curvey lines

[junggl]

I wanted to draw curvey lines as stems to some flowers I had downloaded. I couldn't get the line tool to do this, it just drew straight ones. Is there another tool, please?

[Pam]

Which program are you using? In PSP there are settings at the top of the page when you select the pen tool - straight, curved, and freehand. Select curved or freehand.

[junggl]

I am using PSE 3.0

Sincerely,

Lizzie

[Emma]

yeah, in PSE it's rough, not really a tool for this! I use the Shape Tool and make circles and Subtract from them to get just a piece of the curve, or I find a custom shape that's almost right and use that.

Do you know much about the Shape Tool and how to Add/Subtract from the shape to customize the shape?

[junggl]

Dear Emma:

Thank you so much for your help re: curvey lines. I'm really not sure about using the custom shape tool and adding/subtracting, any help would be much appreciated.

Sincerely,

Lizzie

[Emma]

the shape tool can be pretty hard for beginners since it's a vector shape instead of pixels like we're used to. But here's a very basic way

open a new image and draw a custom shape on it. Anything, this is junk a sampel to get you started

The shape will have a thin black border around it. Look at the top in the Options bar for a row of icons: Add to Shape, Subtract, Intersect, Exclude, Overlap and then use the same shape or choose another shape, one of those icons, and draw another shape overlapping your first shape. If you chose Add it'll make those two shapes as one. If you chose Subtract it'll take a chunk out of your shape. Keep drawing and experimenting with those icons and making shapes. You'll end up with some very funky custom shapes that you made yourself.

When you're all done, use the Arrow Tool and click the Combine button in the Options Bar to merge all your shapes into one custom shape.

We cover this a little in my PSE Intro class, DSU 160, and a lot more in the DSU 261 class. We combine various shapes to make our own elements, it's a very useful tool, but not exactly a beginner tool.

Have fun, let us know if you run into any trouble. Also, check out this tutorial for making a curved overlay/paper edge. Not exactly what you're looking for, but shows how to use existing shapes to do something else with:
PS http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/university/tutorials/ps_curves_as.shtml
DIP
http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/university/tutorials/dip_curves_angiesvoboda.shtml

[junggl]

Dear Emma:

Thank you again for imparting your vast knowledge. I will start practicing.

Sincerely

Lizzie