Creating And Editing Patterns - Adobe PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS Manual

• Select the paint bucket tool ( ). In the options
bar, set Fill to Pattern and click the inverted arrow
next to the pattern sample and select a pattern
from the pop-up palette. Then click to fill the
selected area with the pattern.
Note: You can load additional pattern libraries into
the pop-up palette prior to making a selection.
(See "Using pop-up palettes" on page 35.)
Stroking a selection or layer with color
You can use the Stroke command to paint a
colored border around a selection or layer. This
allows you to create a softer border than one
created using the Stroke layer style. The Stroke
layer style provides a resolution-independent
method to stroke a shape. (See "Managing layered
images" on page 173.) You can use the Stroke layer
effect when you want to stroke the entire layer. If
you want a quick way to create a stroke on the
current layer—without necessarily following the
edge of the layer—use the Stroke command.
To stroke a selection or layer:
Specify a foreground color. (See "Choosing
1
foreground and background colors" on page 74.)
Select the area or layer you want to stroke.
2
3 Choose Edit > Stroke.
4 In the Stroke dialog box, specify the width of
the hard-edged border. Values can range from 1 to
16 pixels.
5 For Location, specify whether to place the
border inside, outside, or centered over the
selection or layer boundaries.
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS
6 Specify an opacity and a blending mode.
(See "Setting options for painting and editing
tools" on page 147.)
7 If you're working in a layer and want to stroke
only areas containing pixels, select the Preserve
Transparency option. (See "Locking layers" on
page 178.)
8 Click OK to stroke the selection or layer.

Creating and editing patterns

In addition to using the libraries of patterns
provided with Photoshop Elements, you can
create your own custom patterns. Once you've
created patterns, you can save them in a library,
then load and manage libraries of patterns using
the Preset Manager. This allows you to easily use
multiple patterns in an image. You can also use the
pattern stamp tool to paint with a pattern.
(See "Using the pattern stamp tool" on page 133).
To create a custom pattern:
1 Make a rectangular selection around the part of
the image you want to use as the pattern, or you
can use the entire image. Note that large patterns
may become hard to manage.
2 Choose Edit > Define Pattern.
Enter a name for the pattern in the Pattern
3
Name dialog box.
The pattern you defined is repeated as tiles within
the selection. If you want to reuse patterns, you
can create a library of defined patterns.
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User Guide