Need help drawing lines

[brewguy1957]

I took a great pic of the Comet NEOWISE that included the big dipper. I would like to draw a line to trace out the stars that make up the dipper. My freehand rendition sucks. I've read some of the posts here (and elsewhere) but I am unable to mimic the results. Using the shift key does nothing. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Using Elements 14. Thank you.

[pontiac1940]

Welcome brewguy1957
This might help. The layout will look a bit different in 2014. 
Good luck. 

Clive
 

[Tpgettys]

Hi brewguy1957 , and welcome to the Photoshop Elements & More forum!

To draw your lines you will use the Shape tool.  Click that (or press 'U') and select the Line Tool.  Now you can click on a star, drag to the next and release the mouse button.  A line will be drawn using the foreground color and using the Width you set.  The line will be perfectly straight!

Let us know how it works out.

[Tpgettys]

It looks like we were typing at the same time Clive. Your screen shot is perfect!

[cats4jan]

You can use the brush tool to draw lines

Open a new layer to use for your lines (as suggested by foto frank)

-use one of the default brushes - "hard round" works well
-size of the brush chosen depends on how fat you want your line to be

To draw a straight line:
-left click where you would like your line to start
-hold down the shift key (hold down the shift key after clicking the first time - not while you're clicking the first time)
-while holding down the shift key, left click where you want your line to end

You are not drawing (dragging) the line - it will appear after the second click - it fills in the space between the two clicks

You must do all steps for each segment of your drawing unless you want to go from point to point 

If you want to go from point to point - with all lines connected, hold down the shift key and click - for each connecting line 
after your initial non-shift key click. (for smoothness in connecting the lines, continuous shift-clicking works best)


Sorry about the size of the example, I've forgotten how to make something so it appears smaller in the reply  

[fotofrank]

As Janice said If you create a new layer to do you drawing on you can adjust the opacity of the line.

[BuckSkin]

The cat lady's click > shift + click > etc. method works with the Selection Brush and the Eraser as well.
It works with just about any of the "brush" tools.

[Sepiana]

Dec 29, 2020 23:47:42 GMT brewguy1957 said:

Using the shift key does nothing. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Using Elements 14. Thank you.

Hi brewguy1957, welcome to PSE&M!

Using the Shift key with either the Brush tool or the Pencil tool is the way to draw a straight line. As a matter of fact, it's the technique described in the Help file.

Note:

To draw a straight line, click a starting point in the image. Then hold down Shift and click an ending point.

Source:  Using painting tools in Photoshop Elements

If the "shift key does nothing", maybe it has to do with the order of the steps. In a nutshell, this is what you need to do.

1. Click where you want your line to start.
2. Hold down the Shift key and click where you want your line to end.
3. Elements will connect the two points with a straight line.

This video shows this technique in action. It is done in an earlier Elements version but it will apply to Elements 14.

Photoshop Elements Tutorials - Straight Lines

[pontiac1940]

brewguy1957
Not sure if you have read these replies...
Click image and the Big Dipper stars will show in left window of the image. 
I made a new blank layer and used the brush tool to make lines in that layer.
(I said earlier that I did not know about drawing lines with the brush tool. That was incorrect. I recall now that I'd normally not use it because of the reason noted in the graphic ... the overlaps can be annoying. In this case, the darker overlaps are a benefit perhaps.)