Photoshop - how to make smooth curved lines
April 28th, 2006One of the most frequently asked questions about photoshop is “how do I make a simple, smooth curved line?”. If you’ve got a tablet, there might be other ways, but with a mouse it can seem a little tricky. The brush and pencil tools are too “jerky” so those are no good. The pen tool is the answer, but to many it’s unintuitive. So I thought I’d pass along my technique. Hopefully it’ll help someone out there.
The end goal is something like:
Nothing fancy, but nice and smooth.
I have a feeling this process is going to sound more complicated than it is. Do it once though, and it’ll be a piece of cake after that.
First, the tools we’ll use:
Take special notice of the direct select tool. There are two arrows under there. The solid black one (path selection tool) lets you move a path as a single unit. The white one (direct select tool) lets you modify a path. This is the one we want right now.
Step 1
Define what you want the line to look like. I wanted a smooth 3px line. I like the brush for such things. Choose the brush tool and have a look at it’s options, and palette:
My settings show a simple 3px brush - but you can go crazy here (and get some interesting effects ultimately).
Notice! We’re not doing anything with the brush tool - we’re just setting it up - no drawing!
Step 2
Select the Pen tool. (This is by far my favorite tool in PS). You want to draw a path (not a shape) so get your pen toolbar looking like this:
Now, create a start and end point on your canvas by clicking twice (or make a few points - whatever strikes you)
Step 3
Select the direct selection tool (the white arrow, not the black one!). Right click anywhere on your curve. From the pop-up menu choose add anchor point. This will put a point on the line. Now, (still with the same tool) click and drag that new point. This is the basis for all pen-related actions. You created an anchor point that has two handles.
You can drag the point around, as well as the handles. Mess with them a bit to see what you end up with.
Add a second (3rd, 4th whatever) anchor point and move the anchors and handles around. I ended up with this:
Step 4
Create a new blank layer:
So you’ve got a curve you like - here’s the magic part. Go to the paths palette:
There’s the path you just created, called work path. Right click on that layer and choose Stroke Path. You’ll get a pop-up box:
From there you can choose to create your stroke from any number of items (pencil, brush, healing brush etc). In step one we set up our brush the way we wanted it. So choose brush. Click Ok. It’ll look something like:
To get rid of the path line, just deselect the work path in the paths palette (click anywhere in the palette).
That’s it!
It’s worth mentioning that the final colored path was put on that new layer you created. It will not be modified by changing the path!. To change your line, delete the layer you put the stroke on, go back to your path, reshape it, then reapply the stroke. It’s easier than it sounds. In fact this whole process of creating a curved line just takes a few seconds - it just might look complicated.
Go forth and be smooth and curvy.
Thank you very much.
Thanks so much, this has helped me no end!
how can i make fine curve with selection tool like polygon tool?? thanks it was nice curve u made
ewis,
You can do that by:
Make your shape with the selection tool, then go to the paths pallette. At the very bottom, there are a bunch of little icons. Mouseover them - one of them is “make work path from selection”. Click that. Now you’ve got a path you can edit the same way I talked about above. Or you can just add a stroke giving you a tidy line…
How can a person add a bevel and drop shadow to the line? (or other styles?) Thanks!
Jeff,
Piece of cake: the line you just drew is sitting on it’s own layer. (if it’s not, create an empty layer and select it, then apply the stroke to the path. This is critical! If you don’t create and select an empty layer, the curve will be drawn on whatever layer is selected).
Once you’ve got the curve on it’s own layer, add styles like any other layer - double click on the layer to open the style pallette, and drop-shadow-away…
The curve fills in with color up to the horizontal line. How can I make just the line? Thanks.
Deb,
I’m not 100% sure what you mean. It sounds like your curve has a line connecting the ends, and it’s filling to that straight line? If so, it’s just because one of your pen settings isn’t quite right.
You want to draw a path - not a shape. Have a look at the image of the toolbar right under “Step 2″ in the post above. Notice which of the items are selected. Once you choose “path” instead of “shape” it should work.
Thank you Patrick. I think I see the problem. It keeps making a shape rather than a path and I don’t know how to change it. I have all the tools selected as outlined above. Is there a setting or something I can change?
At last a simple explaination.
Thankyou!
Thanks, always wanted to know how this was done!
My curves are filled with grey color so that it isnt just the lines. how do I get just the lines?
Thanks,
Billy
Bill,
Sounds like you’re having the same problem as “Deb” above. Check out my follow up note to her. Does that handle it?
Otherwise, what version of PS are you (and maybe Deb?) on? My screenshots are from CS2. It sounds like things are a bit different.
Thanks viel mycket! This was exactly what i had looking for -and like you said, it´s been on my mind many many times how can be that photoshop can´t do this.. . . :D
A simple nice tutorial. It really helped me out a lot, thankyou.
yes
w00t! thanks for this, i’ve been wondering how to do this for ages!
thankyou soo much : ) you explained it really well, better than others i’ve seen before.
thank you, thank you, thank you… this has been very helpful and wow its really easy which is probably why there arent too many tutorials about it :D
I get “jagged” edges on the curve I make. Is that due to the brush I use? What I mean is it is not a smooth line after I put the stroke on it… if this doesn’t make sense let me know, but after I I put the stroke affect on the curve, it is not smooth.
Awesome! It’s too bad Photoshop doesn’t reshape the brush stroke when the path is changed though.
Kurt,
Check your brush settings. You may have something funny selected(?). Also, when you right click on the path and choose “stroke path” a dialog box pops up. Make sure to choose brush from the drop down. (If you leave it as pencil it will be very jagged).
Does that work?
[...] I stumbled across this article does a wonderful job of explaining, simply and directly, how to use a path to create a curvy line. Finally! [...]
I think i got the same problem as Deb. When i choose Stroke Path only the anchor points are filled with the brush. I still got PS CS1…
Super helpful, thanks very much.
Thanks so much!
Now, why doesn’t the manual tell you this so simply, and why the heck is it so complicated to begin with? It seems like most graphics programs (including other Adobe products like Illustrator) make this easier.
I understand its usefulness beyond simpler tools (and I’m so glad I know how to use paths now), but there should be a simple way to do it as well as this more complicated way!
Thank you so much for this tutorial! You made it so simple. I’ve been trying to figure out how to do this forever and was getting so frustrated with other tutorials that made no sense!
thy dude this help me a lot ;)
Hey! thankS! helped me alot!
wow! it works.
wow! it works. Thanks a lot.
Thanks
Thanks a ton. Your tutorial is really helpful. Thanks again.
WOW. You do NOT know HOW much you’ve helped. It’s almost like you were the ONLY one who knew what I was looking for. Thank you SOOOO much!!! It’s true what other people said…the tutorials on the web don’t really help to make these curved lines. Anyways point is…you ROCK! =)
hi,
I found your site and knew it was helpful, but i couldn’t follow very well because i have photoshop 9.0. Can you help shed some light on this?
Hi, there,
I agree with the rest that your explanations are very helpful. I am trying to make something similar to a curve - a thin flower stem. So far - no success. Do you think you can explain a bit on that? Thanks.
Nice tutorial. Very detailed and in-depth so it gets to the point. Thanks a lot. Good work.
Hi! Nice explanatory work, thanks. If you had to add hash lines to make the line look like a railroad, how might you best go about that? (example: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/136535)
This Tutorial helps me much, great work!
Thank so much!! This will be a huge help for many years to come. It was so clear and easy to understand.
One very important point that took me ages to work out (and I don’t think you mention this) is how to grab hold of the handles and move them after you’ve created other anchor points. Every time I tried to grab the handle it would create a new anchor point, which is not what I wanted at all - goodbye nice line.
To grab a handle and give the curve a tweak to get it right, simply hold down the ALT key when you click on the end of the handle and you have it!
Janet,
That is strange - it’s not the behavior I get in CS2. To create a new point I have to right click and choose “create point” from the menu.
To select and modify a point, I just click (no alt-clicking involved).
I’m curious - can you pass along some more detail? What tool are you using?
Thanks for the great and simple tutorial. This will help me big time!
Why does it take so much time for just a little curb???cs2 is supposed to make it easier,not harder!!!
Good for lines, but how to create an curvy arrow, with a pointer on the end of it, that is, is what is mystifying me.
WOW! You’ve opened a new world to me in Photoshop. You said the path tool was your favorite tool, and I said this guy’s nuts, I avoid that tool like the plague, then I stepped through your tutorial, and it’s SO easy! All it took was your step-by-step, and my messy artwork is going to look great! Thank you!
Nice one, I have been avoiding this tool for years and you have helped me out in 5 minutes! Excellent
Thanks you so much. Perfect example! I was so frustrated getting that stupid perfect curve. Lifesaver.
Regards.
Wow, an easy way to draw a mouse tail!
In a word:
*HUG*
Patrick,
I realise what I have been doing wrong. Not using the Direct Select Tool. I’ve been trying to do it all with the pen tool alone. You can grab a handle and stretch it with the pen too,if you ALT-click. But the direct select tool is the answer to my frustrations.
Thank you. this clear tutorial was badly needed.
i just get blak dots on my path where the anchor points are, dont know why. can someone help?
NvM i answered my own Q. it was the “spacing” at the bottom of the “Brushes” pallete ( it was set to 100%) set it to 1% for a solid line.
I’m about to kill myself.
I follow the instructions precisely, but when I click on the “paths” tab there is nothing there. If I select. The layer on which I drew the curve, then there is something there but it does not say “work path”, it says something “vector mask”. If I right click on this the “stroke paths” item is not available.
Please don’t let me kill myself.
UNBELIEVABLE…
I finally solved it. There is a teeny tiny button in the upper left that lets you switch between “shape mask” and Paths… it’s almoist impossible to see. God only knows how the shape one got selected, but as usual, after felchin’ about it for 2 hours, I solve it myself 30 seconds aftter posting.
Thanks for an awesom tutorial!
Thank you for this!!! I’ve been drawing curved lines by lining up circles for too long! My only problem… same as mrslippyfist above… when I get to step 4 and select stroke path and use brush it only colors in at my points, not the whole line… I am so close, what’s going wrong?
Thank you so much, I will be mentioning this tutorial on my site soon. Definitely the only one I could find which actually has beginners in mind. I learned more than curves from this tutorial! Please add more Photoshop tutorials! I can’t seem to find one on how to make patterns out of simple graphics so that they are evenly spaced etc.
ok to deb and everyone else that has had problems with this line thing where you only get your endpoints colored in, i have the answer!
when you are picking your brush, if it looks like 2 dots instead of the curvy line then you have to reset your brushes. theres a button for it in the brush thinger…thatll fix it for you!
This has helped me loads dude, thanks a bunch for writing it! :)
Thank you
[...] How to make smooth curved lines [...]
WOW! I have been reading tutorial after tutorial to no avail…until now! Thanks a million for this post! I can FINALLY use the pen tool!!
I made a curvy line shape, but how do I fill just that shape with color?
I had the same problem as Deb and was able to solve it.
I’m really not sure how and now I can’t get the problem to occur. What I did was make the line with the pen tool, then clicked on another point of the line with the pen tool still selected. I then started using the Direct Selection Tool and all was well. After doing this, I can follow the steps as listed and all is well.
Version 7.0.1
Thanks so much for this great tutorial!
Cheers,
Piet
Quite frankly, unbelievable. Its the best step by step guide i’ve ever come across for the pen tool. I gave up on all others, nothing seemed to make sense, or work for that matter. This was very helpful, thankyou i will not be afraid to use this tool anymore.
Been driving me crazy trying to draw a smooth curved line and this tutorial was just perfect. Thanks for taking the time to write this.
cheers! thats a great help… now i can illustrate the hell out of my fashion shots!!!
I’ve been looking for a FOREVER for a tutorial to make a curved line. This is perfect.
Thanks so much!
Thanks mate, this is excellent, been wanting to learn how to do this for ages! :)
This is such a help! I’ve really struggled with curves, but you laid this out so nicely. Thanks!
One of the best tutorials I have used to educate myself using photoshop. Now I have more tools to use and create more artwork at a faster pace.
Thank you very much!
Brilliant tutorial, I’ve always hated the pen tool with a passion!
This makes it look really simple though, cheers!
OMG, thank you SOO much. This has helped immensely. I was getting frustrated to the point of giving up, but this worked perfectly.
Thank you verrrrrry much
Finally. As a relative newbie I can’t get my head round PS at all. Why should things be so complicated. What are new layers?!! Thanks for speaking slowly and clearly and having plenty of pictures.
What’s a greate tutorial. Thanks you very much. It helps newbie like me.
You are a champion of sorts
thanks..great tutorial
Awesome instructions. I’ve fiddled with the pen tool on many occasions but always found myself just getting frustrated with it. It’s so easy once it’s laid out like this! Thanks!
thank you very much, I’m new to photoshop so I didn’t know alot ot thing but thank to this I learn how to redraw a smooth curve line (I try to draw a curve a couple time but it come out very jaggy). This was a very easy to understand tutorial. thank you.
Thank you so much> tenikal support
You rock, you rock, you rock.
I have been trying to find a lines tutorial for years (and never have).
Today I was finally able to create a beautiful curved line thanks to these awesome instructions!
Now I don’t have to avoid the dreaded “draw line” design feature any longer!
Thank you for taking the time to post these. Great contribution.
You’re the best. Saved the day.
This tutorial is extraordinary. I’ve been a photoshop user since Photoshop 5.5 and have avoided the pen tool until now. It seems so simple after you’ve explained it, I feel like a dolt for not figuring it out on my own.
I do have one question though. Like many I accidentally created the curve as a shape and not a path. For simple curves, it’s not a problem to redo it with the correct settings selected, but for curves which take a bit more time it can be a pain to have to redraw. I’m wondering if there’s a relatively easy way to switch between a shape and a path.
Thank you!
Samantha,
The answer is (kind of) yes.
The only way I know to convert a shape to path (not the other way around though) is the following (I’ll try to put this as best I can in words):
1. You’ve got yourself a shape that you create with the pen tool.
2. Now, go to the Paths Pallet (Paths tab on the layer pallet).
3. You’ll see your shape in there. Select it
4. At there very bottom of the Paths pallet, there are a bunch of tiny icons. Click on the one that is a dotted-line-circle. (when you mouse over it, it will say ‘Load path as selection’)
5. Now you should have a selection region that matches your original shape. So far so good.
6. You can skip this, but for clarity - select the selection (marquee) tool (’M’ on the keyboard). Click inside your new selection and drag it somewhere (just so it’s not still on top of your original shape). Don’t deselect! You should still have the selection!
7. (just hoping this still makes sense)
8. Last step. Go back to the paths pallet. Go back to the tiny icons at the bottom. Click on the funny-looking-slightly-’A'-shaped icon (when you mouse over it says ‘Make work path from selection’.
9. And there you go. Your paths pallet should now have a new layer called “work path”. Now you can pick up at step 4 above.
Hope that’s clear….
The ‘load path as selection’ is an interesting option. IF the shape was created with a pen, it works well. I find that if you’ve got a normal (non-vector) shape, it’s not so good.
Post any questions/feedback here…
WOW! that really is a big help! tnx…
BLESS YOU - I just started a new position, as a graphic design manager… I feel pretty confident about many things in photoshop, but my brain is so fuzzy right now (I just came back from maternity leave into the new job). I just could NOT remember how to do this, so your tutorial was very helpful. THANKS!!! :D
Awesome… thanks
How come adobe can’t explain it as simply?
Excellent! I’m trying to branch out in Photoshop and I’ve always been a little intimidated by the pen tool so this has been a great tutorial! (Oh, and amen to comment #88)
A Great Help, Thank you!
Thank you so much! Genius!
If your having jagged edges it possibly because of your brush settings or your document size.
I have photoshop 7.0 and I have tried your tutorial, but it is not working, I have tried everything but it is not working! What do i do?
It’s a great tutorial, thanks.
thx for that.
though, whenever i want to create a line, it fills everything up (like it makes an imaginary straight line between A and B and fills the everything between that line and the curve i create.)
What do i have to do?
Thx.
Thanks. All photoshop tutorials should be like this. I can’t believe how long it took me to find out just how to make a curved line. Just what I was looking for.
wow , tnx a lot , very simple and usefull ,
tnx again ,
j
Thanks, this is so AWESOME!!! I really appreciate your taking the time to teach all of us!
Question for you…
I’ve got Illustrator CS2 on one computer and CS3 Extended on another. In CS2, when I use the paintbrush to draw, it takes my freehand line and adds a curve to it. I have no idea how I set that up, and I was hoping to set it up in CS3. I like that it automatically makes that curve.
If you can help me, I’d really appreciate it!
very nice tutorial ..thanks!
Hi, how can I make a background like this? I’m new to the Adobe suite. Any help is much appreciated! Thanks :D
Sorry…it’s here: http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup/object/4241785_blue_flow.php?id=4241785
great… this helped me alot. i’ve been trying to do this for days now…
thanks
Thanks so much. This guide has been immensely useful.
Can’t thank you enough for such a clear and invaluable piece of advice!
Thank you!
Awesome work !!! I could not have got a better tutorial !!!
Photoshop doesn’t reshape the brush stroke when the path is changed :( This is one of the reasons why I do not like Photoshop. Can this be overcome in Photoshop???
i love you!! i’m working on cover art for a musician and this is one of the few things i wasn’t sure how to do in photoshop. yay!! thanks!!
I will add to the praise above: this tutorial is fantastic. My horizons have been expanded. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Thank you, this is incredibly helpful. Can you tell me, is there a way to create a curved line that is wider at the bottom than it is at the top, sort of like the shape of a blade of grass? Thanks again.
Thank you! That was so helpful. I’ve been arguing with the pen tool for hours before I found your instructions. Now it’s so much easier.
First comes problem, then comes tutorial…then comes me commenting on how much I
love you. Thanks man.
Wow! Very helpful! Thanks so much!
thank you very much… guru
thx very much. solved my problem in 2 mins :)
I’m so happy I found this tutorial. I’m working on a logo and this will help me loads! One thing I can’t figure out is why my line looks really pixelly. It’s a smooth line, but it’s rough at the same time. Does that make sense? Please help! Thanks!
Brandi
How come I always get filled in shape instead of a line? I have tried numerous iterations of the instructions but the original line stays where it is and a new line/curve is create and automatically filled in. What am i missing here?
OMG THANK YOU! I have been looking for this answer forever!
THANK YOU!!!!!
Thank you so much!
I’ve followed your steps and got a curved…shape. Regardless of what I try, it doesn’t simply create a line, it fills it as a shape
I have used photoshop for years…I am a Landscape Architect, Self taught in photoshop, and have never…until now…been able to draw and curve my lines…Now I can accopmlish creating organic forms in photoshop rather than by hand! And it was so easy to follow your instructions! I am so grateful for this information.
Thanks for this tutorial. This has been puzzling to me for quite some time.
thank you for the tutorial.
Thank you Patrick, that was a very useful tutorial; you took me through it with ease.
Thanks ma man. Appreciate it.
i love you
I have followed it step by step, but when i look at you “path” yours is just a black line? why is it not curved like mine is, with white filling in the curved area…and when i add the brush to mine, the final result is a line with a wierd textury look, and i have no texture selected. :- \
step 4 on yours, right when you go to your work path, you have a straight black line, where as mine is curved like i made it look with white filling in the connections…on my work path..why!!!
hey just try this out..
when the stroke path dialouge box comes up, keep the simulate brush ticked on..n that will give a cool faded, just like brush effect.. :P i found by mistake actually.. :P
thank man,i almost go crazy trying to do it myself..anyway,fyi,i just learn photoshop :)
Thanks a lot for this tutorial. I have been cutting various circles for years now… merging them to get a smooth curve. I like this tip a lot. Thanks!
Thank you so much for this tutorial! I was about to tear my hair out trying to make a smooth curve with the brush tool when I realized that maybe the pen would work, but I’d never used it and all the other tutorials I found were way too complicated to follow. Thanks again! :-)
Any chance you could post a tutorial about making custom chapes? :-)
Dude! genius! one of the most helpful
Thanks man,U have opened up a lot of possibilities for me,
Whenever I make one of these, it like closes it and fills it.
Like say I make a path that is just 1 line, it’ll close the line as if I’m making a polygon.
I really need help on this fast, I’m working on something that is in dire need of curvey lines, lol :)
Thanks in advance
Kevin
Nevermind I figured it out
WOW! You are the first who told me how to make shapes whith Pen Tool. Everybody who make tutorials forget to say: use “Direct Selection Tool” to transform your line. They miss this the most important step!
I had only 20 minutes to exercise Ps today and it was the best way to use such a short period of time :)
THANKS!
i can’t draw a a single line by pen tool till i connect to the starting point.
can u help me out
i can’t draw a a single line by pen tool till i connect to the starting point and it makes a shape not a line.
can u help me out
This is great - thanks so much!
This is great - thanks so much!
THANK YOU!!!
ive been dying to know how to do this for ages to gain a better hold on vector art!!
OMG… holy cow… thank u. I am getting so much better at Photoshop reading this and learning how to play w/ line tool. Again, big help!
Simple, visual instructions that work. Thank you for taking the time to put this together, and for leaving it up for so long!
[...] and paths in Photoshop to create a smooth curved line. To learn more on Smooth Curved Line click here Date April 1st, 2009 Filed in Photoshop [...]
[...] pas googling nemu website ini, how to make smooth curved lines. Caranya adalah, buat satu garis lurus, lalu baru deh add new anchor point di tengah2nya lalu tarik [...]
[...] stumbled across this article does a wonderful job of explaining, simply and directly, how to use a path to create a curvy line. [...]
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