Shape Paths Disappearing

[mjmew]

I have drawn a shape using the ellipse tool. I want to select only a portion of the shape using the lasso tool, but the path disappears from view as I try and select the area. I cannot know where to precisely draw my selection. This has never happened before.

Running Photoshop 2024 on imac Ventura 13.5

[Semaphoric]

Are you using an elliptical path, or an elliptical marquee selection? The Lasso tool does not work on shapes.

[jane-e]

@mjmew 

• Use the Path Selection tool (black arrow) to select the entire path
• Use the Direct Selection tool (white arrow) to select one or more anchor points, or part of a path (use Shift to select multiple)

Both use the shortcut "A"

Jane

[c.pfaffenbichler]

Could you please post screenshots with the pertinent Panels (Toolbar, Layers, Options Bar, …) visible? 

Did you definitively create a Shape Layer (edit: what are its Fill and Stroke) or maybe just a Path? 

[Myra Ferguson]

If the ellipse isn't pixels, then you can rasterize the shape in the Layers panel. To rasterize the layer, right-click on the layer to the right of the thumbnail and the name of the layer, and select Rasterize Layer from the contextual menu.

In the future, you can change what type of content the Ellipse tool makes in the Options bar (Window > Options). With the Ellipse tool selected, the dropdown menu gives you the option to set to Shape, Path, or Pixels. You can set it to Pixels to make content that you can select with the Lasso tool.