Vector masks in PSP 10?

[AustinHastings]

Howdy,

I've got a complex PSP file that is mostly composed of vector elements.

In particular, one element is a "moon slice" that I am making as the overlap of two circles, producting a kind of C shape.

I'm currently using the vector layers to align the shapes, then copying one vector circle as a raster layer to make a mask, then using the mask to block out the unwanted parts of the other circle.

All this is so I can keep a transparent background, so that the C shape can be moved around.

Does anyone know how I could do this entirely with vector operations, so that I could produce a complex C (moon) shape and have it be a draggable, resizable vector object?

Thanks,

=Austin

 

[jconingham]

Unfortunately I don't think you can... This is something that would be easily done in Flash or Illustrator, but not in PSP since it was never intended to be a vector program - it has a few vector tools, but it also has many limitations in this area.

 

[Eyespi20]

Why don't you use your pen and create your shape as a vector shape?

Make one line. Click the edit button on the toolbar, then select the end point of it, right click and choose curve before (if it's the end -- if it's the start, choose curve after). Click off the line, then click back on your point. You should see a "handle" now. Grab that handle and pull it in the direction opposite the way you want your outer curve to be. Click the end button when you have it curved the way you want it to be. Now draw a second line just inside the first one with the ends touching the ends of your curved shape. Do the same steps to it to create your inside curve. Once you click the end button, you should have two vector layers with the curves. There you have your moon.

That seems to me to be the simplest way to accomplish your task. I know my instructions make it seem complicated, but trust me, it's REALLY simple.

Margaret

 

[jconingham]

Hmm, I might have misunderstood your question. I thought that you wanted to know how to use vector *masks*, but if it is a crescent moon you want then follow Margaret's directions.

 

[AustinHastings]

Margaret,

You're so smart.

The reason is that I was looking for a way to make a crescent, and I came up with overlapping two circles, and that led me to doing masks, and so I got fixated on masking, or merging the two circles.

I never thought about how to construct the shape as a shape by itself - only how I could get PSP to do it for my by telling it to combine two circles.

I tried your idea, and it sort of works. I think I'm going to need to insert a few more 'nodes' to get the shape tuned the way I want, but I can definitely see a path from here to there.

Thanks for setting me on the right track!


JConingham:

You were right that I was after vector masks, but the reason was to create the vector crescent shape. Since vector masking doesn't work, I'll got about it differently. Margaret's solution definitely isn't a vector mask, but it's going to get the job done, and give me something I can scale and rotate and yadda-yadda-yadda, all the benefits of vectors.

W00+!

Thanks to everyone for the help. I sure wish there was a good tutorial or manual talking about the splines and nodes stuff. The docs are pretty sparse, so it's mostly trial and error. At least I'm on the right path, though.

=Austin