Inspiring

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I need to make curved lines and paths, but the pen tool is too difficult. Is there another solution?

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
December 17, 2021
4 replies
4626 views

I need to make curved lines and paths, but the pen tool is too difficult. Is there another solution?

I need to draw roads on a map, but they need to be curved.

Windows

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Correct answer Trevor.Dennis

I've decided that you can shooting yourself in the foot by being too organised when using Photoshop. Thw workspace I use for 95% of my Photoshop work has very few pop-outs in its custom toolbar because I have plenty of screen space so I like to make life easier for myself. I do have the Curvature Pen tool but have never used it.

Just to be sure, I switched to Essentials. That means hitting F6 for me — F5 takes me back to the above workspace. So I was surprised to see how many Pen tool options there were, and I had no idea what Content-Aware Tracing Tool was. When was that introduced? I naturally gave it a go and blimmin heck it's clever. I'm guessing it's another Adobe Sensei tool which would mean that it uses magic.

It's not perfect. You can see it has got it right on this high contrast interface.

But when I committed to the first segment and moved on (pressing the Shift key as usual) I could not get it to include the front wheel. It is still absolutely usable though, and is definitely going to save you time.

@hen5FD8 Can you give us an example of the lines you want to create? Can you give us a screen shot of the image and describe where and how you would like the roads drawn? There are are options, but to give you best advice, we would do better if we had more information.

davescm

Community Expert

"I need to make curved lines and paths, but the pen tool is too difficult"

It really is not difficult, it just takes a little practice at the start, and once mastered there is nothing like it for accuracy.

For such paths I prefer to use a mouse to a pen & tablet as I can be more accurate and keep my left hand over the modifier keys (Ctrl, Shift, Alt). With a little practice it becomes very fast just remember to keep points to a minimum e.g. add a point where a curve changes rather than adding too many points along a curve. It will be smoother that way.

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/drawing-pen-tools.html

Dave

scotwllm

Inspiring

Hi Dave -- have you tried the curvature pen tool? I started using Photoshop in earnest shortly after it first came out, so I used both tools. It was extremely frustrating having to swap between the add anchor point / delete anchor point / and convert point tool. Having to tell Photoshop which way you're going next whenever you put down an anchor point. It didn't take me long to figure out I can get everything done with a single tool -- the curvature pen tool. Just click click click the basic outline, then add anchor points and pull the line to where you want it. You don't have to remember whether to click Ctrl- or Alt- or Shift-.

We're all entitled to our preferences, and if you want to continue using the old pen tool rather than the curvature that's none of my business. I'm going to continue using the new technology. I'm curious, though, if you're aware of anything the curvature pen tool cannot do?

Scott

jane-e

Community Expert

@scotwllm wrote:

It was extremely frustrating having to swap between the add anchor point / delete anchor point / and convert point tool. ...It didn't take me long to figure out I can get everything done with a single tool -- the curvature pen tool.

Hi Scott,

I use both but strongly prefer the Pen tool as the "single tool". You can add, delete, and convert anchor points with the Pen tool — the tools for add, delete, and convert are extraneous.

Add: click on the selected path
Delete: click on an anchor point
Convert: Option key plus drag (Alt on Windows)

Good to hear your thoughts all the same 😊

Jane

scotwllm

Inspiring

Use the curvature pen tool. It's way easier and intuitive to use than the "regular" pen tool. You'll probably have to add it to the toolbar, but you'll be glad you did.

Edit | Toolbar | Find Curvature Pen Tool in the Extra Tools section. Drag it to the top of the list of the pen tools. After that, press the "P" key to call it up. Eezy breezy

Scott

Earth Oliver

Legend

The Pen tool is easy to use once you learn how to use it...
There's also another Pen tool for more inexperienced users called the Curvature Pen tool:

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/how-to/draw-edit-curves-curvature-tool.html

jane-e

Community Expert

I agree with @Earth Oliver . Take some time to learn how to use the Pen tool. It's not hard when you know how. You need to understand curves, anchor points, and paths. In addition, though, if I had a project to draw roads, I'd be using Adobe Illustrator, which is a drawing application.

Jane

H

hen5FD8Author

Inspiring

I'm open to using another piece of software that makes drawing a road on a map really really simple. Something that looks like a modern road. The roads must be curved.

Something so simple than anyone could do it.

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