How To Get Live Shape Properties In Photoshop

Learn how to create shapes on your canvas and use the Live Shape Properties to interact with your shapes.

Photoshop comes with the ability to draw and edit vector shapes easily. You can as well convert your vector shape to a raster or pixel-based shape.

Depict shapes

Follow these quick steps to create shapes in Photoshop:

Select a shape tool

From the toolbar, click and concord the Shape tool () group icon to bring upwardly the various shape tool options — Rectangle, Ellipse, Triangle, Polygon, Line, and Custom Shape. Select a tool for the shape you desire to draw.

shape tools in photoshop

Set up shape tool options

In the shape tool options bar, you can set:

Fashion: Set a way for your Shape tool — Shape, Path, and Pixels.
Make full: Choose a color to fill your shape.
Stroke: Cull the color, width, and type of your shape stroke.
W&H: Manually set the width and height of your shape.
Path operations: Utilise path operations to set the way your shapes collaborate with each other.
Path alignment: Use path alignment to align and distribute your shape components.
Path arrangement: Utilize path system to ready the stacking lodge of shapes yous create.
Additional shape and path options: Click the gear () icon to access additional shape and path options to set attributes such equally width and color of the on-screen display of your path, and constrain options while drawing shapes.

shape tool options bar

Draw a shape

Click and elevate on the canvas with your selected shape tool to draw a shape. This automatically creates a new shape layer in the Layers panel.

Concur the Shift key while drawing to brand your shapes proportional.
With your shape layer selected, use the Move tool to move your shape around and reposition on the sheet.
To easily calibration, transform, or rotate your shape, cull Edit > Free Transform or printing Control+T (Win) / Command+T (Mac).

Edit shape properties

You can easily edit your shape properties directly using on-sail controls or accessingShape Backdrop nether the Properties panel. On-canvass controls make your interaction with shapes more intuitive.

You tin use on-canvas transform and rounding controls to adjust the appearance of your shape. The keyboard modifiers will work the aforementioned way for on-sheet transform controls as they work in Transform tool in Photoshop. Yous can alter the radius of all corners of your shape at in one case or hold Alt (Win) or Option (Mac) every bit you elevate to alter the radius of a single corner. For triangles, all corners will be modified fifty-fifty if you drag one of them. Easily rotate a shape using the on-canvas rotate handle that appears every bit you hover over your shape on the canvas.

Click the reset () icon in the properties panel to reset all modifications at any time.

live shapes — Draw a shape and use the on-sheet controls to easily edit shape properties.

One time you've drawn a shape, yous tin click anywhere on the canvas to bring up a Create Shape popular-upward dialog and modify your shape parameters.

Create rectangle — Use the Create Shape (Create Rectangle in the example in a higher place) dialog to change parameters.

Fill and stroke shapes

Follow these quick steps to fill and stroke shapes:

In the Layers panel, select the shape layer you want to fill or stroke.

Do one of the following to set the shape fill or stroke type:

Select a shape tool (press U) from the toolbar. In the tool options bar, selectFill or Stroke.
In theProperties panel, click the fill up or stroke type option.

In the pop-up menu, choose a fill or stroke option —Solid Colour, Slope, or Design.

Solid Color:Fills or strokes the shape layer with the electric current foreground color. Use the Color Picker or color presets to select a unlike color.

Slope:Cull a gradient preset or click on the slope to display the Gradient Editor dialog. Set additional gradient options:

Angle specifies the angle at which the gradient is applied.
Reverse flips the orientation of the gradient colors.
Fashion specifies the shape of the gradient.
Scale changes the size of the slope.
Marshal With Layer uses the bounding box of the layer to calculate the gradient fill. You can drag in the prototype window to move the eye of the gradient.

Blueprint:Choose a pattern from the popular‑up menu and set additional blueprint options:

Angle specifies the angle at which the design is applied. Set up the bending selector at a certain caste or manually type in an angle value to rotate your pattern at the desired bending.
Scale changes the size of the pattern. Enter a value or drag the slider.

Draw a custom shape

Enhanced with the Feb 2021 release of Photoshop desktop (22.2)

You can draw custom shapes by using shapes from the Custom Shape pop-up panel, or save a shape or path to use as a custom shape.

Select the Custom Shape toolfrom the shape tools in the toolbar.

To view all the custom shapes that come with Photoshop, click the gear icon on the right of the Custom Shape picker in the shape tool options bar. You will see the listing of available shapes. Select any custom shape equally desired.

If you lot don't find a desired shape, click the gear icon in the Custom Shape picker panel and select Import Shapes option to import a desired shape from your saved files. You tin can also create and save a custom shape in your library.

Custom shape picker

You can easily edit your Custom Shape Tool backdrop directly fromShape Backdrop under the Properties panel. You tin can also apply on-canvas Transform controls to transform a custom shape while keeping intact its shape backdrop.

Click and drag anywhere in the canvass to draw your custom shape.

Enhanced properties panel for Custom Shape Tool

You lot likewise accept the flexibility of setting Custom Shape Tool preset directly from the Shapes Windows panel. When you select a custom shape from Windows > Shape panel, this preset will get updated in the Custom Shape Tool > Custom Shape picker every bit well.

You lot can access the custom shape properties only for the shapes drawn using the Custom Shape Tool and not when a path has been converted to a shape.

Save a shape or path as a custom shape

In the Paths panel, select a path—either a vector mask for a shape layer, a work path, or a saved path.

Choose Edit > Ascertain Custom Shape, and enter a proper noun for the new custom shape in the Shape Name dialog box. The new shape appears in the Shape pop-upwardly console in the options bar.

To relieve the new custom shape as function of a new library, select Save Shapes from the pop-up panel menu.

Depict a star shape using the Polygon tool

One of the basic shapes that nosotros acquire to draw as kids is a five-corner star shape.

Follow these 3 quick steps to draw a star shape with the Polygon shape tool:

From the toolbar, click and agree the shape tool grouping icon to bring upwards hidden shape tool options. Select the Polygon tool.

Drag on your canvas to draw a polygon.

Click anywhere on the canvas to bring upward the Create Polygon dialog and set the following attributes:

Width & Height: Manually set the width and height of your polygon.
Symmetric: Select the checkbox to maintain symmetry in your polygon.
Number of Sides: Manually enter the number of sides you'd similar the polygon to have. For example, set the number of sides to v if you desire to draw a 5-cornered star shape.
Corner Radius: Manually set a radius to get rounded corners for your polygon.
Star Ratio: Adjust the Star Ratio percentage to get the perfect star shape.
Smoothen Star Indents: Select the checkbox to round upward the star indents.
From Centre: Select the checkbox to align the star-shape from the centre.

Create a star shape with the Polygon tool

If you have used Legacy Custom Shapes from older versions of Photoshop and would like to add together them to your electric current version, follow the steps below.

From the main window, selectWindow > Shapes

In the meridian correct corner of the Shapes console, click on the menu icon () and select Legacy Shapes and More