Abstract art Shapes (Tribal, Tattoo etc) for Photoshop and Elements

Tutorial: Subtraction of custom shapes in Photoshop tutorial

1) To use the subtraction / intersection etc of shapes, create the custom shape design as a shape layer (or as a path). Select the shape tool and on the top bar you will see the shape layer / path / fill option.

2) Draw a quick square (a shape layer) with the current foreground color.

3) The custom shape tool can be found 'under' the square / ellipse etc tool.

4) Now go to the top bar and select the 'subtract from shape area' (note, this does have a tendency to keep returning to create new shape layer option, so check before you draw the shape. Once the subtract has been selected, all shapes drawn are now subtracted from the existing shape layer (there are other options such as intersect and exclude)

5) Multiple shapes are drawn, removing the shape design from the square custom shape. More and more of the underlying color can be seen (red is the background, black the color of the custom shape)

6) Once the shape has been created, you can now use the shape as you would a normal custom shape. You can also define the shape as a custom shape for future use. While the shape is selected, go to the edit menu and 'define custom shape..'. The shape is then saved to the current custom shapes palette. The shape library will need to be saved to a CSH shapes library file otherwise on resetting of the shapes, the shape will be lost

7) The shape design now has a drop shadow and bevel added via the layer > layer style menu

The tutorial shows the the original custom shape can be seen just as a starting point for designs. The original shape can be added, subtracted, modified, warped and distorted, points added and removed and more. A single shape can be used as a source for millions and millions of different designs.

The custom shape can also be turned into a brush or a displacement map / distortion / texture or pattern as well.

Shape blur filter in Photoshop and abstract shapes

The shape blur command can be found in the filter blur command menu. The shape blur filter does not come with a huge range of options and it can seem, initially, as not doing much more than a normal blur but it can be used to create subtle blurring effects using the abstract (as well as other shapes) custom shapes. The key thing, I think, is to apply in moderation - the blur itself does not help in that it has a setting going up to 1000 or so and that just ends up with a total blur whatever shape is used. Use the shape blur with smaller settings then you can see the subtle changes between the shapes. Some abstract shapes work better than others

example of a mars scape with a bold abstract shape used in the shape blur filter

example of the same surface modified and blurred (with a setting of 70) and a line based shape.

example of the shape blur with a line shape and a lower shape blur setting

Different fade and blending modes and opacity can also help create stunning blurring with any landscape, text etc

Text and abstract shapes and shape blur in Photoshop

The shape blur probably is even better applied to text - changing the abstract shape results in radically different blurring applied to standard Photoshop text

example of rounded shape applied in shape blur filter in Photoshop

example of triangular scratchy shape used in the shape blur and applied to text in Photoshop

The shape blur can be applied multiple times with the same abstract shape or different abstract shapes. Again, high settings can result in a total blur and little of the original design remains. Blending modes and opacity as well as fading the shape blur applied to text can result in many interesting text designs. The text can also then be further modified by other filters.

One pity is that the shape blur is not part of the filter gallery as that would allow for multiple shape blurs to be applied in one go.

You can also turn the text into a smart object using the layer smart object convert command and the shape blur (and abstract shapes) can be applied as a smart filter and the resulting blur can be modified at any point in the creative process as can the text used.

example abstract shape applied in shape blur as a smart filter applied to smart text / object. Added January 3rd 2012

Opening abstract custom shapes in Photoshop

The abstract shapes / drop shapes etc can be opened via the file open command (just select the CSH shapes file) and the designs are loaded into Photoshop along with the existing shapes - you might hit a problem if you try to load too many shapes but the limits are now fairly high with the recent versions of Photoshop. Another option is to use the preset manager found in the edit menu. I most often use the shapes palette itself by going to the right side menu and selecting the load or replace command - adding all the abstract designs to the shapes palette. The shapes are then added by using the custom shapes tool in the Photoshop toolbox, or via the cookie cutter if you are using Photoshop Elements (the shapes can also be used in the shapes blur plugin that comes with Photoshop)

example of the abstract shapes being loaded into Photoshop - replace shapes menu

Custom shapes tutorial - Drop shadow in Photoshop and Elements

Select custom shapes tool, select the fill option for the tool and select the required custom shape from the tool palette. Once selected, set the foreground color to black and apply fill shape.

Select new foreground color via the toolbox or the swatches palette and then re-apply shape slightly offset from the original design

Custom shapes - Custom shapes to brushes in Photoshop tutorial

Select the custom shapes tool and select a shape from the palette. Set the shape options to fill (though it could as easily be a shape layer) and then apply the shape design in different parts of the document (perhaps changing colors or applying effects to the applied shape design in between software of the shape).

Edit menu > define brush.

Apply newly created brush as required using brush tools