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How do I make a rounded rectangle?

How do I make a rounded rectangle?

  1. If you want to make a filled (solid colored) rounded rectangle, use the rounded rectangle shapes tool. You can set the radius of your rounded corners in the tool’s options bar. If you then want to apply filters to your shape, you will need to rasterize it first. To do this, choose Layer > Simplify Layer.
  2. If you want to draw a rounded rectangle outline which is not filled, make a new layer and then, with that layer selected in the Layers palette, use the rectangular marquee tool to drag a selection in the size and proportions you want.
  3. Next, with the selection outline active, choose Select > Modify > Smooth. You will probably have to experiment with the pixel value of your smoothing to get what you want. Use Edit > Undo or Ctrl-Z and try again until you are happy with what you get.
  4. When you have the outline that you want (and still active—don’t deselect until I tell you to!) set the color that you want applied to your outline as your foreground color. You can use the color picker, or the Swatches palette.
  5. Then choose Edit > Stroke. Enter a pixel value for the width of your stroke. Again, use Undo to experiment if necessary.
  6. Press Ctrl-D, or choose Select > Deselect to deselect your outline.
  7. You can move your outline by selecting the layer in the Layers palette and using the move tool to drag it in the image.
  8. If you select ‘Show Bounding Box’ on the move tool’s options bar, you can also transform (resize, rotate or distort) your rectangle by dragging on the bounding box’s handles. As soon as you drag on any of the handles, the move tool’s options bar will be replaced by the transform options bar. You will have to click the big check mark on the options bar after transforming in order to apply the changes.

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