Hi,I have googled unsuccessfully not sure if I am not searching for the right terms or what, but perhaps someone here knows the answer. I have always used PSP and love it, but I was hoping to be able to save a border shape to be able to pull in as a shape later to use in other projects. All of the ones I have seem to be raster files and it appears it needs to be a vector to export as a shape. Does anyone have an easy way or know how to do this.
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I'm still best with Photoshop--I don't know PSP well enough to tell you how to do it there. But here are a couple of options I'd use in PS that you can try converting to PSP.
In Photoshop, I'd make a selection of that shape using whatever tools were most appropriate (sometimes easiest to magic-wand the transparent space around it and invert the selection), then right-click the selection and choose Make Work Path... using a value that kept it close to the shape without using too many extra points (extra points make for jagged shapes). Once you have that path made, it's a vector and then the Define Custom Shape option appears.
If PSP has a Pen tool that will let you draw vector shapes, you could maybe draw a vector shape around the edges of your object. (Same technique as creating a custom clipping mask to extract a tricky element like an evergreen branch, just not clipping the original to it to remove the background.)
As a long term PSP user, I think I'd actually take a different tactic. I'd export it as a PNG. Then I can save it and copy it into what I'm working on as a new layer and position it where I need it.
But that's also because there are a lot of PSP tools that I probably don't use effectively.
Thanks Brianna I am also a long time user of psp started with 4 lol. (I am always learning something new!) So the point of doing it as a shape vs a png is then I can "Cut" it out of any patterned paper that I choose. Making it much quicker to complete a page. Thanks Holly, I will try and check out some of the tutorials for Photoshop and see if I can figure out how to make it do the same thing....Although I tried to like photoshop and found it to be the most frustrating and not user friendly program ever LOL I was just hoping someone might know a quick way to do this.
See, I've done that with a png! I take the png, paste it in as a new layer, select and then switch to the pattern layer to cut out what I actually wanted.
Again, long way, and I am sure there's an easier, better way. I know there are a ton of tools in PSP that I don't know how to use properly, but I figure out ways to do what I need:)
oh interesting, I did not know you could do that....I will have to try!
Saving as a png is an easy way to keep a shape. In order to change its color or to fill it with a paper for example, you can simply do this:
- select all (Ctrl-A)
- lock the transparency of the layer
- fill with the color or pattern you want
- unlock the transparency
This allows you to have smooth edges as the original shape might have. Otherwise, if you use the Magic wand, for example, the edges will be jaggied.
On the other hand, if the shape is "simple", you could create it as a vector and reuse it over and over again.
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Thank you Carole, that is way easier than what I was trying to do to get the same results!