From: Rolig Loon
The path tool gives you much more control over the shape of an area you want to cut out.
Here's what was on my mind as I typed that quick response ........
(a) If you use the ellipse or circle tool, you can certainly specify either the fixed dimensions or the aspect ratio of the area you want to cut out, but it's hard to know exactly
which dimensions or aspect ratio to use. After all, the cutout area has to look pleasing
and leave the straps exactly where you want them to be. The shape surrounding your selected area is limited by the fact that you have chosen one of two specific curves.
(b) If you use ellipses or circles to cut out the neck and the armholes, it's difficult to control the width and shape of the straps. Unless you're really lucky, they tend to be fat and thin in ways that real straps aren't. Again, this is a result of using predetermined curves and having to place them properly to create pleasing cutouts.
(c) The biggest challenge is that you ultimately need to match the front of the tank top to the back. The cutouts have to hit the boundaries of the pattern pieces at exactly the right spots
and and the same angle, so that the straps don't have funny offsets or jagged nicks and bumps in them at the shoulders and underarms. With circles and ellipses, it's almost impossible to get everything to hit those match points correctly.
The much easier solution is to use your pen tool. That way, you make each curve the shape you want it to be and you have complete control over where each curve is placed. Best of all, you can place anchor points on each curve
exactly where they need to be at the shoulder and underarm seams so that the front and back pieces align perfectly. Here's how to do it, borrowed from a response I gave last week in a different thread .....
From: Rolig Loon
(a) Make your mask layer (the black one you're cutting holes in) active.
(b) Choose the pen tool.
(c) Place anchor points around the area you want to cut out.
(d) Change the pen tool into the Convert Point tool.
Click on any of the anchor points and then drag on it to reshape the path in its vicinity.
(f) When the path looks right, right click inside the path and choose Make Selection.
(g) In that dialog window, choose New Selection.
Use Edit >> Clear to remove everything in the selection.
You can repeat step (c) as many times as you want, making your path as complicated and interesting as you want and placing it
exactly where you want it to be. The pen tool takes a bit of practice, but once you master it, it is an incredibly powerful and flexible tool indeed.
