Getting A Handle On Direction Handles
Let's start again with the Pen Tool. Open up a new blank Photoshop document, or simply delete what you've done so far in the existing document so we're starting fresh. Then with the Pen Tool selected and the Paths option selected in the Options Bar (remember, it defaults to the Shape layers option so you'll need to make sure you have the Paths option selected), click once anywhere inside your document, just as we did before. This time though, rather than just clicking to add an anchor point, click and then drag your mouse a short distance away from the anchor point before releasing your mouse button:
Click anywhere inside the document with the Pen Tool, then drag a short distance away from the anchor point.
When you're done, you'll see an anchor point with two lines extending out from it. At first glance, you may think we've somehow managed to drag out a path with the Pen Tool. After all, it looks like we have three anchor points, one on either end and one in the middle, with two path segments connecting them. If we look a bit closer though, we can see that the points on either end are a bit smaller than the one in the middle, and that they're actually a different shape. The one in the middle is square, and as we've seen, an anchor point is square, but the ones on either end seem to be diamond-shaped. Are some anchor points square and some diamond-shaped?
Nope. All anchor points are square, and they're all the same size, which means those smaller, diamond-shaped points on the ends are not anchor points. And if they're not anchor points, that means the lines are not path segments, since we need at least two anchor points to create a path and right now the only anchor point we have is the one in the middle. So what exactly are those lines then that are extending out from the anchor point? They'redirection handles!
"Ah, direction handles!" you say. "Now I get it!"
......
"Wait, no I don't. What the heck are direction handles?"
Direction handles are, well, handles, and they're used only when creating curved path segments. There's no need for direction handles when creating straight path segments. There's usually two of them, although sometimes there's only one, and as we've already seen, they extend out from anchor points. They're called "handles" because, as we'll see in a moment, you can actually grab them and move them around.
Direction handles control two things. They control theangleof the curve, and they control thelengthof the curve, and they do it in a really neat way. The reason there's usually two of them is because one of them controls the angle and length of the curve comingintothe anchor point, and the other controls the angle and length of the curve flowingout fromthe anchor point.
Before we look at how to draw curves with the direction handles, let's first see how to control the handles themselves, since our success with drawing curves will depend a lot on our ability to control the handles. Don't worry, it's not, as they say, rocket science. There's just a few simple things you need to learn. We've already seen how to create direction handles, by clicking with the Pen Tool and then dragging away from the anchor point. The further away from the anchor point we drag, the longer the direction handles will be. The longer the handle, the longer the curve. Short handle, short curve. Long handle, long curve.
One of the nice things you'll learn rather quickly about the Pen Tool is that it isextremelyforgiving. There's no reason at all to worry about getting things right the first time when drawing paths with it because we can go back and fix things up easily when we're done! Did you place an anchor point in the wrong spot? No problem! Just move it where you need it! We'll see how to do that in a moment. Did you drag out a direction handle in the wrong direction? Not a problem. Grab the handle and rotate it into the direction you need. Again, we'll see how to do that. Is one of your direction handles too long or too short? No problem at all. Just click on it and then drag it longer or shorter as needed (yep, we're going to see how to do that, too). Paths are fully editable at all times, so there's absolutely no reason to worry about making a mistake or getting it right the first time. Doesn't that make you feel a little better already?
Rotating And Resizing Direction Handles
As I mentioned, they're called direction "handles" because you can grab them like handles and move them around. Let's see how to do that. First, we'll look at how torotate both handles at the same time. Using the anchor point and the two direction handles we've already created, hold down yourCtrl(Win) /Command(Mac) key. You'll see your Pen Tool icon temporarily turn into theDirect Selection Tool(the white arrow) icon, and that's because with the Pen Tool selected, holding "Ctrl/Command" becomes a quick shortcut for temporarily accessing the Direct Selection Tool which is what we use to select different parts of our path. Then simply click directly on the small diamond shape at the end of either of the direction handles (clicking on the "line" itself won't work, so you always need to click on the diamond shape at the end of a handle to do anything with it) and drag it around the anchor point to rotate it. As you rotate one of the handles, the other handle rotates along with it in the opposite direction, sort of like a see-saw. You may also notice that as soon as you start dragging the handle, your mouse cursor icon will change once again, this time into theMove Toolicon, since we're moving something from one spot to another:
Hold "Ctrl" (Win) / "Command" (Mac) and click on the end of either of the direction handles, then drag the handle to rotate it around the anchor point. As you drag one handle, the other rotates in the opposite direction.
You can release your "Ctrl/Command" key once you've started dragging the handle. No need to keep it down the whole time.
Toresize a direction handleas you're rotating it, simply drag the end of the handle in towards the anchor point to make it shorter or drag it away from the anchor point to make it longer. As I mentioned above, a shorter handle will make the curve shorter, and a longer handle will make the curve longer. You can't resize both handles at the same time though, so if you need to resize both of them, you'll need to drag each one longer or shorter separately. The only thing you can do to both of them at the same time is rotate them. If you've already released your mouse button after rotating the handles and the cursor has changed back into the Pen Tool icon and you need to resize one of the handles, you'll need to hold down "Ctrl/Command" once again to temporarily switch back to the Direct Selection Tool and then click and drag the end of the handle to resize it:
Drag the ends of the handles in towards the anchor point to shorten them, or drag them away from the anchor point to make them longer.
Now let's look at how torotate the handles independently of each other. To rotate one handle without affecting the other one, first release your mouse button if you've been rotating or resizing the handles so your cursor changes back into the Pen Tool icon. Then, instead of holding down "Ctrl/Command", which moves both handles at once, hold down yourAlt(Win) /Option(Mac) key and click on the end of either of the direction handles. You'll see your cursor change into theConvert Point Toolicon, which looks like a simplified arrow made of only two lines, almost like an upside down letter "v" (except that it's not quite upside down). Then, simply drag the handle around the anchor point to rotate it, just as you did before, and this time, the handle will rotate independently of the other one, breaking the connection between them:
Hold down "Alt" (Win) / "Option" (Mac) and click on the end of either of the direction handles, then drag the handle to rotate it around the anchor point independently of the other handle.
Again, you can release your "Alt/Option" key after you've started dragging. You don't have to hold it down the whole time.
You can alsoresize direction handlesusing the "Alt/Option" key in exactly the same way as you can with the "Ctrl/Command" key. If you're in the process of rotating a handle, simply drag it in towards the anchor point to make it shorter or away from the anchor point to make it longer. If you've already released your mouse button and your cursor is showing the Pen Tool icon again, you'll need to hold down "Alt/Option" once again, then click on the end of the handle and drag it to resize it.
Is there a difference between resizing the handles using "Ctrl/Command" and using "Alt/Option" to do it? Yes there is. If you haven't yet "broken the connection" between the handles by dragging one independently of the other, resizing a handle using "Ctrl/Command" will keep the handles connected together. It won't resize both handles at once, but it won't break the connection between them either so you'll still be able to rotate them together if you need to. If you resize a handle using "Alt/Option", you'll break the connection between the handles. Even if you don't rotate the handle as you're resizing it, the connection will still be broken.
What if you've broken the connection between the handles by rotating them using "Alt/Option" and then want to rotate them together again? Can you "rebuild the connection", so-to-speak, by selecting one of them while holding down "Ctrl/Command" as before? Good question, and the answer is no. Once you've broken the connection between the handles, the "Ctrl/Command" key on its own won't bring it back. You'll need to select one of the handles while holdingCtrl+Alt(Win) /Command+Option(Mac) at that point in order to move the handles together again.
Quick Summary So Far ...
We've covered a lot of information here about working with direction handles, so before we move on and start drawing some actual curves, let's do a quick recap:
· Toadd an anchor point,simply click with the Pen Tool.
· Toadd an anchor point with direction handles extending out from it,click with the Pen Tool, then drag away from the anchor point before releasing your mouse button. The further you drag, the longer the direction handles will be.
· Torotate the direction handles together,hold downCtrl(Win) /Command(Mac), which will temporarily switch you to theDirect Selection Tool, then click on the end of either handle and drag it around the anchor point. The other handle will rotate in the opposite direction.
· Torotate the direction handles independently,hold downAlt(Win) /Option(Mac), which will temporarily switch you to theConvert Point Tool, then click on the end of either handle and drag it around the anchor point. The other handle will not rotate.
· Toresize handles without breaking the connection between them,hold downCtrl(Win) /Command(Mac) to switch to theDirect Selection Tool, then click on the end of either handle. Drag it towards the anchor point to make it shorter, or drag it away from the anchor point to make it longer.
· Toresize handles and break the connection between them,hold downAlt(Win) /Option(Mac) to switch to theConvert Point Tool, then click on the end of either handle. Drag it towards the anchor point to make it shorter, or drag it away from the anchor point to make it longer.
· Torotate the direction handles together after breaking the connection,hold downCtrl+Alt(Win) /Command+Option(Mac), then click on the end of either handle and drag it around the anchor point. The other handle will once again rotate with it.
Okay, that pretty much covers the basics of how to control the direction handles. Let's see how we can use them to draw some curves!
We've covered a lot of ground so far. We know about anchor points and direction handles. We know that in order to draw straight path segments, all we need to do is lay down a series of anchor points wherever we need them simply by clicking with the Pen Tool, and as we add more and more anchor points, we add more straight sections to our path. We know how to create direction handles and how to rotate them, either together or separately, and how to resize them.
We know how to turn a path into a selection by clicking on the "Load path as selection" icon at the bottom of the Paths palette or by simply pressing "Ctrl+Enter" (Win) / "Command+Return" (Mac) on the keyboard. One thing I didn't mention yet is that regardless of whether our path consists of straight lines, curves, or a combination of straight lines and curves, converting it into a selection is done exactly the same way, and we've already learned how to do it, which means we're well on our way to mastering making selections with the pen! All we need to do is get a bit of practice drawing curves, which is exactly what we're about to do!