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I've been messin with this for a bit now and I can't figure out for the life of me how to combine different shapes made with the pen tool that are on different layers. That is without rasterizing and just merging layers.
I keep thinking it's going to be something really simple i missed... So if anyone can help me I'd greatly appreciate it.
Thanks!
- Hybrid
There may be a more efficient way of doing this, but the following will at least make it happen.
1) Select the layer that your shape is on then use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to select the path then hit Ctrl+C to copy it.
2) Deselect the path (click outside of it) and hit Ctrl+V to paste it. This should show up as a new Work Path in the Paths palette.
3) Save this as a new path.
4) Repeat Step #1, this time for your second shape.
5) In the Paths palette, select the path the you want to combine the second shape with then hit Ctrl+V to paste the second path into the same 'space' as your first path. At this point you will still need to Combine them, so make the Path Selection Tool (A) active then hit the 'Combine' button on the options bar.
Note that both the Direct Selection Tool and Path Selection Tool use the same hotkey (A). To access one if the other is active, right-click on the icon in the toolbar to see the other tool. Whichever one was last selected will be the one that is called up when you hit the hotkey. For purposes of clarity and for any who might not know, the Direct Selection Tool allows you to select individual nodes of a path while the Path Selection Tool will select entire paths and the Combine button is only visible while the Path Selection Tool is active.
I'm on a Mac using Photoshop CS2, but with one Path set to a selection already, I then use Shift+Apple+Click to add, Option+Apple+Click to subtract.
On the PC, that should be Shift+Alt to add, Windows+Alt to subtract.
You'll see the mouse change to have a [+] and [-] when it's successful.