I cut this rose tattoo from a Google Images pic. I traced around it with the pen tool, then copied it to a different pic. The pen tool in Photoshop is vector based, so you can cut or copy a traced object and it will have smooth edges. After selecting (right click/"make selection") and before copying or cutting (edit/"copy" or edit/"cut"), what I do is select 0 (zero) feather but make sure that anti-aliasing is checked.
In the first pic you can see where I chose to make my anchor and add anchor points as I went around the object.
I have my own way of using the pen tool to accomplish tracing objects, that only requires the use of two of the pen tool functions, the
standard pen tool and the
add anchor point pen tool, and switch between these two as I go around. I occasionally use the delete anchor point tool but rarely, because I usually just edit/"step backward" to undo a misplaced pen tool point and continue on.
The first thing you must do is choose
paths in the upper left corner of the screen. This is important to remember doing before you begin.
My method of tracing, which you will not find described in the PS Help section or likely anywhere but here, is to make
arch shapes only all the way around the object, be they concave or convex. Each arch I make is made by adding an
add anchor point point, between every two
standard pen tool points, then adjacently dragging that anchor point to the outtermost point on the shape's edge that is between those two
standard pen tool points, and planting that
add anchor point point right there (release mouse button). I then commence to adjusting the two
adjustment legs that appear after the mouse button is released, to form each side of the arch that I just roughly dragged out, to follow the shape's edge as closely as I can get it to. I then switch back to the
standard pen tool in the tools palette, and choose the next point to click. The moment I click on the last point that I left, furthest along the path, that then becomes the initial point of the next
two point line segment, between which another
add anchor point point will be placed, after choosing the
add anchor point tool in the tools palette.
The one thing that you must remember to do each time after selecting back to the
standard pen tool in the tools palette to continue tracing, is to
click on the farthest point that you made along the path you are creating
first, before continuing on.
The one thing that you must remember in using the
add anchor point tool, is when you click on a line segment to add an anchor point, to move the line segment to form an arch you must
click,
release, then
click+drag. It's a two step process adding an anchor point on a line, then dragging it to bend the line into an arch shape. The only secret is releasing the mouse button in between adding and dragging. (You'll see the pen icon change to an arrow icon when you're ready to click+drag the straight line into an arch.)
After a while, you get to knowing where to place each
standard successive pen tool point, depending on the complexity of the curve. The
add anchor point points are simply placed somewhere in between, and actually it can be slid up or down anywhere on the line segment before releasing the mouse button. Keep in mind that you want to have the least number of points around your shape, so you always want to place the next point as far along the edge of the shape as you can, and still have the two
adjustment legs able to form the line segment to the shape's edge between the two points you've created.
Hybrid Mode
