Creating a Starburst Vector Shape.

[theKeeper]

You could probably find this specific shape in some collection out here somewhere... but why not create it yourself from scratch? It'll give you a chance to flex some creative muscle AND brush you up on your Pen tool skills a little too.

=> If you have any questions/comments about this tutorial please post them in the "Photoshop General" board in an appropriately labelled thread.

Here we go...
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Creating a Vector Sunburst Shape
(see sample animation below for certain steps :: each frame lasts 5 seconds :: animation starts on step 3a)

NOTE: Mac users sub Cmd for Ctrl & Option for Alt.

STEP 1
First, when creating any type of vector shape from scratch, you need to make your document of equal dimensions; i.e. 250x250, 500x500, etc. Use an even number also; i.e. divisions of 10.

For our shape we want a document that's 500x500 pixels.

STEP 2
Open your Photoshop Prefs, and change your Grid settings to be "Gridline every 10 pixels" and "Subdivisions of 1".

STEP 3
Ok so now we're ready to get down to work.

a) First, turn on your grid (ctrl+").
We need to find the exact center of our canvas so add a new layer and put a very small (10px) dot anywhere on the canvas. Now press Ctrl+A, Ctrl+X, Ctrl+V. The dot now sits exactly in the center of your canvas. And now, you can see which gridlines are crossing at the center point. This is where you'll click first with the Pen tool.

b) Grab the Pen tool from the Toolbar now.
Click the tool over the dot in the middle.
Now click 3 grid boxes left of center to add a second node. And with the Shift key held down, press the up arrow key 22 times. (See the example animation to be clear of where the nodes are.)
Then add a third node to the right, 6 grid boxes away.
Then click on the starting node to close the path.

We now have our main vector shape. From here, we'll duplicate and rotate this shape to produce our overall starburst shape.

STEP 4
a) So now you need to select and duplicate this shape. From the Toolbar, choose the Path Selection pen tool. It's the black arrow icon just above the Pen tool. (A key)

b) Click anywhere within your vector shape with the tool. This selects the whole shape.
Now hold the Alt and Shift keys down while you tap the up arrow key once. Then hold just the Shift key down and tap the down arrow key once. All this does is duplicate our path.

c) Now to rotate. Press Ctrl+T. See that small circle in the center of the transform box? Click on and drag that down to the bottom node of your shape; i.e. to where the point is at the base of the shape. Now in the Options bar type in the number 30 in the Degrees text box. (see my example image) Then at the far right side of the Options bar click on the big black checkmark to apply the rotation.

We now have 2 shapes.

STEP 5
Now we'll repeat steps 4b and 4c over and over until we have all the shapes we need to complete our starburst shape. One thing you can do to help speed up the process is to use a shortcut key to do the rotation part. After you duplicate your shape, just press Ctrl+Shift+T. That repeats the last transform you did. It'll only take less than a minute to make all the shapes we need.

STEP 6
Now with the Path Selection tool still chosen, drag out a selection around all of the shapes. You'll know they're all selected because all of the nodes on the shapes will be visible. Then open the EDIT menu and choose "Define Custom Shape". Name your shape, and we're done!

Simple huh!?

Now to apply this new shape to a layer just choose the Vector Shape tool from the Toolbar, click on the Custom Shape icon in the Options bar, hold down the Alt & Shift keys and click/drag from the center of the canvas outward to draw the shape.

TIP:
No matter what width you make the top edge of your initial shape, always use 30 degrees for your rotation, to get an equally balanced looking image. If you want something slightly 'sparser' looking, then try using 45 degrees instead. Create a whole bunch of different designs/patterns (using various rotation amounts) for your library! You never know when you may need them.

HINT:
You can now use the Vector Custom Shape tool and draw this shape at any size you wish, with good consident quality. If you want to make the shape take up your entire canvas, just click in the center of your canvas and drag out the shape until the top edges of the shapes are outside the canvas area. Once you've created the starburst on your entire canvas, select All and under the IMAGE menu choose Crop. That removes the extra bits left outside the canvas that aren't needed.

[hairil]

It's really nice and very helpful... Thank's again

[Zwenkwiel]

am i just stupid or is something wrong :S
i don't see any example animation or anything.
i'm sure i'll manage without
but i just thought i point that out

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