You will frequently require straight lines for making tables, guides, grids for picture collages, and much more. The ability to make straight lines in Photoshop is, therefore, crucial. Fortunately, doing it is surprisingly simple.
Just select the Brush Tool and click on one canvas area. Hold the ‘Shift’ key and click on another area on the canvas to create a straight line. Photoshop will automatically draw a straight line to join the two points. Holding ‘Shift’ when clicking allows you to expand your line from the previous position.
In Photoshop, these straight lines can be made horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Still, there are also several other tools available in addition to the Brush tool. This article will explore five methods to draw straight lines in any direction using Adobe Photoshop tools.
5 Photoshop Techniques For Drawing Straight Lines
1. Pencil And Brush Tools
You can change the line’s thickness by adjusting the Stroke Size slider to the left or right. You can alter the line style as well. Therefore, you can employ a straight or dashed line instead of a standard straight line.
The brush tool is primarily used for painting, while the pencil tool creates sharp lines. However, there are other uses for the brush tool, such as enhancing selections.
The pencil and brush tools differ in terms of the number of possibilities they provide in addition to their various functions. For instance, the pencil tool lacks a distinct panel with the same number of modification choices as the brush tool.
The brush and pencil tools can be used to draw straight lines, regardless of their differences. These tools are located in the toolbar. Select the symbol for either one of them beneath the Brush grouping to start using it.
Click anywhere on the canvas once the chosen tool has been enabled. Hole Shift while clicking a different location to create a straight line connecting the two spots. When you draw a straight line, your prior brush or pencil tool settings will remain in effect.
For instance, if you last used your brush with a size of two pixels, your line will also have that width. Therefore, before drawing your straight line, ensure you are satisfied with those settings. If not, you will need to utilize one of these techniques to thicken the lines in the future.
Press the Shift key and hold it while you click various locations on the canvas. As a result, several straight lines will be produced. A succession of straight lines can be changed in direction by clicking on specific locations. This feature is useful for drawing broken lines like zigzags. Tracing objects can also be done by drawing a succession of straight lines.
2. Line Tool
Because the Line tool is made for creating straight lines on the canvas, it is the simplest technique to draw a straight line in Adobe Photoshop.
Choose the Line tool from the toolbar’s Shapes group (U), which also has other simple shapes you can use in your works, to draw a straight line. Create a straight line on the canvas by clicking and dragging outward.
If you hold down the Shift key, your line will remain at 0°. The Options tab has a multitude of possibilities, from customizing your straight line.
Customizing Straight Lines From The Options Menu
You can alter the color of your line using the Stroke option. You can select a color from your Recently Used Colors or open the Color Picker window by clicking the eye-catching symbol.
You can change the line’s thickness by adjusting the Stroke Size slider to the left or right. You can alter the line style as well. Therefore, you can employ a straight dotted or dashed line instead of a standard straight line.
Watch this video to learn how to draw a straight line in Photoshop:
Draw Straight Lines In Photoshop
3. Pen Path
You may make lines and forms by connecting anchor points using the pen tool. With the pen tool, you must first draw a path and then stroke the path to produce a straight line. First, click “P” on the toolbar to select the Pen tool.
The first anchor point can be created by clicking anywhere on the canvas. The second anchor point will be created by clicking another location on the canvas. There will be a straight line that connects the two anchor locations. Right-click the route and select Stroke route to make it into a stroked straight line.
Next, select a tool to brush the path. You have a choice of doing this using either the Brush tool or the Pen tool. To confirm the action, click ‘OK.’ The trail will become straight as you stroke it. Remember that the parameters of the brush or pencil tool you were last using will be carried over to your new line.
4. The Rectangular Marquee Tool
The rectangular marquee tool also allows for the creation of straight lines. You can customize the line thickness when drawing with this tool. To use this tool, navigate to the toolbar and select the dashed-rectangle (M)-depicted Rectangular Marquee icon.
Set Feather to 0 in the options tab after that to prevent blurring of your line. When using the Rectangle Marquee Tool, drag your rectangle selection by pressing and holding the mouse button in the direction you want it to go.
When the selected size feels appropriate, release the mouse button. Using the rectangle Rectangle Marquee Tool, you can draw a straight line horizontally or vertically.
Set your preferred foreground and then click Alt + Delete if you are using a Windows operating system or Option + Delete if you are using a Mac to fill the selection with color. Then, hit Command + D (on Mac) or Control + D (on Windows). Your foreground color fills the line using this technique.
On the other hand, you can select Fill by right-clicking the rectangular selection. Choose Color from the Contents drop-down menu in the Fill dialogue box.
By performing this step, the Color Picker window will open, enabling you to select any color to fill the straight line. To deselect the line and use it as you choose, use Control + D for Windows or Command + D for Mac.
5. The Single Row Marquee Tool
A one-pixel-high selection made with the Single Row Marque Tool can be simply converted into a straight line. With the aid of this tool, you may quickly draw a straight line that spans the full canvas. It facilitates the creation of Photoshop objects like grids and tables.
Click the Single Row Marquee Tool from the Marquee category in the Toolbar to draw a straight line. Next, set Feather to 0 in the Options bar. In Photoshop, the Feather option smooths down the edges of components. Using the Feather above zero is not recommended to create straight lines since it will produce blurred lines.
Click anywhere on the canvas at this time to instantaneously draw a straight line across it. To set the line-up where you want, drag it up or down. After that, to fill the selection with your foreground color on a Mac or Windows computer, press Alt + Delete.
Press Control + D on a Windows or Mac computer to deselect the option. Then your straight line will show up on the canvas. Additionally, lines with a weight greater than one pixel can be produced. Once more, use the Single Row Marquee Tool from the Toolbar to choose an area.
Afterward, click anywhere on the canvas as indicated above. Select > Modify > Expand is the next step. Then, decide by how many pixels the selection should be made larger. Press Alt + Delete (Windows) or Option + Delete (Mac) afterward. Press Control + D on a Windows or Mac computer to deselect the option. Due to the original selection being expanded by the stated quantity, a line with a thickness of 9 pixels is produced.
Additionally, you can draw vertical, straight lines that span the entire canvas. To accomplish this, use the Single Column Marquee tool on the canvas, and adjust the line’s color to your liking. Making perfectly straight lines that span your entire canvas is easy with the single row and column marquee tools.
Conclusion
For many design projects, creating straight lines in Photoshop is crucial. The Line tool, Brush or Pencil tool, Pen Path, Single Row Marquee tool, and Rectangular Marquee tool are some of the techniques that users can use to quickly generate straight lines with many modification choices.
These techniques provide versatility and accuracy when drawing straight lines in Photoshop, whether used to create tables, grids, or fine-tune selections.
