Tutorial: Creating Preset Shapes from Fonts in PSP

Note: This tutorial was written for PSP8 but can easily be adapted for earlier versions.

This tutorial uses the Webdings font by Microsoft, but any dingbat font will work.

1. Open a new image, about 2x2 inches at 300 dpi.

2. Select the type tool with NULL in the foreground, black in the background.

3. On the Tools menu, click the dropdown menu below “Create As”. Choose “Vector”. From the font dropdown menu, select Webdings. If you don’t have Webdings, any symbol font will do for this tutorial. Choose a large size for your font, about 300 (you can adjust this later). Stroke is 0. Check anti-alias.

4. Click on your canvas. Type the dash character, this will give you an awareness ribbon symbol. Apply.

5. Drag the corners around your symbol to make it the shape you want. Size won’t really matter as Vectors can be resized larger or smaller without losing quality (thus the beauty of preset shapes). When done, click Selections > Select None (or hit CTRL+D).

6. On the Layers Menu, click the tiny + symbol next to the word Vector. Right click on the space below it (you’ll see the letter A and a dash in the box). Select Convert Text to Curves > As a Single Shape. Right click in the same box and choose Rename. Give this shape a unique name (if it shares the name of another shape, one will not work and may be deleted). When done typing, click the word Vector above the renamed box to end.

7. To save the shape, select File > Export > Shape. Give your shape a unique name. I called mine Webdings Ribbon (so I won’t forget the source of the shape). Hit okay and wait while the shape is imported into your PSP files.

8. To verify your shape has been added, select the shape tool and scroll through your shapes to find your ribbon.

9. You're done! Enjoy your preset shape... and share (giving credit to the fontmaker, of course).