What's new
Photoshop Gurus Forum

Welcome to Photoshop Gurus forum. Register a free account today to become a member! It's completely free. Once signed in, you'll enjoy an ad-free experience and be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

creating dotted lines


gautamz07

Power User
Messages
338
Likes
73
i am sure this should be relatively easy , but just don't know how ?? , i basically want to create something like this :

dotted line.png

notice the "dots" are actually rectangular .

now this can be achieved with the pen tool and than using a brush and doing "stroke path" but there is a problems :

-- with the pen tool its difficult to get the circular shape .

is there a better way of doing this ? or does it just require better precision with the pen tool ??

i wanted to create such lines and use it like in a picture like this :

Untitled-1.jpg

if somebody can give me a really vague idea , as to how i could , it will be great .

Thanks .

Gautam.
 

dv8_fx

Retired Administrator
Messages
13,761
Likes
4,789
Hawkeye's procedure is the widely known way of doing it using the brush tool.


Graphics like this I'd usually do in another vector application. But in cases I have to do it directly in PS, here's another way..... my crazy way.... :cheesygrin:


If you know how to create and adjust text on a path, this may work for you.

Create your path with the pentool..... Use the Type tool to create/add the dots on the path.


DotsOnPath.jpg


You can use any font you wish. But a normal text font will produce squarish shapes rather than dots even if you use the period key. Which is why I will always use a dingbat font for the dots. In this example - ITC Zapf Dingbat . For dingbat fonts, this is usually the lowercase L in your keyboard. I also lowered the baseline shift to -5 so the dots will ride on the centerline of the path.

And depending on the font size you use, I'd add two or three or so spaces in between dots.

You can reshape the path as you wish even with dots in it.

When you're satisfied with what you've created, rasterize the text layer.


Hope this helps .......
 

IamSam

Administrator
Staff member
Administrator
Messages
22,721
Likes
13,258
Pen Tool

Set to Shape.
Turn off Fill.
Set the stroke width.
Set shape stroke type.

Screen Shot 2014-11-07 at 10.40.33 PM copy.png

Create the path you like.

Screen Shot 2014-11-07 at 10.40.57 PM.png
 
Last edited:

gautamz07

Power User
Messages
338
Likes
73
Thanks @ Iamsam @Div8_fx hawkeye ... will try ur techniques over the weekend :) @Div , i really liked ur crazy technique :D
 

gautamz07

Power User
Messages
338
Likes
73
IamSam , ur technique worked right out of the box .

@div8_fx i was really interested in ur technique and tried it out , below is the result .. not dots , jst hearts :

Dotted-Lines.jpg

the psd is here : View attachment dotted Lines.psd

well i have a few questions , suppose i try out ur style div , now i drag a path ... see the image below :

psd.jpg

somehow if i start typeing from startpoint(see the image above ) , it will type the letter once and then not move further , so i have to start from center point . Why ?

BTW , @div UR technique is awesome and crazy .. which is kindda my cup of tea hehe .

Thanks .

Gautam .
 

dv8_fx

Retired Administrator
Messages
13,761
Likes
4,789
I don't have CS on and not a good idea for me to run it while I have CorelDrawX running with a huge work file loaded...... A hassle to restart the computer if it hangs.

But try not to type near the endpoint - half an inch from it will do and you can always move the text to the end later. by hovering your pointer while having your Text tool selected at the beginning of the first letter and dragging the handle point that appears to the end position or anywhere you want.

Glad you found use for it. But the technique is not unique but merely an adaptation/variation of a Corel Draw procedure into Photoshop......



edited .... pointer positioning.....
 
Last edited:

Rich54

Guru
Messages
1,732
Likes
3,412
The reason that you could only type a few characters is that the text is set to "Centered". Wherever you start typing on a path, the text wants to center itself on that spot, so the text that wants to move toward the left of center has nowhere to go. If you have Centered text then you need to start typing near the center of your path. If you change the text to be Left-Justified then you can start typing from the beginning of the path.
 

Top