Clip art can be an important tool to convey necessary information in a stylistic way quickly. Whether you need it for a report or a website, it is important for Clip Art to be distinguishable and easy to understand. However, it can be a struggle to get started making Clip Art when you are using Photoshop, so you may be wondering – how does this even work?

To create clipart in photoshop, you can use a variety of methods. While some artists will use built-in shapes in the Photoshop catalog, others may opt to draw it from scratch using the Photoshop pen tool. No matter the method you use, you can create fascinating results when using Adobe Photoshop to make this kind of art.

If you are interested in learning more about what clip art is and how you can create it in Photoshop, there are a few things you will need to know. That is why, in this article, we will explore how you can create basic shapes on Photoshop, use line art techniques from the Pen tool, and how to save the clip art so it can be used across various mediums. 

Creating Clip Art In Photoshop

When tasked with creating clip art, there are a few ways to get your message across. To make things simpler, we will show you different techniques you can use to create art in this manner. Depending on your level of skill and experience, you can create all kinds of clip art when using Adobe Photoshop. So, without further ado, let’s get started.

Start By Using Built-In Shapes

Depending on your clip-art, one of the easier ways to get started is to use the built-in shapes available in Adobe Photoshop. Here is how you can open up and use these shapes:

1. Run Adobe Photoshop, and open up a new file.
2. Now, you will need to choose a shape to use.
3. Navigate to the toolbar on Photoshop, and find the shapes tool. This is represented with the square shape tool.
4. Hold down the tool to be able to see the other shapes that are available.
5. Select the shape you want to use.
6. On the canvas, click and drag until you are happy with the shape you created.

There are many different adjustments you can apply to the shapes. Remember that there are the following shapes available in photoshop: the rectangle tool, ellipse tool, triangle tool, polygon tool, line tool, and the custom shapes tool. You can also download important shapes into Photoshop if you find available options online. 

In fact, here is a guide on the shape tool in Adobe Photoshop:

Shapes can be adjusted on the basis of a number of features. For example, you can change the mode, the fill style, the stroke, width, height, and the alignment or arrangement of the path in accordance with other elements on the canvas. One of the nifty tools on Photoshop is also that you can use the transform tool to edit the shape’s appearance.

Add Details With The Pen Tool

Now that you have a basic shape of the clip art on the canvas, you can add more details using the Pen tool. This will allow you to build complexity into your design, and is essential if you want to communicate a certain idea or action with your clip art. Here are the steps you need to follow:

1. Go to the toolbar to use the Pen tool on the same canvas.
2. Choose the type of Pen tool you want to use.
3. The curvature pen tool is an excellent choice if you want to create curved paths.
4. For straight lines, you can use the basic pen tool.
5. Create an anchor point at the first point where you want to start the line.
6. Add additional anchor points and adjust as needed.
7. Remember to close paths in order to save your custom shapes.

You can use the pen tool and a combination of different styles to add details to your image. Adding stroke effects that match the style you are looking for can also help to create a cohesive look to your clip art.

Save In The Right Format

When saving the clip art, the best way is to get rid of the background layer and save the item as a PNG file. This will help to save the image’s transparency, so you can use it on all manner of backgrounds suitable for your project.

Final Thoughts

Creating clip art takes a lot of creative power, but with Photoshop on your side, you can make amazing art styles that can be used in numerous ways. Make sure you experiment with your style to learn even more about using different tools on photoshop to create clip art!