<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE html
  PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<!--#config errmsg="" --><!-- saved from url=(0022)http://help.adobe.com/ -->
<html lang="en-us">
    <head>
        <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
        <meta name="lang" content="en-us" />
        <meta name="area" content="livedocs" />
        <title>Adobe Photoshop CS4 * Draw using the magnetic pen options</title>
        <meta name="product" content="Photoshop" />
        <meta name="keywords" content="" />
        <script type="text/javascript" language="Javascript" charset="UTF-8"><!--[CDATA[
        var currentTreeNode = "WSfd1234e1c4b69f30ea53e41001031ab64-73a0a.html";
// ]]--></script>
<script src="terms.js" type="text/javascript" language="Javascript" charset="UTF-8">...</script> <script src="help.js" type="text/javascript" language="Javascript" charset="UTF-8">...</script>  <script src="utilities.js" type="text/javascript" language="Javascript" charset="UTF-8">...</script> <script src="event.js" type="text/javascript" language="Javascript" charset="UTF-8">...</script> <script src="treeview.js" type="text/javascript" language="Javascript" charset="UTF-8">...</script> <script src="toc.js" language="Javascript" type="text/javascript" charset="UTF-8">..</script> 
<script type="text/javascript">
<!--[CDATA[
var headId = document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0];         
if (use_ie_6_behavior) {
    var linkId = document.createElement("link");
    linkId.href = "content-ie6.css";
    linkId.rel = "stylesheet";
    linkId.type = "text/css";
    headId.appendChild(linkId);
}
function initRoboHelpDOM() {
    if (use_robohelp_behavior) {
        hideElement("searchbar");
        hideElement("hierarchy");
        hideElement("col1");
    }
}
YAHOO.util.Event.onDOMReady(initRoboHelpDOM);
// ]]-->
</script>
<!--#include virtual="/livedocs/ssi/globalheader.ssi" -->
        <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="tree.css" />
        <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="content-fonts.css" />
        <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="content-hyperlinks.css" />
        <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="content.css" />
        <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="localeSpecific.css" />
    </head>
    <body id="content_body" onload="window.focus();">
        <a name="top"></a><div id="mnemonic">
            <div class="Photoshop"><table><tr><td class="banner">Adobe Photoshop CS4</td><td class="pod"><img src="images/PDF.gif" width="16" height="16" hspace="15" valign="50%" />&#160;&#160;
                     <a title="PDF" href="http://help.adobe.com/en_US/Photoshop/11.0/photoshop_cs4_help.pdf">
                         PDF (adobe.com) 
                    </a></td></tr></table></div>
        </div>
        <div id="searchbar">
<!-- BEGIN SEARCH CONTENT -->
            <form class="search_form" id="search" name="search" action="search.html" target="_self">
                <img src="images/search.png" />
<script type="text/javascript">
<!--[CDATA[
function clearSearch(){
    if (document.search.q.value == terms_AHV_SEARCH_BUTTON){document.search.q.value = ""}; 
}
document.write('<input class=\"search_input\" \
        name=\"q\" \
        id=\"q\" \
        type=\"text\" \
        maxlength=\"256\" \
        value=\"' + terms_AHV_SEARCH_BUTTON + '\" onclick=\"clearSearch()\"><\/input>'); 
// ]]-->


</script> 
            </form>
        </div>
<!-- BEGIN PAGE CONTENT WRAPPER -->
        <div id="page_content_wrapper">
<!-- BEGIN PAGE WRAPPER -->
<table id="page_content_table">
<tr>
<td id="col1">
<!-- BEGIN IONCOMMENTCOUNT -->
            <div id="ionComCount">
            </div>
<!-- END IONCOMMENTCOUNT -->
<!-- BEGIN GROUP TOC WRAPPER -->
            
<!-- END GROUP TOC WRAPPER -->
<!-- BEGIN NAV WRAPPER -->
            <div id="group_toc">
<script type="text/javascript">
<!--[CDATA[
if ( typeof(terms_BOOK_SHORT) != 'undefined' ) {
  document.write("<p>" + terms_BOOK_SHORT + "<\/p>");
}
// ]]-->


</script> 
            </div>
            <div id="nav_content">
            </div>
<!-- END NAV WRAPPER -->
</td>
<td id="col2">
<!-- BEGIN CONTENT WRAPPER -->
<!-- BEGIN BREADCRUMBS -->
            
            <div id="breadcrumb">
                
<ul class="navigation"><li class="prev"><a accesskey="p" class="prev" href="WSfd1234e1c4b69f30ea53e41001031ab64-739ba.html" title="Draw with the Freeform Pen tool"><img src="images/blank.gif" alt="Previous" width="17" height="17" /></a></li><li class="next"><a accesskey="n" class="next" href="WSfd1234e1c4b69f30ea53e41001031ab64-7399a.html" title="Managing paths"><img src="images/blank.gif" alt="Next" width="17" height="17" /></a></li></ul><div class="hierarchy" id="hierarchy"><a href="WSfd1234e1c4b69f30ea53e41001031ab64-73ada.html">Drawing</a> /
     <a href="WSfd1234e1c4b69f30ea53e41001031ab64-73a0a.html"><b>Drawing with the Pen tools</b></a> 
     </div>

            </div>
<!-- END BREADCRUMBS -->
            <div id="content_wrapper">
<!-- BEGIN PAGE TITLE -->
                <h1>
                    Draw using the magnetic pen options
                </h1>
<!-- END PAGE TITLE -->
                <div><div class="section"><p>The
Magnetic Pen is an option of the Freeform Pen tool that lets you
draw a path that snaps to the edges of defined areas in your image.
You can define the range and sensitivity of the snapping behavior,
as well as the complexity of the resulting path. The Magnetic Pen
and Magnetic Lasso tools share many of the same options.</p>
</div>
<ol><li class="stepexpand"><span>To convert the Freeform Pen tool to the Magnetic
Pen tool&#160;<img src="images/magpen.png" />, select
Magnetic in the options bar, or click the inverted arrow next to
the shape buttons in the options bar, select Magnetic, and set the
following:</span><ul><li><p>For Width, enter a pixel value between
1 and 256. The Magnetic Pen detects edges only within the specified
distance from the pointer.</p>
</li>
<li><p>For Contrast, enter a percentage value between 1
and 100 to specify the contrast required between pixels for that
area to be considered an edge. Use a higher value for low-contrast
images.</p>
</li>
<li><p>For Frequency, enter a value between 0 and 100 to
specify the rate at which the Pen sets anchor points. A higher value
anchors the path in place more quickly.</p>
</li>
<li><p>If you are working with a stylus tablet, select
or deselect Pen Pressure. When this option is selected, an increase
in pen pressure causes the width to decrease.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="stepexpand"><span>Click in the image to set the first fastening point.</span></li>
<li class="stepexpand"><span>To draw a freehand segment, move the pointer or drag
along the edge you want to trace.</span> <p>The most recent segment of the border remains active. As
you move the pointer, the active segment snaps to the strongest
edge in the image, connecting the pointer to the last fastening
point. Periodically, the Magnetic Pen adds fastening points to the
border to anchor previous sections.</p>
<div class="fignone"><img alt="" id="dr_08" src="images/dr_08.png" /><div class="figdesc">Click to add fastening points, and continue tracing.</div><br /></div></li>
<li class="stepexpand"><span>If the border doesn’t snap to the desired edge, click
once to add a fastening point manually and to keep the border from
moving. Continue to trace the edge and add fastening points as needed.
If you make a mistake, press Delete to remove the last fastening
point.</span></li>
<li class="stepexpand"><span>To dynamically modify the properties of the Magnetic
Pen, do one of the following:</span><ul><li><p>Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Mac&#160;OS)
to draw a freehand path.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac&#160;OS)
to draw straight segments.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Press the open square bracket key ([) to decrease
the Magnetic Pen width by 1 pixel; press the close square bracket
key (]) to increase the pen width by 1 pixel. </p>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="stepexpand"><span>Complete the path:</span><ul><li><p>Press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac&#160;OS)
to end an open path.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Double-click to close the path with a magnetic segment.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac&#160;OS),
and double-click to close the path with a straight segment.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
</div>

                <div id="related">
                    <div class="separator">&#160;</div>
                    
                    
                </div>
                <div id="footer">
                    <p><img src="images/Community.png" />&#160;<a title="community help (adobe.com)" href="http://www.adobe.com/go/lr_Photoshop_community_en">community help (adobe.com)</a></p>
<!-- BEGIN IONCOMMENTS -->
                    <div id="ionComHere">
                    </div>
<!-- END IONCOMMENTS -->
<!--#include virtual="ionComments.ssi" -->
                    <p id="creativecommons"><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/" id="creativecommons_text"><img id="creativecommons_img" src="images/CC.png" alt="This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License" /></a></p>
                </div>
            </div>
<!-- END CONTENT WRAPPER -->
</td>
</tr>
</table>
        </div>
<!-- END PAGE CONTENT WRAPPER -->
<script type="text/javascript">
<!--[CDATA[
scrollToNameAnchor();
// ]]-->
</script> 
<!--#include virtual="/livedocs/ssi/globalfooter.ssi" -->
<!--#include virtual="/ubi/analytics/analytics_ssi.html" -->
    </body>
</html>