Dagfinn,
Here is one way to do it. I am fairly new to Photoshop Elements so there might very well be an easier way, but try it if you want.
1. Select the Custom Shape Tool.
2. In the tools options bar, click the down arrow next to the ‘Shape’ box. Click the right arrow and select ‘Shapes’.
Select the solid hexagon shape.
3. In the tools options bar, click the down arrow next to the ‘Style’ box. Click the right arrow in the upper corner of the styles palette and choose ‘Visibility’.
4. In the tools options bar, click the down arrow next to the ‘Style’ box and choose ‘Hide’.
5. Click in the image window and hold down the Shift key while dragging out the hexagonal shape (Shift preserves the aspect ratio of the shape). This creates a new layer called ‘Shape 1’. The shape has an outline, but at this time it is just a path indicator, not a real outline made of pixels.
6. In the Layers palette Ctrl-Click the ‘Shape 1’ layer. Now the path outline will "sparkle". That’s because the selection marque is overlapping the path so it looks a little strange.
7. Click the New Layer button on the layers palette.
The selection marquee will look normal now.
8. With the new layer (named ‘Layer 1’) selected, Edit > Stroke. Choose width (maybe 2-3 pixels), color (probably black), and location for the outline. The location has options Inside, Center, and Outline, but for your purposes any of these should do. Also make sure the Preserve Transparency button is unchecked. Click OK.
9. You now have the transparent outlined hexagon in ‘Layer 1’. The original ‘Shape 1’ layer is no longer needed and can be deleted.
Now you want to duplicate this hexagon as many times as necessary to fill up the image. Rather than doing this one hexagon at a time (which can take all day!), it is easier to create a set of hexagons and duplicate this set. Here’s how:
10. Ctrl-Click ‘Layer 1’ to select the hexagon.
11. Copy the selection and paste it several times to create a set of hexagons.
12. Use the Move tool position the hexagons into a tightly tessellated group. I found that a set of 6 surrounding a center one gives a good group to work with, although a horizontal row of hexagons should also work well.
Tip: when moving the hexagons, use the arrow keys to fine-tune the moves.
13. Now merge the set unto one: in layers palette, turn off visibility of all but the hexagon layers, click the ‘More’ arrow and select ‘Merge Visible’.
14. Repeat steps 10-13 on the merged layer and keep this up until you have hexagons filling the entire picture.
Steps 1-9 I found at
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http://graphicssoft.about.com/cs/photoshopelements/ht/outlin eshape.htm>
Mark
