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FeedbackCommunityMember
Inspiring
April 27, 2012
Open for Voting

P: Expand/contract work path

  • April 27, 2012
  • 15 replies
  • 3708 views

I love photoshop, but it really needs a way to either expand/contract a work path (like you do with a selection) or the ability to use the line tool as a work path so that you can created vectored line drawings

    15 replies

    S
    sconosciuto055
    Participant
    August 14, 2022

    I could take it into After Effects and make a shape layer, then a modifier can be added to expand/contract. But... 1) not everybody has AE 2) I think a shape layer can be turned into a mask layer (provided the modifier "sticks" in the conversion process), and then that mask could be copy/pasted into PS but not certain and not gonna finger that out right now, and finally 3) why should I have to jump thru all these hoops?

    S
    sconosciuto055
    Participant
    August 14, 2022

    YES I would like this feature as well. Very long overdue.

    I can transform the path into a marquee selection and then Select->Modify->Expand/Contract and then turn it back into a path... but the resulting path looks kind of awful most of the time and needs extensive clean-up.

     

    Ramoses
    Ramoses
    Inspiring
    January 25, 2022

    Still no such feature?

      S
      Stephen Newport
      Known Participant
      March 26, 2017
      This would be really useful to have in photoshop, I've been waiting 10 years for it.
      zvuc
      zvuc
      Participant
      December 11, 2014
      Such an important feature, suggested 3 years ago, and still nothing yet!

      Even in illustrator now to do this I'd have to create multiple copies of layers and expand them all by one and clean up all the paths. Such a hassle.

      In photoshop you could imitate this by using vector stroke + effect stroke + outer glow + drop shadow.. but it's nowhere as accurate as the 'real' expanding contour.
      Carlos_Oliveras
      Carlos_Oliveras
      Known Participant
      December 3, 2014
      I would also like to be able to do this with paths in Photoshop. In fact, there are many improvements that I would like to see in the paths/shapes area. Such an important element (for design, for selections, for 3D...) and it hasn't seen too many improvements during the last years.
      J
      Community Expert
      JonasRogneCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      June 24, 2012
      The +5 line on my illustration points to the wrong path, but it seems you got it! 🙂
      S
      s_mahn
      Inspiring
      June 24, 2012
      I see what you guys are saying. I tried it and I get it now. Don't know why my rectangle test didn't show the same - user error I guess.

      I hope you get this feature, seems rightly useful.
      F
      FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor
      Inspiring
      June 23, 2012
      Thanks for the visual. I think that should clear things up. This basic feature should make it into Photoshop.
      J
      Community Expert
      JonasRogneCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      June 23, 2012
      I want this feature!

      The ability to expand/contract (offset) vector shapes is very useful and I have wanted to do this many times over the last ~15 years (once you know such a thing is possible, you suddenly notice how much you need it).

      It is good if this can be done interactively by clicking on the path and dragging in the direction you want to offset the shape (possibly by holding down some function keys).

      One obvious area where this is useful is to tweak a clipping path or vector mask around an object.

      Scott Mahn:
      Here's a visual example of what we are talking about:

      The red path is the original; the black ones are copies that have been expanded or contracted.
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