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USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8
Adding text and shapes
Last updated 7/26/2011
Draw a custom shape
The Custom Shape tool provides many different shape options for you to draw. When you select the custom shape
tool, you can access these shapes in the options bar.
1 Select the Custom Shape tool . If necessary, press and hold another shape tool in the toolbox, and then choose
this tool from the list that appears.
2 In the options bar, select a shape from the Shape pop-up panel. Click the arrow at the top right of the panel to list
the shapes you can choose from and how to display them.
3 (Optional) In the options bar, select the Geometry options triangle to use the following options:
Unconstrained Lets you set the width and height of a rectangle, rounded rectangle, ellipse, or custom shape by
dragging.
Defined Proportions Draws a custom shape based on the proportions with which it was created.
Defined Size Draws a custom shape based on the size at which it was created.
Fixed Size Draws a custom shape as a fixed shape based on the values you enter in the Width and Height text boxes.
From Center Draws a custom shape from the center.
4 Drag within your image to draw the shape.
The Custom Shape tool has ready-made frames that you can drag around a photo.
Create multiple shapes in the same layer
1 Select a shape layer in the Layers panel or create a new shape layer.
2 If you want to create a different type of shape, select a different shape tool.
3 Select a shape area option to determine how shapes should overlap, and then drag within the image to draw new
shapes:
Add Adds an additional shape to the existing shape. The combined shape will cover the entire area of the shapes
you drew using the Add option.
Subtract Removes the area where shapes overlap. The rest of the shapes’ areas are preserved.
Intersect Shows only the area where shapes intersect. The other areas will be removed.
Exclude Removes the overlapping areas in the new and existing shapes.
