Learn to quickly turn a Shape into a Path in Photoshop

Sometimes you get caught in Photoshop working with a shape when what you really want is a path. Luckily it’s easy to convert from one to the other – even if it isn’t obvious how to do it.

Start with the Layers palette open and make sure you have at least one layer in the document in addition to your shape layer. If you don’t, choose Layer > New > Layer and click Ok.

 

Click on the Shape layer in the Layers palette and open the Paths palette.

 

 

You will see the shape path there – double click it and give the new path a new name such as path1 and press Ok.


Now remove the original shape layer by clicking it and press Delete and you will be left with just your path.

 

So there’s a simple but not obvious answer to the question “How do I convert a shape to a path in Photoshop?”

Related posts:

  1. Convert a Path to a Shape in Photoshop
  2. Crop to a Valentine heart shape in Photoshop
  3. How to merge or combine paths in Photoshop
  4. Trevor’s Photoshop tip of the Week – Make a Path from a Selection
  5. Trevor’s Photoshop Tip of the Week – Save a Path with your JPEG