How to use the Pen tool to cut out an object

Cut out an object with the Pen tool in seven steps

1. 1

   Open the photo

   Go to lilcactus.app and choose File› then Open… (Ctrl+O or ⌘O), or drag the photo onto the window. To follow along exactly, open the sample photo from this page. Zoom in with View› then Zoom In if the edges look small; placing points is easier at 100% or more.

2. 2

   Choose the Curvature Pen

   Right-click the pen button in the toolbar, or press and hold it, and choose Curvature Pen. On the options bar (the strip under the menus), check that Mode says Path: the pen then draws an outline, not a filled shape.

   

   

3. 3

   Click points around the cup and saucer

   Start at the left edge of the cup’s rim and click points clockwise around the outside, a pixel or two inside the edge: fewer on gentle curves, more where the edge bends. Along the front and right of the saucer, the brown band under its rim belongs to the saucer: put those points at the bottom of the band, where it meets the near-black shadow. Further left, where the shadow under the saucer turns brown, the edge is where the pale underside ends. Each click adds a smooth point, and the line curves through all of them. Where the outline turns sharply, hold Alt or ⌥ as you click to make a corner: where the top of the handle meets the cup, where the handle meets the saucer’s rim, and where the saucer’s rim meets the cup on the left.

   If a point misses the edge, drag it onto the edge; zoom in to check, as in the close-up below. When you are back at the start, click the first point to close the path. About 22 points go around this cup.

   Tip Placed a point by mistake? Press Delete to remove the last point you placed or dragged, or Esc to cancel the path you are drawing.

   

   

4. 4

   Cut out the gap inside the handle

   The background shows through the handle, above the saucer. On the options bar, set Operation to Subtract. Zoom in to 200–300% with View› then Zoom In, so your clicks don’t land on the point you just placed. Then click points around that gap, a pixel or two into the handle and the saucer so the outline sits just outside the gap, with corners where the saucer meets the handle, and click the first point to close it. The new outline is cut out of the first one. Set Operation back to Unite afterward: the setting stays, and the next outline you draw would be cut out too.

   

   

5. 5

   Turn the path into a layer mask

   Click Make Selection on the options bar: a dotted selection runs along the path, around the cup and saucer and around the gap in the handle. Then click Add layer mask at the bottom of the Layers panel (the rectangle with a circle). The background disappears: the layer mask is white inside the selection and black outside. Choose Select› then Deselect to remove the dotted line. The photo itself is untouched, so you can still paint the mask to adjust the edge. See how to use layer masks.

   

   

   

6. 6

   Save the path to use again

   Your outline is a Work Path. Open the Paths panel (its tab is in the same group as Layers) and click the ✓ beside Work Path: it becomes Path 1, saved in the project or PSD. Double-click the name to rename it. Hover over its row and click the dotted-rectangle button to load it as a selection again at any time.

   

   

7. 7

   Save, or export the cut-out

   To keep the layer, its mask and the saved path, choose File› then Save As› then Lil Cactus Project… (Ctrl+Shift+S or ⇧⌘S) or File› then Save As› then Photoshop (.psd)…; both keep saved paths. After that, File› then Save updates that file.

   For the cut-out on a transparent background, choose File› then Export› then PNG… and click Export: a new file. A JPEG has no transparency, so File› then Save into the JPEG you opened, or a JPEG export, puts white behind the cup. The first Save of a JPEG, including the sample, opens the Save Image dialog.

Which pen tool to use

• Curvature Pen: click points and the curves are worked out for you; Alt or ⌥-click for a corner, double-click a point to switch it between smooth and corner. The easiest way to start.
• Pen: click for a corner point, or drag as you place a point to pull out handles and set the curve yourself. More control, and the usual choice once you know it.
• Freeform Pen: drag like a pencil and Lil Cactus fits a smooth path to your stroke; Tolerance on the options bar decides how closely it follows your hand. Finish near the start to close it.

Change a path afterward

• Right-click the pen button in the toolbar and choose Direct Selection to drag single points or their handles. Path Selection, in the same menu, moves the whole path.
• Add Anchor Point adds a point where you click on the line; Delete Anchor Point removes the point you click.
• Convert Point turns a curve point into a corner when you click it, and a corner into a curve when you drag it.
• The More path commands button (…) after Make Shape on the options bar has Finish Open Path, Close Path, Remove Last Point, Edit Points, Remove Path and Clear All Paths.

Paths, shapes and selections

• Shapes directly: set Mode to Shape before you start, and each closed outline becomes a filled shape layer.
• A selection to a path: make any selection, open the Paths panel and click the pen button at its bottom. Useful for smoothing a rough selection, or for keeping it as a path.

Fix common problems

Make Selection is grayed out, or missing

Grayed out: there is no path yet. Missing from the options bar: Mode is set to Shape or Pixels; set it to Path.

The outline cuts in or bulges between two points

The points are too far apart for that curve. With the Curvature Pen, after closing the path, click the line between them to add a point, and drag it onto the edge. The Curvature Pen smooths the neighboring stretch again, so if it moves, add a point there too.

The outline is lumpy

Too many points. Smooth curves need few: delete extra points with Delete Anchor Point, and drag the rest onto the edge.

A thin line of background shows around the object

The points sit on the edge or just outside it. Drag them a pixel or two inside the edge with Direct Selection, then choose Layer› then Raster Mask› then Delete Layer Mask, choose the Curvature Pen again, click Make Selection and click Add layer mask again.

My new outline changed or cut into my old path

Operation was set to Unite or Subtract, so the new outline was combined with the selected path. Choose Edit› then Undo (Ctrl+Z or ⌘Z), set Operation to New path and draw again.

Coming from another editor

Photoshop

The Pen, Freeform Pen and Curvature Pen tools (P), Make Selection on the options bar, and the Paths panel.

GIMP

The Paths tool (B), then Select › From Path.

The Pen tool: questions and answers