Path to selection fail (It'll be me!)

[BarryWhitelaw]

Hopefully someone can point out my glaring error!

Trying to learn how to use the pen tool, which I struggle with, so tracing an image of a claw I have.

Using the pen tool I traced the claws and the bottom pad, and using the elipse tool I traced the 5 pads on the paw.

When I then select make selection on the path tab, only the 5 elipse tracings actually convert to selection, not the claws or the bottom pad.  I will be doing something wrong, but cannot work it out.  Any ideas?

many thanks 

[c.pfaffenbichler · Accepted solution]

Select all SubPathItems (with the Direct Selection Tool (A) for example) and set them to »Combine Shapes«. 

[BarryWhitelaw]

That worked, thank you.  Was it something I had done wrong do you think, or just the way the software works?

Mant thanks again.

[c.pfaffenbichler]

You may have inadvertently set the Pen Tool to »Subtract …« at some point or duplicated the Paths. 

But it matters little as you can always change the Path Operations later on. 

What do you need the Selection for? 

Might a Vector Mask work, too? 

[BarryWhitelaw]

I'm pretty basic with Photoshop, so not sure what a vector mask does.

For this excercise, I simply had taken an image and was trying to sharpen up the edges (low quality image) and decided that the pen tool would be better...it would allow me to make selections and resize the image at any point without losing quality.

Would there be a simpler/easier way to essentially create a vector path/selection without doing it the way I have?

[c.pfaffenbichler]

When you create a Solid Color Layer (Layer > New Fill Layer > Solid Color) with the Path selected it assumes the Path as aVector Mask, which would stay sharp even through repeated transformations.