--- description: Video Transcript: Let’s talk about shape layer in photoshop CC. As like pen tool, shape layer also uses vector technology. You will get shape layer tool right here in toolbar. Now click on that title: How to Draw Shapes in Photoshop using Shape Tool image: https://www.guru99.com/images/how-to-draw-shapes-in-photoshop.png --- [Skip to content](#main) **⚡ Smart Summary** Drawing shapes in Photoshop uses the Shape tool, which relies on vector technology like the pen tool. This resource explains the Path, Shape, and Pixels modes, editing fill and stroke, using the Custom Shape tool, and subtracting areas with the pathfinder feature. * 📐 **Vector Based:** Shape layers use vector paths, so they scale without quality loss. * 🔀 **Three Modes:** Choose Path, Shape, or Pixels from the options bar menu. * 🎨 **Fill and Stroke:** Shape mode exposes fill color, stroke color, and stroke type controls. * ⭐ **Custom Shapes:** The Custom Shape tool provides ready-made shapes across categories. * ➖ **Pathfinder:** Subtract front shape removes an area from the main shape. [ Read More ](javascript:void%280%29;) ![How to Draw Shapes in Photoshop](https://www.guru99.com/images/how-to-draw-shapes-in-photoshop.png) ## Steps to Draw Shapes in Photoshop Like the pen tool, the shape layer also uses [Photoshop](https://adobe.prf.hn/click/camref:1101lrcZD/pubref:how-to-use-shape-layer-in-photoshop-cc/destination:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.adobe.com%2Fproducts%2Fphotoshop.html) vector technology. You will get the shape layer tool right here in the toolbar. [![Steps to Draw Shapes in Photoshop](https://www.guru99.com/images/photoshop/shape_layer_1.png)](https://www.guru99.com/images/photoshop/shape%5Flayer%5F1.png) Now click on that and you can see various **shapes** like: * Rectangle Tool * Rounded Rectangle Tool * Ellipse Tool * Polygon Tool * Line Tool * Custom Shape Tool By selecting these items you can draw them as a regular path or as a shape layer. See the options bar; in the second position you can see a menu. It will show you 3 options to draw your shape: “Path”, “Shape”, and “Pixels”. [](https://www.guru99.com/images/photoshop/shape%5Flayer%5F2.png) Now, Pixels fills the drawn path with pixels; this option does not use vector technology. Path will draw only the path of the shape and will not fill any color in the path. But here I select the Shape option, and you can see some various options here. I can select “fill color, stroke color, stroke type” and much more options here. [](https://www.guru99.com/images/photoshop/shape%5Flayer%5F3.png) Now draw the shape and see in the layer panel that a new layer is created there. [](https://www.guru99.com/images/photoshop/shape%5Flayer%5F4.png) You can see a small path icon on the layer. It indicates that this layer is a shape layer. [](https://www.guru99.com/images/photoshop/shape%5Flayer%5F5.png) Now grab the “Path Selection tool” and you can click on that. You can see there are some control handles of the vector shape. If you want to edit the color of the shape, then just go and double click on the shape layer and you will get the color picker. [](https://www.guru99.com/images/photoshop/shape%5Flayer%5F6.png) ### RELATED ARTICLES * [How to use Pen Tool in Photoshop? Complete Tutorial ](https://www.guru99.com/how-to-use-pen-tool-photoshop-cc-tutorial.html "How to use Pen Tool in Photoshop? Complete Tutorial") * [How to Remove Background from Image in Photoshop ](https://www.guru99.com/how-to-use-extraction-techniques-in-photoshop-cc.html "How to Remove Background from Image in Photoshop") * [How to use Brush Tool in PhotoShop? ](https://www.guru99.com/how-to-use-brush-tool-in-photoshop-cc.html "How to use Brush Tool in PhotoShop?") * [How to use Photoshop Text/Type Tool to add Text ](https://www.guru99.com/how-to-use-text-tool-in-photoshop-cc.html "How to use Photoshop Text/Type Tool to add Text") These are vector shapes, which means they are resolution independent, and I can drag and use them in any document and scale them up and down without any loss of quality, because they use vector technology instead of pixel technology. Let us see a useful aspect of shape tools, the “Photoshop Custom Shape tool”, which gives you lots of ready-made shapes that you can easily use when you want. [](https://www.guru99.com/images/photoshop/shape%5Flayer%5F7.png) All these shapes are included in this popup menu by a number of different categories, but right now I am choosing “All” so that I can get all the shapes out there in the list. [](https://www.guru99.com/images/photoshop/shape%5Flayer%5F8.png) Now choose the shape that you want to use. To draw the shape, you can simply click on the work area if you want to draw it with any specific size, or you can also simply drag and draw the shape to create the shape layer. [](https://www.guru99.com/images/photoshop/shape%5Flayer%5F9.png) Let us edit the shape’s color and stroke properties in the options bar at the top. [](https://www.guru99.com/images/photoshop/shape%5Flayer%5F10.png) Now if I want to subtract some part inside this shape, then I will go and select the “Ellipse tool” and set the pathfinder feature to “Subtract Front Shape”. [](https://www.guru99.com/images/photoshop/shape%5Flayer%5F11.png) If I draw a circle inside here, that is going to subtract that area from the main shape. I can also change the position of the shape. [](https://www.guru99.com/images/photoshop/shape%5Flayer%5F12.png) So this was a brief overview about the shape layers in [Photoshop](https://www.guru99.com/introduction-to-photoshop-cc.html). You can create various kinds of designs with the help of the shape layer without losing any quality, because it uses vector Photoshop technology. [](https://www.guru99.com/images/photoshop/shape%5Flayer%5F13.png) Now let us go ahead to our next topic, “[smart object](https://www.guru99.com/how-to-use-smart-object-in-photoshop-cc.html)“. ## FAQs 🤖 Can AI generate custom shapes or vector art in Photoshop? Yes. AI tools and Adobe Firefly can generate vector-style graphics and custom shapes from a text prompt, giving you editable paths that you can refine with the shape and path selection tools. 🧠 Can AI convert a photo into an editable vector shape? Yes. AI-based vectorizing tools trace an image into scalable paths. In Photoshop you can then refine these as shape layers, though complex images may need manual cleanup for clean results. 💾 What image formats preserve Photoshop vector shape layers? Saving as PSD, PSB, or PDF keeps shape layers editable as vectors. Exporting to flat formats like JPG or PNG rasterizes them into pixels, so the vector paths can no longer be scaled losslessly. 🔗 Can Photoshop shapes be exported as SVG? Yes. You can export shape layers as SVG using File, Export, or by copying the SVG code, which keeps them as scalable vectors for use in web and app design. #### Summarize this post with: ChatGPT Perplexity Grok Google AI **Stay Updated on AI** **Get Weekly AI Skills, Trends, Actionable Advice.** ##### Sign up for the newsletter Subscribe for Free You have successfully subscribed. 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