Whimsical Heart

by Christina Rambo

Turn Photoshop's Heart shape into a whimsical creation using the Transform tool, the Liquify filter, and/or the Direct Selection tool.

Create a Heart Shape

• Create a new 6 inch x 6 inch document (File > New > Blank File) at 300 ppi with a white background. (PS: Choose File > New.)
• Press the letter D to reset the Color Chips to the default of black over white.
• Get the Custom Shape tool.
• In the Tool Options, open the Shape Picker and choose the Heart. If you don’t see the Heart, open the drop down menu and choose All Elements Shapes. (PS: Open the fly out menu, choose All, and click OK.) Set the Style to None and Geometry Options to Unconstrained. Click on the Create New Shape Layer icon. (PS: Set the Tool Mode to Shape and the Stoke Style to None.)
• On the document, hold down the Shift key and click and drag out a heart shape. To reposition while dragging, press and hold the Space bar.

Make the Heart Whimsical (Photoshop Elements)

• Press Ctrl T (Mac: Cmd T) to get the Transform options.
• On the document, holding down the Ctrl key (Mac Cmd key), click and drag the corner handles of the Bounding box. Click the checkmark to commit.
• In the Menu Bar, choose Filter > Distort > Liquify. Click OK to simplify the layer.
• In the Liquify dialog box, experiment with the tools to create a whimsical look. Click OK..

Make the Heart Whimsical (Adobe Photoshop Only)

• In the Layers panel, click on the shape layer to make sure it’s active.
• Get the Direct Selection tool.
• On the document, click inside the shape to reveal the anchor points.
• Click and drag the points of the heart to create a whimsical look.
• If you find a point that isn’t connected, press Ctrl Z (Mac: Cmd Z) and adjust the other points.

Learn More

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