How to Draw In Photoshop [6 Step Tutorial]

Even with a large collection of real estate interior photos, the viewers might not understand the property's design without a simpler diagram. Drawing in Photoshop can help you make an illustrative sketch of the property.

How to Draw In Photoshop

Generally, it's challenging to capture a real estate interior and exterior photo showing all parts of the property. Even if you add description texts to the image, the viewer might not correctly relate different photos to get a clear understanding of the design.

Fortunately, Photoshop has a wide range of drawing, painting, and vector graphics tools to help you do more than just retouch your real estate photos. Depending on the design you want, the following guide describes the different tools you can use to draw in Photoshop.

1. Create a Blank Canvas

A canvas is a workspace where you'll be making your drawings. Navigate to File and choose New to create a new document. You can also hit Command + N if you're using a Mac or Ctrl + N if you're using a Windows computer.

This will open a new document setup option where you can input your size, settings, and orientation depending on what you want to draw. Remember that a larger canvas size can affect your computer's performance, and increasing the canvas size later can cause a loss of quality.

It is, therefore, advisable to set the appropriate canvas size from the word go. Rename the document to your preferred name and then click on Create to create a blank canvas.

2. Create a New Layer

Usually, the new document will appear as the background layer in the layers panel. Drawing on this layer means your drawings will be merged with the background layer, and you can't manipulate them separately.

You can prevent this by creating a new layer for every type of drawing you will make. Simply navigate to Layer, choose New, and select Layer. If you'll be making drawings on multiple layers, it is advisable to rename the layer to a unique name related to the type of drawing you are making to prevent confusion.

Enter the layer's name in the text box next to the Name label in the dialogue box that pops up, and then hit OK. Alternatively, you can open the new layer dialogue box by hitting Ctrl + Shift + N if you're using a Windows computer or Command + Shift + N using a Mac.

3. Pick the Brushes

The Photoshop brushes allow you to paint on the layers just like you do with real paintbrushes. Like traditional brushes, Photoshop is versatile and works by applying the selected color using strokes.

Pick the brush from the toolbar on the left-hand side of the screen, or hit the keyboard shortcut key B, and then adjust the brush options depending on what you want to draw.

• Brush tip: The brush tip controls how the brush adds color to the layer. You can use this option to mimic real-life drawing tools such as pens and markers
• Brush size: The brush size controls how large the tip is. You can change the brush size by clicking on the drop-down and adjusting the slider. Alternatively, you can hit the right braces key to increase the size and the left braces key to decrease the size
• Opacity: The opacity option helps you control how opaque the brush stroke is
• Hardness: The hardness option reduces or increases the strength of the border of the tip. Increasing the hardness makes the strokes have more defined edges
• Flow: The flow option allows you to adjust the speed at which the brush lays down the paint. This helps you control how gradually you build up colors or shadows
• Blending mode: The blending mode helps you adjust how the brush stroke interacts or blends with the pixels behind it. In most cases, you will leave this option to Normal unless you are working with multiple layers
• Brush color: You can set the brush color by changing the Foreground color, which is the topmost color in the color picker tool. Choose the color of your choice from the dialogue box that opens

4. Zoom In on the Canvas

When you start drawing on your canvas, the brushstrokes might look too small, especially if you have large canvas dimensions. This makes it challenging to make precise brush strokes. Navigate to the toolbar and click the magnifying glass to enable the zoom tool.

Click on the specific region of the canvas you are drawing on to zoom it in. Alternatively, hold the Z key on your keyboard and then drag your mouse cursor to the right to zoom in or to the left to zoom out.

5. Make Corrections

It is common to make mistakes, especially if it is your first-time drawing using a computer mouse. Fortunately, Photoshop comes with a wide range of tools that can help you rectify the errors as follows.

• If you have made the wrong brushstroke, you can undo it by hitting Ctrl + Z on your Windows computer or Command + Z if you are using a Mac
• If you want to erase a part of brush strokes or a section of a line you made earlier without undoing everything, pick the Eraser from the toolbar or hit the E key on your keyboard to pick it, and then drag it on the part you want to erase
• If you have made good drawings and would like to move them to a different part of the drawing, pick the Lasso Tool from the toolbar or hit the L key on your keyboard, and then select what you want to move
• Deselect the selection by pressing Command + D if you are using a Mac or Ctrl +D if you are using a Windows PC

6. Color the Drawing

If you're drawing a complex object such as a real estate property, the viewer might not understand the design if you don't color the different parts of the drawing. Pick the Magic Wand tool from the toolbar, or hit the W key to pick it.

Click outside of the outline you want to color to select it. Since you want to color the inside of the outline, navigate to Select and choose Inverse or press Ctrl + I on your Windows computer or Command + I on your Mac.

This will inverse the selection, and the changes will affect the inside. Use the above steps to make an underlying layer. Pick the Paint Bucket Tool from the toolbar or hit the G key on your keyboard, and then use it to fill the outline with the color of your choice.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Thoughts

Knowing how to draw in Photoshop can help you create drawings to highlight the key features of real estate property. Simply open a blank canvas, create a new layer, and use the brush tool to draw. You can play around with the brush settings to mimic the traditional brushes.