Whether you want to add rounded corners to your shapes or images in Photoshop, it’s easily done in a couple of clicks. In more recent updates in Photoshop this process became much easier since you simply click and drag your mouse to round the edges of a shape or path. Here’s how to do it.
To round the corner of a shape in Photoshop, select your desired Shape Tool (U) and create a shape on your canvas. With your shape layer selected, click on any of the blue circles near each corner of the transform box. Dragging these inwards will adjust the corner radius of your shape.
As with anything in Photoshop, rounding the corners of images and shapes can be done in many different ways. This was just one way to round the corners of shapes, but there are some other options too I’ll outline below.
From there, you’ll learn how to apply these rounded corners onto an image and export your images with rounded corners as an added creative touch.
So, let’s get started!
How To Round The Corners Of Shapes In Photoshop
Here are two methods to round the corners of shapes in a few easy steps.
Method 1: Using The Shape’s Anchor Points
First, select a shape from the toolbar. For my example, I chose the rectangle. The rectangle is the default shape displayed in the toolbar. To use another shape, click and hold the rectangle icon. Then, use the flyout menu that appears to select the desired shape.
After that, go to the Options bar and set drawing mode to Shape.
Next, alter the shape’s fill and stroke colors if you want in the Options bar.
After customizing your shape’s settings, click and drag on the canvas to create the shape.
If you want to maintain the shape’s proportions, for instance, to create a circle or square, hold Shift while drawing it on the canvas. When you’re finished creating your shape, you’ll notice small blue dots on each corner of it.
To add round corners to your shape, click and drag any of its blue dots inwards. This will round all the shape’s corners at once. The more you pull the blue dots inwards, the rounder the corners of the shape will become.
You can also modify the roundness of a specific corner independently. To do that, choose the corner you want to round. Then, click one of its blue dots and pull it inwards while holding Alt (Win) or Option (Mac).
Once you’re happy with the result, press Enter on your keyboard to confirm the action and deselect the shape.
Method 2: Changing The Shape’s Properties
There is another way to round the corners of a shape, this time using the properties panel. First, create a shape, as shown earlier in this tutorial.
Then, find the corner radius icons in the properties panel.
If you can’t see the properties panel, go to Window > Properties.
To modify the corner radius values in the properties panel, hover over one of the corner radius icons until your cursor turns into a hand icon.
Then, drag with your mouse to the right to increase the corner radius or to the left to decrease it. Alternatively, type in any value in one of the corner radius boxes.
When you change one of the corners, Photoshop automatically changes the values of all the other corners.
That’s because all the shape’s corners are linked to each other in the properties panel. You can see this by the chain icon next to them.
By clicking the chain icon, you can unchain the shape corners and adjust a specific corner without affecting the rest.
After unlinking the corners, type in a value in the corner radius box you want to alter.
Once you do this, the chosen corner radius will be altered.
You can use the methods learned here to round the corners of any shape you create in Photoshop.
How To Round The Corner Of Images In Photoshop
To round the corners of an image in Photoshop, select the Rectangle Tool with the drawing mode to Path. Create a rectangular path, then click the blue circles within the transform box to adjust the path’s corner radius. Now click Make Selection in the upper bar and add the selection to layer mask.
Let’s break that down more in-depth.
To round the corner of an image in Photoshop, first, bring the desired image to Photoshop. To do this, go to File > Open or press Control + O (Win) or Command + O (Mac).
Next, go to the Layers panel and double-click the image while holding Alt (Win) or Option (Mac) to unlock it.
After that, go to the toolbar and select the Rectangle Tool (U).
Then, change the drawing mode to Path in the Options bar.
Next, click and drag across the image to draw a rectangular path. Try to draw the path close to the image edges, but not too close, otherwise, there won’t be enough space to round the corners of your image.
After drawing the path, click and pull one of the blue dots inwards to curve all borders simultaneously.
The more you pull the blue dot down, the rounder the image borders will become. Once you’re happy with the result, go to the Options bar and click Make Selection.
Next, choose a value for feather radius. Feather Radius softens the edges of brushes, images, shapes, and other elements in Photoshop. A high feather radius will blur the edges of your image, while a low feather radius will sharpen them.
For best results, I recommend setting the feather radius to zero since sharp edges are better than blurred edges when it comes to images with rounded corners. Click OK to confirm your choice.
This will result in a successful selection.
Now, go to the Layers panel and click the layer mask icon.
This will crop the image with rounded edges.
How To Add A Border To Images With Rounded Corners
After rounding the corners of your image, you may want to add a border to it.
First, select the layer containing the image with rounded corners and click its thumbnail.
Next, click the fx button at the bottom of the Layers panel.
Then, choose ‘Stroke’ from the flyout menu.
Many options will appear, which can be confusing at first. But don’t worry, I will tell you which settings are worth changing when it comes to image borders.
Size controls the stroke’s width. I recommend you choose a value over 30 to make the border effect more visible. In my case, I chose 136.
In Position, you can choose between Inside, Outside, or Center. I recommend you choose Inside, otherwise, the border effect will expand into the transparent area of the image, which can ruin the rounded effect.
As for Blend Mode, you should set it to normal, since it’s not a good idea to blend the image with its border.
Opacity controls the level of transparency of the stroke. Set the border opacity to 100% since it’s best to make the border as visible as possible.
Moving down to Fill Type, there are some options that you can choose from. They are Color, Gradient, and Pattern.
1. Color
You can easily alter the color of your image border. To do this, double-click the color fill to bring up the color picker panel, where you can select any color you want.
2. Gradient
You can apply gradients to your image borders and customize them in many ways.
You can double-click the gradient box to see all the gradient colors available for your border.
You can also change the gradient style, angle, and scale.
In Style, you can choose from Linear, Radial, Angle, Reflected, Diamond, and Shape Burst. These settings greatly affect the appearance of the gradient.
When you change the Angle, the gradient’s colors will flow into one another from a different position.
Scale is inversely proportional to contrast. The lower the scale, the greater the gradient contrast, and vice versa. For a balanced amount of contrast between gradient colors, set the scale to 100%.
3. Pattern
The Pattern option allows you to add a Photoshop preset pattern to your border. If you have any saved patterns, you can also apply them.
How To Export Rounded Corners With A Transparent Background
When you’re done rounding the corners of your image, you should export it as a PNG. Exporting as a PNG will ensure the image will be exported with transparency and, consequently, with rounded corners.
If you save your image as JPEG, for example, instead of getting rounded corners, your image will get a white background on the outside of the border.
To save your image, go to File > Save a Copy.
Then, choose a location on your computer to save your image. Make sure to set the file type to PNG.
Lastly, click on the Save button to save the image.
Now your image will export with rounded corners and a transparent background so no matter where you share it, the rounded edges will remain visible!
Happy Editing!
