In the spotlight today is the Paint Bucket Tool, which is found in both Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. It is important for those interested in digital scrapbooking or photo editing to become familiar with the tools in the most popular graphic programs (Photoshop and Photoshop Elements).
The basics of the Paint Bucket Tool works about the same in both Photoshop or Photoshop Elements so as you look at the examples below they will apply to either program.
Digital Scrapbookers love this tool as it lets us color items in digital scrapbooking projects.
The Paint Bucket tool fills an area with certain colors you select in the color chip area. You can fill an area with the foreground color or a pattern.
In the Image above, if you click on a color in the color chip tool (foreground color (#1) and select a color – we picked white, then click on the Paint Bucket Tool (#2) and then click on the layer you want to color (#3) then your item will be colored.
Take a look at that same processes only now we picked a light pink color before we used the Paint Bucket Tool on the layer (#3)
You can see how that changed the layer color from white to pink. This can be such a handy tool when you want to change or blend colors themes in digital scrapbooking!
Here is how that would look in Photoshop – see image below:
Just like in Elements, in Photoshop you click on a color in the color chip tool (foreground color #1) and select a color – we picked pink, then click on the Paint Bucket Tool (#2) and then click on the layer you want to color (#3) then your item will be colored.
Here are the Basics of the Paint Bucket Tool:
- In the Editor, choose a foreground color.
- Select the Paint Bucket tool in the toolbox.
- Set options in the options bar, as desired, and then click the part of the image you want to fill. If you don’t want to fill transparent areas in a layer, you can lock the layer’s transparency in the Layers panel.
Like many tools when you select the tool you have additional settings at the top menu bar. The Paint Bucket Tool has extra options too!
The Image above is how it looks in Photoshop!
See the image below in Photoshop Elements
In the above image you can see the extra settings for the Paint Bucket Tool in Photoshop Elements (remember Photoshop works in a similar manner).
See the list below for some explanation of how these features work.
You can specify any of the following Paint Bucket tool options:
- Pattern
- Sets a pattern to use as the fill, instead of a color.
- Mode
- Specifies how the paint that you apply blends with the existing pixels in the image. This is a very interesting feature that you just have to experiment with to really get a feel for the possibilities.
- Opacity
- Sets the opacity of the paint you apply. Do you want it to be a bit transparent or more solid? A low opacity setting allows pixels under a paint stroke to show through. Drag the pop‑up slider or enter an opacity value to get it to be more transparent or more solid.
- Tolerance
- Defines how similar in color filled pixels must be. A low tolerance fills pixels with color values very similar to the pixel you click. A high tolerance fills pixels that have a broader range of colors. Sometimes in scrapbooking we use supplies that have multi colors – not just a solid color. So this feature can try to blend better with those types of supplies.
- Anti‑alias
- Smoothes the edges of the filled selection.
- Contiguous
- Fills similarly colored pixels that are next to each other. Deselect this option to fill all similar pixels in the image, including those that aren’t touching. The Tolerance option defines how similar the colors must be.
- All Layers
- Fills similar pixels on any visible layer that are within the levels set by the Tolerance and Contiguous options.
The Paint Bucket Tool is an important tool to learn about if you are interested in using Photoshop or Photoshop Elements for either digital scrapbooking or photo editing!
So open up your program, bring in a few digital scrapbooking projects, and start trying all the fun ways you can use the Paint Bucket Tool to color your scrapbooking supplies, text, and more!
Have a nice day and take a few moments to learn about your digital scrapbooking tools!
Special Note: To work quicker – use the shortcut keys to get to the Paint Bucket tool:
In Photoshop Elements use the shortcut key – K
In Photoshop use the shortcut key – G
Happy Scrapping!
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