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Luelf21
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photoshop help

Aug 16, 2012 10:58 AM

I am creating a shape that is going to fit into an 18 count prize wheel. I finally got the shape made but when I go to print it the shape disappears, everything else is there just not the shape. Can you please help me with this? I am fairly new to Photoshop so everything is mind boggling!

 

Thank you!

 
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  • JJMack
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    Jan 9, 2006
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    Aug 16, 2012 11:57 AM   in reply to Luelf21

    Did you do a soft proof to see it the Color you painted your pirize wheel is within your printers color space.

     

    Post a screen grab of you Photoshop window

     
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    Aug 16, 2012 4:48 PM   in reply to Luelf21

    have you tried drawing the shape as a shape layer? i cant see anything in your layers that differentiate that shape.

    i see you have the shape tool selected...... but i dont see the layer displaying.

     

     

    Draw a custom shape

     

    #

    You can draw custom shapes by using shapes from the Custom Shape pop-up panel, or save a shape or path to use as a custom shape.

     

     

      • Select the Custom Shape tool . (If the tool isn’t visible, hold down the Rectangle tool near the bottom of the toolbox.)

         

      •  

        Select a shape from the Custom Shape pop-up panel in the options bar.

         

        If you don’t find a shape you want in the panel, click the arrow in the upper right corner of the panel, and choose a different category of shapes. When asked to replace current shapes, click either Replace to view only the shapes in the new category or Append to add to the shapes already displayed.

      •  

        Drag in your image to draw the shape.

     

    you can then save the shape and keep using it. this way hopefully it can print.

     
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    Aug 16, 2012 4:57 PM   in reply to Luelf21

    Do you see it disappear just in the Print Preview dialog box?  Have you tried to see whether it actually prints or not?

     

    Or does it disappear from the document window altogether?

     

    Is the path closed?  Are you sure it's a shape and not a selection?

     
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  • Noel Carboni
    20,949 posts
    Dec 23, 2006
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    Aug 16, 2012 5:04 PM   in reply to Luelf21

    Paths do not print in and of themselves.  If you want it to print a line as guide for you to use to cut the shape out, you could stroke it with a very small brush.

     

    -Noel

     
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    Aug 16, 2012 7:15 PM   in reply to Luelf21

    As others have said, a Path itself will not print. You can make a Shape Layer with path(s). Here is a gradient-filled Shape Layer made from a perspective-transformed rectangle and two circles. Then an image of the menu item for saving a Shape for re-use, and an image of the resulting saved preset.

     

    Screen shot 2012-08-17 at 02.42.30.png

     

    Screen shot 2012-08-17 at 02.45.23.png

     

    Screen shot 2012-08-17 at 02.49.40.png

     
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    Aug 16, 2012 7:16 PM   in reply to conroy

    Here's the image of the saved Shape preset

     

    Screen shot 2012-08-17 at 03.06.10.png

     
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  • JJMack
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    Jan 9, 2006
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    Aug 16, 2012 7:39 PM   in reply to Noel Carboni

    I agree with Noel it looks line you used your custom shape tool to create a Path (note the Path option in you screen capture on the tool option bar) which shows on your image but that is it  its like the matching ants its an outline. You need to lay down some pixels. The custom shape tool can create a shape layer, a path which is what I think you have done or it can fill in pixels. What I think you want to do is to now is to target the Background layer and then stroke the Path with a brush. With CS6 the are many more options for stroking a Path.

     
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    Aug 16, 2012 8:01 PM   in reply to conroy

    I just realised that the shape is better made from a triangle and two circles so it correctly fits 1/18th of a wheel.

     

    Screen shot 2012-08-17 at 03.54.42.png

     
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    Aug 17, 2012 11:39 AM   in reply to Luelf21

    I'll assume your document is US Letter size with 300 PPI .

     

    You will make a triangle, intersect the outer circle with it, and subtract the inner circle.

     

    1/18th of a circle means the triangle apex must be 20 deg, therefore the ratio of height to width of the triangle is 2.8356.

     

    Create the triangle with the Polygon Tool. In the options bar, set it to Shape mode and New Layer mode. Draw an initial downward pointing equilateral triangle (use shift key to constrain rotation) then enter W 2000 px and H 5671px in the options bar.

     

    Create the outer circle with Ellipse Tool in Shape mode and Intersect Shape Areas mode so that the circle is part of the Shape Layer containing the triangle. Make it whatever size is required.

     

    Create the inner circle with Ellipse Tool in Shape mode and Subtract Front Shape mode so that it is also part of the current Shape Layer.

     

    Centre the circles on the apex of the triangle.

     

    The Shape Layer's Gradient Fill can be set in the options bar when the layer is targeted and any of the Shape/Path tools are active.. I used a radial fill with its Align With Layer option disabled, and dragged its centre to the centre of the circles. It remains editable in case you want to adjust it.

     

    When you save the document, disabling the Maximum Compatibility option will avoid a large amount of storage being consumed in the case of a vector design with algorithmic fill instead of pixels. The doc should be a few KB instead of MB.

     
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    Aug 19, 2012 3:55 PM   in reply to Luelf21

    Don't beat yourself up. Photoshop is far from being the most efficient tool for creating precisely sized and positioned geometrical shapes.

     

    Some things to check:

     

    1. The document is US Letter size at 300 ppi. Otherwise you will have to appropriately scale the dimensions used for creating the triangle.

     

    2. The initial equilateral triangle is drawn with the Polygon Tool not by clicking the mouse, but by depressing the button then dragging downward while pressing the shift key so that the top edge is constrained to perfect horizontal. Release the button then the shift key and then immediately enter the required width and height in the options bar. Now move the triangle so that its top edge is on the top edge of the document.

     

    3. Paths do not print. The "shape" disappearing from print preview is most likely because you are drawing a Path and not a Shape. Ensure the Path/Shape tool is set to Shape mode, not Path mode, in the options bar before drawing the shape. Otherwise you would have to make a Shape from the Path in order to have something printable.

     

    Tip: Use the View menu to enable snapping to Smart Guides and visibility of Guides. Magenta guides will show as you drag objects into alignment. For example when centering a circle on the apex of the triangle, an inverted T will show when the circle snaps into place.

     
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