any of the Custom Shapes.

1) Choose the Custom Shape you want, I filled mine with black (this will be removed later). Simplify it.

2) Select the black shape with the Magic Wand and go to Edit>Stroke. Select the color you want, the pixel width and the location. I used light blue, 10 pixels and outside. Hit OK and deselect it.

3) Now select the black shape area with the Magic Wand and go to Edit>Clear. Deselect it. You should now have an outline of your shape in the color you want.

Barb

[imacgirl]

Chuck, you're welcome. Glad you liked it! The one thing I forgot to include is that some of the Custom Shapes require a few steps to create the outlines.

:-)

Barb

[Patti Anderson]

Boy, I'm glad I asked this question! This is great stuff, Barb! I see a lot more possibilities now. :-)

Has anyone downloaded Custom Shapes from Adobe Studio Exchange? I downloaded the Frames Shapes and United States shapes from -- very cool!

Patti

[Jodi Frye]

Patti, here <http://graphicssoft.about.com/library/free/bl_free.htm> is another great place to look for goodies. I used to frequent this site alot. I guess i should look into illustrator in there. Thanks for reminding me ;)

[imacgirl]

Patti that's terrific...I'm happy that helped you!

Speaking of the Adobe Studio Exchange, Ive only downloaded Brushes, these Cloud Brushes are a must for anyone who wants to add some interest to a plain sky or they can even be used at a lower opacity as ground fog. I apply them to their own layer so you can adjust the opacity each cloud and this also allows you to use the Move Tool to position them. Thought I'd share my favorite brush download.

I'm glad you asked your question 'cause I'm going to check out the Custom Shapes now, thanks for sparking my interest in them. I'm sure I'll find plenty.

Barb

[Barbara Brundage]

Hi, Barb. You just forgot the "=" after the "a href" in the first one.