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Selecting paths (Photoshop)


    Selecting a path component or path segment displays all of the anchor points on the selected portion, including any direction lines and direction points if the selected segment is curved. Direction points appear as filled circles, selected anchor points as filled squares, and unselected anchor points as hollow squares.

To select a path:

  1. Do one of the following:
    • To select a path component (including a shape in a shape layer), select the path selection tool  path selection tool , and click anywhere inside the path component. If a path consists of several path components, only the path component under the pointer is selected.

    TipTo display the bounding box along with the selected path, select Show Bounding Box in the options bar.

    • To select a path segment, select the direct selection tool direct selection tool , and click one of the segment's anchor points or drag a marquee over part of the segment.
    Drag a marquee to select segments
    Drag a marquee to select segments.
  2. To select additional path components or segments, select the path selection tool or the direct selection tool, then hold down Shift while selecting additional paths or segments.
  3. TipWhen the direct selection tool is selected, you can select the entire path or path component by Alt-clicking (Windows) or Option-clicking (Mac OS) inside the path. To activate the direct selection tool when any other tool is selected, position the pointer over an anchor point, and press Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS).

To change the overlap mode for the selected path component:

    Using the path selection tool, drag a marquee to select existing path areas, then choose a shape area option in the options bar:

    • Add to Shape Area Add to Shape Area button to add the path area to overlapping path areas.
    • Subtract from Shape Area Subtract from Shape Area button to remove the path area from overlapping path areas.
    • Intersect Shape Areas Intersect Shape Areas button to restrict the area to the intersection of the selected path area and overlapping path areas.
    • Exclude Overlapping Shape Areas Exclude Overlapping Shape Areas button to exclude the overlap area.

To show or hide the selected path component:

    Do one of the following:

    • Choose View > Show > Target Path.
    • Choose View > Extras. This command also shows or hides a grid, guides, selection edges, annotations, and slices.