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Participating Frequently
February 21, 2022
Question

Cannot draw a simple straight line in Photoshop

  • February 21, 2022
  • 4 replies
  • 5443 views

Hello,

 

I cannot believe how difficult Photoshop makes it to draw a simple straight line and then adjust the line weight. In the attached screenshot, I am simply trying to draw a line where the baseboard meets the floor to distinguish the adjacent materials after I have applied a tile pattern.

 

You can see in the toolbar in both screenshots, that no matter which line weight I enter, the "line" stays the same rectangular shape. If I adjust the line weight higher than 1, I receive an ugly black border around it, along with an additional blue line in the middle, but the line weight itself doesn't adjust. I have tried adjusting the Linetype amongst all the options - Shape, Path, and Pixels, and receiving the same result. My Alignment is set to center as screenshot #3 reflects. Just to repeat: All I want to do is draw a subtle grey thin line that resembles grout to illustrate where the floor ends and the baseboard begins. 

 

Spent and just wasted two hours of my life on trying to troubleshoot what should literally be the simplest thing to do in Photoshop. Tutorials and problem solving forums don't seem to help. I use PS 2018. Can anyone help me out? I would really appreciate it!!

 

Thank you!

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4 replies

c.pfaffenbichler
Community Expert
Community Expert
February 23, 2022

Have you been able to understand how to use the Pen Tool to create Shape Layers with Strokes yet? 

c.pfaffenbichler
Community Expert
Community Expert
February 22, 2022

Leslie Moak Murray
Community Expert
Community Expert
February 22, 2022
quote. If I adjust the line weight higher than 1, I receive an ugly black border around it, along with an additional blue line in the middle,
...........................................
Before drawing the line, select the brush size and color. They dictate the weight and color of the line drawn by the pen tool. The reason  you have that "black border" is that you probably have "Stroke" selected while in Shape mode, FYI. That won't happen in Path Mode.
 
 

 

c.pfaffenbichler
Community Expert
Community Expert
February 21, 2022

Say what? 

If you want a line, as opposed to a rectangle, you may want to use the Pen Tool. 

Participating Frequently
February 21, 2022

Hi,

 

Thanks but Pen Tool doesn't really seem to solve my problem. Ideally I hould be able to select and control the line weight (I am refering to "thickness" when I say "line weight"). Also I can't seem to select the color of the pen tool, it stays Blue and there doesn't seem to be a property that allows me to change the color. Screenshot attached. How starnage PS defaults a line from Pen Tool to a Blue color? Do they expect users will need to use Quick Select tool to highlight the line and and then color match to a new color opened in a seperate tab?

 

Lastly, when I click in the Pen Tool boxes to close the path and then move the image and all their layers into an existing artboard, the line completely dissapears. It appears the layer is only visible in its own tab, but that effects cannot move to new Artboards? 

 

Sheesh. Really would have thought this would be easier. A real win for AutoCAD when drawing lines!

c.pfaffenbichler
Community Expert
Community Expert
February 21, 2022

Set the Pen Tool to »Shape« (in the Options Bar) and set the intended Stroke. 

Then clicking two times in the image should create a »line« with the corresponding Stroke. 

Edit: