Introduction to the Pen Tool

1. Getting Familiar with the Pen Tool

• The Pen Tool is Used to create shapes or paths, which are lines with no thickness and are easily editable. The shortcut for the Pen Tool is the letter "P";
• Ctrl (Windows) / CMD (MacOS) allows adjusting the position and handles of anchor points;
• Alt (Windows) /Option (MacOS) breaks the curve, forming angles. They are also called corners;
• Handles affect the curves when using the Pen tool. Holding Shift keeps handles straight (vertical, horizontal, or at a 45° angles);
• Convert Point Tool (Alt/Option) transforms corner points to curves and vice versa;
• Curvature Pen Tool and Freeform Pen Tool offer more flexibility, especially when using a graphic tablet.

This is the link to the website mentioned for practicing the Pen Tool: Link. This game will significantly help in developing proficiency with this tool. Hope you have fun with it!

2. Using the Pen Tool as a Selection Tool

• To make a selection with a Pen Tool, start by creating anchor points around the object you want to select;
• Aim to use as few anchor points as possible for easier adjustments; Switch to the Path panel, and you'll find that the current path is named "Work Path" by default. Double-click to save the path with a custom name;
• Right-click on the saved path and choose "Make Selection". You can optionally add a feather to soften the edges;
• The paths can be edited after making a selection by deselection first, then adjusting the anchor points in the paths panel. New paths can be created for different parts of an image as well, along with the existing paths.

3. Creating Shapes

• You can draw shapes with the Pen Tool by going up to the options bar and changing the mode to "Shape";
• Shapes can have a stroke (an edge with thickness), which can also be customized:
  • You can change the stroke color and thickness;
  • Choose different stroke styles (solid, dashed, dotted lines);
  • Adjust the alignment of the stroke (inside, center, or outside the path);
  • Modify dash and gap settings for dashed lines and save these settings as presets;
• Photoshop includes preset shape tools such as the Rectangle, Ellipse, Triangle, Polygon, Line, and Custom Shape Tool;
• Shapes can be drawn as paths, shapes, or pixels (though pixel mode is less common);
• You can import or export custom shapes, similar to how brushes and patterns are handled.