Some of the images, where it seemed important to me to include both the original and the selected/composited image, are rollovers. They are simply discovered when the mouse hovers over the image.
When to Use the Pen Tool
The Pen Tool is the perfect in strument for selecting anything that is form based as well as shape based. I find it wonderful for manipulating perfect curves, for 'fitting' a path (selection) into small spaces by adding anchor points when ever they are needed, as well as deleting them to snug up a path to its object. I like being able to move the points around, to take up the slack of an ill fitting path with the Pen Tool's companion, the Direct Selection Tool. The Pen Tool is not a good choice for any image that is soft or vaporous or complicated (like hair)...unless you intend to use another tool to complete the selection.
I did practice with the Pen Tool even though I am not new to using it and was quite fascinated with the Click and Drag for making circular shapes. However, it didn't work for me every time. For these exercises, I used guidelines and placed dots for anchor point placement. I also stroked the paths with different brushes.
In place of the doll's head, I used a rabbit soup tureen which seemed to offer some of the same types of edges as well as a busy background. The very best thing I have learned about fine-tuning a path is that by clicking Ctrl+Alt on the end point, I can move one direction handle independently of the other. For me, that seems enormous!
The first image, the rabbit soup tureen, is done using the Pen Tool. The second, a truck photographed by Kelly Johnson on her trip to Europe last summer, was done with the Freeform and Magnetic Pen Tool.
The last in this section, the car, is an image I Googled. I had a car similar to this many years ago and loved it! I made separate paths for each window section and then converted each path in turn to a selection, deleted its contents and used a new fill layer with gray. I could then control the opacity of each window by its layer. It was quick and easy.
Complex Paths and Combining Paths
Amazingly, in searching for images similar to Katrin's lion doorknocker I found the one she used. Not sure it was attributed to her in the Google Images search results. I used another. The second image, my photo of a windmill in Jamestown, RI, was an extremely good candidate for the Exclude Path operation.
Did anyone notice that Katrin called it the 'Extrude' Path option on page 105. That threw me for a few minutes until I noticed that a page or two later she was calling it 'Exclude'.
Working with Paths
The ugly little building is from Beaver Tail, Jamestown, RI and is to the rear of the lighthouse. It may have been used for a bunker of sorts during WW II. There are bunkers around Jamestown, built into the rocky coast. I created a pattern, used a new fill layer and applied the pattern to the building.
Combining Paths and Selections
The first image in this grouping is of Kelly when she was in either the Netherlands or Belgium recently with the music tour. I combined paths and selections because some of the areas were very smooth and perfect for Pen Tool outlining. But, the clothing and hair were with a very irregular edge and so I converted the path to a selection and used both the Quick Selection Tool and Magic Wand to complete the selection. Good thing I did that because in the original she has a street lamp coming out of her head!
The very last image is a selection of a cart wheel from a horse show at the Springfield Fair. After making the selection using the Exclude Path operation, I tried the Clipping Path on it at a level of 4.
The end!
Images and work are © R.Joanne Johnson unless tagged as images being used from The Creative Digital Darkroom website.
