Can I cut/copy and paste a selection of a vector shape the same as I do with raster images

[Aleitheo]

I'm working on a personal project, a fictional map. My plan is to draw out the landmass as a vector shape, then cut pieces out of a copy of that layer for individual countries. The problem is there is no apparent way to draw select the borders of said country, cut it from the shape layer and paste it onto a new layer. Were I doing this with a raster image I would use the standard select tool then go Layer>New Layer> Layer by Cut to achieve this.

I'm using vector shapes because the previous project file was getting pretty big in terms of file size and I want the map to be large enough to preserve detail when zoomed in. I want to cut and paste from the full landmass shape because drawing the countries by hand will be too tedious and will result in gaps or overlap between country borders due to human error. I only have PS CS6 so moving this file over to Illustrator isn't an option.

Does such a method exist at all for the vector tool in Photoshop?

[JJMack]

Simply try and see you will have you answer.  I would not expect the paste woul past shape  or copy to copy vectot shape  but I would venture a guess that pixels will copy and paste.

[Aleitheo]

I've tried all the options I could imagine so far, which is why I am now asking here to see if anyone might know.

[Daniel E Lane]

Not sure what  you mean that you want to cut and paste them out of the main map, but you don't want to draw them out by hand. What is the actual source you have to work with? Or Sources I should say. It's been a while since I was in CS6, but I think it still worked back then. You should be able to make your selection and then just hit CMD+J and it should make a new layer that only contains your selection. But not sure what sources you are working with so this is a hard one to answer...

[Aleitheo]

If it helps to visualize it better, imagine I have an image of say a tree. I then cut the shape of a jigsaw piece from a copy of this image. The copy now has a jigsaw shaped hole in it and on a new layer I have that jigsaw piece. I then repeat this on the copy of the image for every jigsaw piece until I have an individual layer for each piece. My layers then look like the following.

• Jigsaw piece 1
• Jigsaw piece 2
• Jigsaw piece 3
• Base Image Copy
• Base image

I tried drawing a selection over the vector shape and pressing Ctrl+J yet it seemed to copy the entire layer, not only the selection. If it's of any relevance, when I go into the Layer>New Layer menu while I have my selection up, the New Layer via Cut option (Ctrl+Shift+J) is greyed out.

[Barb Binder]

Hi aleitheo:

If I understand your question, then no. If you want to cut the raster map (or tree) into pieces you'll need to use raster selections and then jump them to a new layer (aka File > New > Layer via Copy or Ctrl + J). This is a raster option that does not work with vector layers.

You can use vector masks to mask the raster image underneath (and these are editable) so if you have overlap issues you can fix them.

1. For example, I drew an elliptical path over this map.

2. I can create a vector mask of the current path to hide/mask the contents beyond the vector boundary.

4. And can add additional cut-outs to the mask.

But notice the whole raster map is still sitting on the layer. I can't use these vector shapes to carve up the map and jump them to their own layers.

~Barb

[JJMack]

I just tried you would need to use Copy Merged to copy and past the pixels in a shape

[Aleitheo]

I tried the Copy Merged method, that allowed me to make a copy of the base vector layer, however what I want in this instance is to cut the piece out. By copying I still have the selection remaining on the previous layer.

What I want here is to essentially cut jigsaw pieces out of a single sheet of paper, rather than cut out the pieces from several sheets and hope that the pieces line up when put together.

Here is what I am looking at. The light yellow shape is the vector layer, the dull brown is the old raster image, not really relevant for this issue.

Base Vector is the base landmass of the map. I plan on duplicating this layer to a temporary layer where I will cut all the country shapes from. I will then have several vector layers of each country with their own coloured borders while still keeping the Base Vector layer for future purposes.

It's important that when I select the shape of the country that the selection is cut out from the layer, because if I have to draw over the same border twice for another country then it'll lead to gaps or overlap between the borders.

Ultimately what I am trying to do here is make a selection, cut and paste just as I do with raster layers, but instead with vector layers.

[Chuck Uebele]

You can not cut and paste a vector layer with a selection, but you can select parts of a vector and copy and past those parts. So if your want to select part of a vector, you can use the direct selection tool to select either nodes or drag a rectangle around the area you want to copy and paste, as my screen shot shows. Frankly, for what you want to do, I would create a layer with just the country outlines, then use lower layers to fill those outlines.

[Aleitheo]

This is unfortunate. I am able to use the freeform pen tool to draw a vector path selection into the shape and remove it by having it Subtract Front Shape, which is one half of what I want here. But at the same time I want to make a copy of what I subtracted as a new shape. The parts for what I want exist within the program and realistically should exist as one combined feature.

I'll hold out hope that said feature does exist for now, even if it's needlessly tucked away somewhere.

[JJMack]

Alt+Click on the eyeball  on the shape layer to turnoff the visibility of all other layers before you do the copy merge then after the copy merge Alt+click again to turn the visibilities back on then do your paste

[Norman Sanders]

Perhaps a version of this will help.

1. Open new file

2. Draw vector map shape

3. Duplicate the map layer and turn off the bottom map layer

4. Add a blank layer and, using the Polygonal or other selection tool create a marching ants outline of

a 5tate.

5. Click the Mask symbol at the bottom of the Layers panel.

6. Drag the Mask down to the map layer

[Chuck Uebele]

So here I have two layers representing two countries.

I use the direct selection tool to select just the outside border of the yellow country, and I pasted it to a new layer, or you can create a new vector, as you said, by using the freeform vector tool.

I turned off the fill of the vector layer and just have the strokes.

I can use the magic wand tool with sample all layers and select the region of the yellow country. Then I can expand the selection a few pixels so there is no white gap between the black lines that the fill. Then I can either fill a lower layer with pixels of my color choice, or create a vector from the selection and select whatever color I want.

This way you have upper layers with just the shapes or partial shapes of the countries, then lower layers with the colors.

[Aleitheo]

Hmm, still not quite the end result I'm looking for since it sounds like I can still have issues with overlap. However it does give me an idea for a possible solution.

I've got my shape, would it be possible to select the northernmost point of the shore of the yellow country, draw a new path from it within the shape and connect it to the southernmost point? That way I have a shape with a path through the middle, the border between the green and yellow countries. I then select all the points for the yellow country and paste them to a new layer. Then I go back, select the points for the green country and paste them to a new layer.

Technically, because I am copying from the exact border line there is no issue of overlap or gaps to worry about. I wouldn't need to cut and paste in this case.

Is that possible, drawing a new path from an existing shape and then connecting it to another point of the shape while keeping the new path inside the shape?

[Chuck Uebele]

No issues with overlap with the method I described. You can select ALL the points of the path and paste it into a new layer, but it get tricky pasting it into an existing shape, as it will want to close the stroke lines. Connecting and splitting paths is much easier in Illustrator.

[Aleitheo]

Sounds like I'll have to get my hands on Illustrator one of these days then, trying what you described at the moment seems like it might be too tedious in the long run for what I'm planning on making.

I'd be able to do it in Illustrator just fine though right? Selecting part of a shape then cutting and pasting it to a new layer?

[Barb Binder]

Illustrator has lots of tools for creating new shapes from existing shapes: pathfinder, shape builder, the shaper tool plus an eraser, scissors and a knife. And moving an shape from one layer to another is as easy as dragging the dot in the Layers panel.

You can ask for help in the illustrator forum when you are ready.

~Barb

[Semaphoric]

I think you can do what you're looking for in Illustrator.

Here I have a base shape (green) with two borders drawn over it:

    

Then, for each of the borders, Object > Path > Divide Objects Below:

    

    

I made each "territory" a different fill, to show how they are distinct objects. Note that control points have been added where the paths intersect, and that the paths for the territories fit together with no gaps.

And as Barb said while I was putting this post together, Illustrator has lots of other tool as well for this kind of thing.