Custom Shapes Drawing

[deniedaccess]

Hi,

I'm drawing a simple head/face using custom shapes. I use the elliptical tool to draw the face, eyes and mouth setting it to combine shapes and stroke.

Now if I go to new layer and use elliptical tool again to start a hat, I want the shape to overlap the face layer (so I can see the underneath lines), instead it just covers it. What do I need to do? Thanks.

 

[IamSam]

Are your layers, new or otherwise, transparent? Or do they have a filled background?

 

[IamSam]

Not sure what your needing without examples. Have you tried lowering the opacity of the hat layer?

 

[deniedaccess]

Hi Sam

Sorry, but it's working how I wanted it now. I'm just having difficulty using the bucket tool to fill colours. When I colour a layer there's a little white between the fill and the stroke.

Colours used just to quickly show what I mean.

 

[IamSam]

Looks good! Let's see if we can figure this out.

If your using a shape tool such as the Ellipse Tool (not the Elliptical Marquis Tool) then you should set the color with the 'Shape Fill' located in the tools option bar and not with the Paint Bucket Tool.

If your using the Elliptical Marquis Tool, then you can use the Paint Bucket Tool to fill in the colors.

Are you sure of which tool your using? I suspect it's the Elliptical Marquis Tool.

Your example is way too small for me to see the white your referring to. How are you adding the stroke? I f you use a layer style to add the stroke, it has more adjustability.

 

[deniedaccess]

I've been using the Ellipse Tool and setting the stroke to black with the top options. Is there an advantage to using the Marquee Tool instead?

The white problem was more noticeable when I used a maroon colour but I tried your suggestion of using the colour in Shape Fill instead of using the Paint Bucket and it already looks better. Thanks for your help.

 

[IamSam]

You will get better results with the Ellipse Tool. Just set your color fill and stroke on the tools options bar.

You can make color changes by selecting the shape layer with the shape you would like to change. Select any of the shape tools (like the Ellipse Tool) then you can just make changes with the tools options, very easy.

Another excellent tool for what your doing is the PenTool with the tool mode set to shape. The trick there is to lower the opacity of the layer your working with until your done and then set it back to 100%.