Photoshop Shapes: Create Your Own Photoshop Custom Shapes

Step 6: Select The Ellipse Tool

Let's start with his eyes. We could select his eyes with the Pen Tool if we wanted, but since they're round, we'll be able to select them more easily using the Ellipse Tool. Select the Ellipse Tool from the Tools palette. By default, it's hiding behind the Rectangle Tool, so click on the Rectangle Tool, then hold your mouse button down for a second or two until the fly-out menu appears, and then select the Ellipse Tool from the list:

Step 7: Select The "Subtract From Shape Area" Option

With the Ellipse Tool selected, look up in the Options Bar and you'll see a series of icons grouped together that look like little squares combined in different ways. These icons allow us to do things like add a new shape to the current shape, subtract a shape from the current shape, or intersect one shape with another. Click on the third icon from the left, which is the Subtract from shape area icon:

Step 8: Drag Out Shapes To Subtract Them From The Initial Shape

Now that we have the "Subtract from shape area" option selected, we can begin adding little details to our shape by essentially cutting holes out of it. I'm going to begin by dragging an elliptical shape around his left eye:

When I release my mouse button, the elliptical shape around the eye is instantly subtracted, or "cut out", from the initial shape, creating a hole for the eye. The left eye from the original image on the Background layer below it is now showing through the hole:

I'll do the same thing for the right eye. First, I'll drag an elliptical shape around it:

And as soon as I release my mouse button, a second round hole is cut out of the initial shape, creating the second eye, again allowing the original image below it to show through:

Since the two buttons below his bow tie are also round, I can use the Ellipse Tool to cut them out of my shape as well. First, I'll drag a shape around the top button:

Releasing my mouse button subtracts the shape from the initial shape, creating a hole for the button and allowing the image below it to show through:

And now I'll do the same thing for the bottom button, first dragging my shape around it:

And when I release my mouse button, a fourth hole is created in the initial shape:

If I look at my shape layer's preview thumbnail in the Layers palette at this point, I can see the two holes for the eyes and the two holes for the buttons that I've cut out of the shape:

We're going to switch back to the Pen Tool to add the remaining details to the shape next!