Photoshop moron needs help!

[CES020]

I resisted Illustrator as long as I could and I'm slowly learning to like it a lot. However, the same is not true for me and Photoshop, and I need a little help. I subscribe to Lynda.com and I've watched about a zillion Photoshop tutorials. I can hit perfect skin colors, lighten things that are dark, darken things that are light, blah blah blah. Okay, I can't do any of that, but I have watched the tutorials, hours and hours and hours of tutorials and I have yet to find an answer to help me in what I need to do.

I need to be able to draw some shapes, but they have to be precise. For instance, I need to draw a picture frame that's a certain size so I can insert images into that "frame" area. So let's go with that for now.....

I have a frame that's 8" x 10" on the outside and 6" x 8" on the inside. I can easily make the canvas size 8" x 10" for the outside, but how in the world do you draw a rectangle (or a circle) a specific size and put it in a specific location? So I need to draw that 6" x 8" rectangle and it needs to be dead center of the canvas, or just for kicks, some other object that may not be the center of the canvas.

I can see the info box where I can see the size and location, but I can't see anything that allows me to actually input numbers and make things go where I want them, like you can in Illustrator.

I see people's Photoshop work all the time and it's got all kinds of shapes, text, curved text, and all sorts of things, all perfect, and yet, I can't draw a rectangle in the right place to save my life. Obviously I'm really missing something important, like an entire docker or something.

Help???!!!!!!!!!!?????

Please........

Purrrrrrty Please?

-Steve

 

[JeremySI]

you can keep the info window open which will show you the dimensions while you are drawing it. you can also use the transform tool to resize it to whatever by dragging the anchors

easiest way is to define the size before you make the shape. with the shape tool selected look at the toolbar under the file edit toolbar thing. next to the wiggly custom shape icon is a little arrow which will give you a dropdown box where you can enter in the dimensions you want.


dont worry you arent the only one whose ass it is kicking. i recently started trying to get into photoshop from vector drawing and it is definitely a dif approach

 

[cgsigns_jamie]

What version are you using?

I could never figure out how to input a size in Photoshop when drawing shapes.
What I do now is draw the shape to size in Illustrator and then copy and paste it as a Smart Object into Photoshop.

Otherwise you can use Photoshop to create various design elemnts then use Illustrator or InDesign to assemble everything into one design.

Also another great Photoshop resource is NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals). The discounts alone are well worth the membership. The website is Photoshopuser.com

 

[CES020]

CS4 is what I'm using. I'm actually bringing shapes in from Illustrator now, but it seems ass backwards to draw something in Illustrator, then bring that into Photoshop to put the images in place. Seems like I could just use "place" in Illy and skip using Photoshop all together Which is what I have been doing, but I'm trying to make myself learn more and more of all the CS4 pieces a little at a time in hopes of one day actually being able to use them

 

["Deposit Please"]

select rectangle Shape tool on tool bar, go to options bar, fly down geometry options window opens , hit your exact dimensions and click on artboard.

 

[CES020]

Okay, got that! So I can draw it the right size to start with, how about placing it in an exact location? If I have a 8" x 10" canvas and I want it placed with the center being X=4 Y=5, is the only option to look at the info box when dragging it? Seems like there would be a place to just enter the X and Y.

Thanks for the help so far, I learned something new already

 

["Deposit Please"]

show rulers, drag x & y guides to 4 & 5. view fly down, snap to guides. Snap shape to guides. I always zoom in for precision as well

 

[cgsigns_jamie]

select rectangle Shape tool on tool bar, go to options bar, fly down geometry options window opens , hit your exact dimensions and click on artboard.

I've been using Photoshop for a LONG time and I've never known that was there... Thank you!

 

["Deposit Please"]

Theres a bullseye in the center of your shape, simply drag your shape near the guides where they cross. At this point, Nudge your shape w/ arrows keys, that way, the bullseye will be seen for alignment

 

[visualeyez]

Heres one: With the background layer and the object layer both selected, go to the Layer menu and there should be an "align" option which lets you align, among other things, horizontal and vertical centers.

 

[CES020]

Heres one: With the background layer and the object layer both selected, go to the Layer menu and there should be an "align" option which lets you align, among other things, horizontal and vertical centers.

EXCELLENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That helps me a tremendous amount on other things I have been fighting with too!

Thanks to everyone that's helped.

 

[MikePro]

+1 to rulers
+1 to you can also make things to size in illustrator, and if they're simple enough (not too demanding, RAMwise)... just copy and paste them into photoshop. They retain their attributes across the clipboard.