User Guide

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ADOBE PHOTOSHOP 5.0
User Guide
• Hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS)
and double-click to close the path with a straight
segment.
See “About anchor points, direction lines, and
direction points” on page 153 for more on closed
and open paths.
To specify magnetic pen tool options:
1 If needed, double-click the magnetic pen tool to
display its Options palette.
2 For Curve Fit, enter a value between 0.5
and 10.0.
This option controls how sensitive the final path is
to the movement of your mouse or stylus. A higher
Curve Fit value results in a simpler path with fewer
anchor points.
Curve fit tolerance 0.5 and 10.0
3 To specify a detection width, enter a pixel value
between 1 and 40 for Pen Width. The magnetic
pen only detects edges within the specified
distance from the pointer.
While creating a path, press [ to decrease
the magnetic pen width by 1 pixel; press ]
to increase the pen width by 1 pixel.
4 Specify Frequency, Edge Contrast, and Stylus:
Pressure options, as described in the procedure on
page 141.
Drawing with the pen tool
The pen tool ( ) lets you create straight lines and
smooth flowing curves with greater precision than
possible with the freeform pen or magnetic pen
tool. For most users, the pen tool provides the best
control and greatest accuracy for drawing.
Before you use the pen tool, it is important to
understand how paths are constructed.
About anchor points, direction lines, and
direction points
A path consists of one or more straight or curved
segments. Anchor points mark the endpoints of the
path segments. On curved segments, each selected
anchor point displays one or two direction lines,
ending in direction points. The positions of
direction lines and points determine the size and
shape of a curved segment. Moving these elements
reshapes the curves in a path.
A. Curved segment B. Direction point
C. Anchor point D. Direction line
B
C
D
A