Inside Photoshop® CS

The Pen Tool and Special Effects

In the history of Photoshop, part of the “signature” of the program has been really lifelike shadow and glow creation. There are a number of ways to create shadows and the inverse, glows, but the way you'll learn in the sections to follow involves using the path tool to accurately define the area that is to glow.

Easy Selections: Using Straight Paths

If you peek ahead to Figure 6.8, you'll see that the dice in the image are composed of nothing but straight lines—path segments, in the parlance of Photoshop's Pen tool.

Figure 6.8. Choose the Pen tool, and use clicks—not clicks and drags—to create an outline around straight-edged shapes.

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To place a glow around either of the dice, you must define ...