The
pencil tool is grouped with the brush tool in the Photoshop toolbox.
The
pencil tool operates in a way that is almost identical to the brush
tool, except that the pencil tool gives you harder and crisper edges. To
use the pencil tool you normally select the foreground colour that you
want to draw with, and then specify your pencil diameter, and hardness
in the exact same way as would with the brush tool.
As
with the brush tool, there are settings for blend mode and opacity
available in the options bar.
Unlike
the brush tool, there is no Air Brush effect available for the pencil
tool.
To
draw a strait line with the pencil tool, click on one point, and then
Shift +click on the point you want to draw to. A straight line will be
drawn automatically between the two points.
The
following is a list of some of the blend mode options for the Pencil
tool. These options can be applied in the same way to the brush tool as
well. When you paint or draw with the pencil or brush tools, the pixel
values of the underlying image must be blended in some way with the
paint you apply.
|
Normal |
When you use this
mode with the pencil or brush, the colour you paint with will
cover the underlying colour without blending. |
|
Dissolve |
With this mode, the
colour being painted is randomly scattered to give a rough
“spray painted “coverage. |
|
Darken |
This mode darkens
the underlying image colour based on the colour that is being
painted |
|
Multiply |
This mode darkens
the image where you paint, based on the brightness of the paint
colour and the brightness of the underlying image colour. |
|
Lighten |
This mode lightens
the underlying image based on the colour that is being painted |
|
Screen |
Lightens the image
where you paint, based on the paint colour and underlying image
colour. |
|
Overlay |
The hues (shades of
colour) in the underlying image will approach the hue of the
painted colour. |
|
Soft light |
This effect is like
overlay, but it is weaker |
|
Hard light |
This effect is like
overlay, but only stronger |
|
Difference |
Creates a colour
value based on the difference between the paint colour and the
underlying image colour |
|
Hue
|
Gives the
underlying colour the same hue as the paint |
|
Saturation |
Gives the
underlying colour the same saturation as the paint |
|
Luminosity |
Gives the
underlying pixels the same lightness as the paint pixels. |
